Application for London Welsh to be wound up adjourned until January
Monday 12 December 2016 15:15, UK
An application by the taxman to wind up debt-ridden London Welsh has been adjourned until after Christmas.
Officials at HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) asked for the famous club to be wound up at a Bankruptcy & Companies Court hearing in London on Monday.
But a judge, Registrar Christine Derrett, has adjourned the application until January 23, giving creditors time to hold a meeting.
London Welsh are believed to have been founded in a Fleet Street hotel in 1885 by a group of Welshmen living in the English capital.
And some of the greatest players in Wales history, including John Dawes, JPR Williams, Gerald Davies, John Taylor and Mervyn Davies, played for the club in the 1960s and 1970s.
The Exiles are currently mid-table in rugby's second tier, the Championship, but last week London Welsh chairman Gareth Hawkins said the club aimed to go into voluntary liquidation.
"London Welsh has reached a difficult point in its illustrious history," Hawkins said in a statement posted on the club's website.
"Due to a playing budget of £1.7m and gates at games numbering as low as 400, the club's current business model is totally unsustainable.
"The debts accrued from trading in this way have left the club with no alternative but to seek liquidation."
However, the club remain confident they can fulfil their remaining Championship fixtures and their next League match is at home to London Scottish on Christmas Eve.
