Premiership's £500m debt: How much each club actually owes

How much debt is owed by each Gallagher Premiership club has been revealed as part of their participation in a UK government committee next month.

English rugby bosses are being asked to explain themselves in a parliamentary committee next month to address the game’s financial crisis.

Officials from the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and Premiership Rugby will appear before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee in November to answer questions on the problems facing those clubs and the wider sustainability of the game.

As a result of that committee, the figures owed by each club has been published on the House of Commons website, with the total amount including the now defunct Worcester Warriors totalling over half a billion pounds.

This mountain of debt includes that of Wasps, who owe a staggering £112.3 million, by far the largest single debt in the league, amounting to 24 per cent of the total.

Wasps joined Worcester in administration on Monday, making 167 members of staff including players and coaches redundant. Both clubs had already been suspended from the Gallagher Premiership, which now contains just 11 teams.

The loss of both Wasps and Worcester from the league for this season has meant that sides also have sizeable holes in their fixture calendar. Empty stadiums will mean a further loss of revenue for clubs,  many of whom are now seeking to make ad hoc fixtures to make up the difference.

Following Wasps, the second most indebted club is Bristol Bears, who owe £51.2 million, which is 11 per cent of all the debt in the league.

Third on the list is Saracens, who owe £40.8 million, 9 per cent of the total debt of the league.

Bath have debts totalling £37.8 million, which equates to 8 per cent of the league’s total. London Irish aren’t far behind with £37.3 million.

Fellow Londoners Harlequins also have a significant amount of debt, with £33.7 million. Newcastle Falcons, who are typically viewed as one of the smaller operations in the league, owe £32 million. Both the Tynesiders and Quins individual debut equates to roughly 7 per cent of the league.

Big spending Sale Sharks have £30.9 of debt, which is again approximately 7 per cent of the competition’s total debt.

Midland heavyweights Leicester Tigers owe £30.1 million.

Gloucester owe £27.1 million, while Northampton Saints follow closely on £26.5 million.

By far the least amount of debt is owed by Exeter Chiefs, at £13 million, which is equal to just 3 per cent of club debt.

Worcester Warriors debt is not included in the list, with the other e12 clubs’ total equalling £473.7 million. When you add Worcester’s debt, which is at least £30 million when you tally what they owe HMRC and other creditors, then the combined total is over half a billion.

The PRL are likely to be taken to task on the lack of regulation of individual club finances. As the body is basically a confederation of clubs, it’s a case of self-policing, as the RFU have little say unless a club enters insolvency.