A salvage plan for QPR and Wasps has been devised
after Loftus Road Plc went into administration last night. Current
chairman Chris Wright's plan involves the football club and rugby
club be demerged. The football club would be sold - he has already
had talks with a potential purchaser, and he would buy the rugby
club himself.
The man owed most money by the current company is
Wright himself but he has promised to bankroll the club if necessary.
The man considering buying the football club is
property developer Andrew Ellis, the 32-year-old son of Peter Ellis,
who was QPR chairman when Wright bought the club in 1996. Peter
Ellis was chairman for two years while the club was owned by Newmarket-based
businessman David Thompson. Andrew Ellis was also a QPR director.
Last night, QPR confirmed that Andrew Ellis was considering launching
a takeover and he told reporters that a deal had been struck in
principle.
Meanwhile, Wright has tabled a "seven-figure bid"
to take control of Wasps. Crucially, he wants the purchase of the
rugby club to include QPR's training ground, the former British
Gas sports ground site in Acton. He wants the site to become the
training home of Wasps and the base for their amateur, women and
junior sections.
Wasps at present rent rugby pitches at the Bisham
Abbey national training centre in Berkshire but, under the Wright
scheme, they would take over Acton and QPR might have to find another
training ground.
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