Saracens have ‘absolutely no chance’ of making a profit this season, warns chairman Nigel Wray

Nigel Wray forced to dig deep but is close to securing new investor
Serial winners | Saracens celebrate their Premiership Play-off Final success at Twickenham in May — their third in four seasons
David Rogers/Getty Images
Adam Hathaway14 August 2018

Saracens chairman Nigel Wray admits he will have to dig into his own pocket this season as the club is set to leak money, but has reiterated he is not going anywhere and has been in contact with potential partners in the club.

South African shareholders Remgro pulled out last season, leaving Wray to buy back their 50 per cent holding and take total control of the club again. It also took his total input over the £40million barrier.

Wray, involved with Saracens since 1995, has been scouting around to find not just new but the right investors, even if it means losing some of his own cash to fund a club which lost £2.7m in 2016-17.

Saracens have won three of the past four Premierships and two of the past three Champions Cups, as well as nurturing a host of England players.

That comes at a cost when junior contracts run out, plus most of Saracens’ England contingent are on healthy long-term deals, as are the coaching staff, headed by director of rugby Mark McCall.

And with Allianz Park’s West Stand up for renovation, with Barnet Council a potential backer, and a new performance centre in St Albans in the offing, Wray admits the club will not turn a profit this season.

“I think there is absolutely no chance,” he said. “If you do create some wonderful players, which I think we have created, you can’t blame them — salaries don’t go down. Wages have gone up enormously in the last 10 years and good luck to the guys. It is a short career, they get bashed and they deserve it.

“I have had a few people who are very interested in coming in. The most important thing is the people have got to get on. I am not going, so any money that comes in goes to the club, not to me, so it has to be a genuine partnership between me and whoever. That is crucial. Nothing works if you don’t get on with people. You have got to trust people, not just in rugby, in everything. I have met people I like and I think they like me, so we will see how it goes. Nothing has been done yet, but it is not far away.

“I am not going to do it for peanuts, because we all know what it costs to run a club. There are development plans there and development plans for the high performance centre — and there will be more, because you can’t stop.”

Saracens’ recent success has been founded on a stable playing and coaching staff and Wray admits he got that wrong in his early days at the club.

McCall has been in charge since the 2010 season but, previously, the likes of Wayne Shelford, Steve Diamond and Rod Kafer did not last long.

“If a company changes its CEO every year, you know it is a rubbish company,” Wray added. “If you look at the great achievements of the world, they are not made by people hopping in and out. They are made by people staying there and building something long-term over 20 or 30 years.

“It is a model I wasn’t following for the first 10 or 12 years. I went against my own judgment by chopping and changing and not finding the right people.

“Finding the right people is not easy, but without good people it will not work. Throughout the last 10 years, we have been fortunate and we have managed to find outstanding people.”

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