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Search forBristol's situation looks very bleak, says Gareth Chilcott
Friday, November 21, 2008, 08:00
With the greatest respect, I can understand exactly why that stance is being taken. It must be the ultimate dream of the Bristol directors for someone to come in with two, three or even four million pounds and say, 'right, let's move forward'.
But if you look at some of the other quotes within that official statement, they are not particularly encouraging: the gates are down 20 per cent, the corporate side is not doing too well and the club were already investing £1million less in their players than the other clubs in the top-flight.
Cash flow is obviously an issue, and I just feel desperately sorry for Richard Hill and his players. They are trying to win one almighty battle on the field, yet it seems the club is facing an even bigger battle off it.
I agree they have to maintain a brave front and say this plea for new investment is a positive thing, because they want to encourage people to come in rather than saying, 'we are in the mire, somebody bail us out'. But that is what it smacks of.
People are rightly starting to question whether Bristol will even survive the season if these investors do not come on board quickly.
It looks as though the club is in deep trouble and they do not even own their own ground. It is so important that somebody comes on board with some money – and quickly.
If that does not happen, I cannot see them lasting the season unless Premier Rugby bail them out.
But they would more than likely want something in return – and that could deprive Bristol of their Premiership shares and any voting power.
Let's be honest, it looks pretty dire for Bristol at the moment. They got their first win of the season on Sunday and this bombshell dropped a few days later.
Players are bound to worry, because this is their livelihoods we are talking about here.
So Richard Hill has an enormous job on his hands to keep the players motivated – not that I have any doubts about his ability to do so.
The way things have been handled above Richard looks shambolic.
And how the city of Bristol can get into a situation where their rugby club is allowed to go bust twice and then face obvious problems again is an absolute disgrace. If this is an early plea because the directors think they might have problems a year from now, then well done for having the vision to act early.
But my own opinion is that things are already looking very bleak. And to me it is unacceptable that a club of Bristol's standing cannot be a viable business.
On the field, they face a difficult game at Gloucester tonight, although teams, particularly Bristol, have shown before that they can dig deep in adversity.
But forget for one minute the struggle on the field. Their biggest battle is now taking place off it.
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