Baron: RFU heading for £59m loss this year

FRANCIS Baron has accused the RFU hierarchy of publishing misleading interpretations of its own financial position, which he believes is increasingly precarious, and is being ‘misrepresented’ to its 1,200 member clubs. 

- NICK CAIN

Baron, a former RFU chief executive with 25 years’ Board level experience in five PLC companies, including an impressive 12-year record in managing RFU finances, points to the massaging of a £6.3m loss in 2022-23 as the tip of a huge financial iceberg which the RFU’s own forecasts predict will result in a £50.1m loss in 2023-24.

Baron’s own projections, based on figures in the 2022-23 RFU Annual Report published last week, are that this year’s loss will be closer to £59m.

He believes this position is unprecedented among National Governing Bodies in sport, such as the FA, ECB, or LTA, and could not only put the RFU in peril, but leave its member clubs without a functioning governing body.

Baron’s warning could not be clearer: “No National Governing Body has ever incurred anywhere near this scale of loss. What is more, no company listed on the London Stock Exchange has incurred such losses and survived. The reason for this is straightforward – companies incurring such losses go bust”.