London Broncos takeover latest as coach reveals club ‘nearly disappeared’ in off-season

London Broncos and Mike Eccles return to action on Saturday.
London Broncos coach Mike Eccles has lifted the lid on just how close the club came to going out of business in the off-season as they return to competitive action.
The Broncos face Goole in the Second Round of the Challenge Cup on Saturday afternoon, following a tumultuous few months off the field for a club that this time last year, were preparing to play in Super League.
Owner David Hughes revealed he would be selling the club after their relegation last year, leaving them without any level of funding and without any clear plan over the club’s future.
They are in talks with multiple groups about a takeover, and have managed to navigate the winter to get to the start of the new campaign. But Eccles, speaking to Love Rugby League, admitted there were plenty of occasions over recent months when he genuinely feared if the Broncos would ever return.
“We wondered if we’d ever have a game-week again,” he said. “It was a matter of how will we have a team, it was how will we have a club? There was a small amount of money left over from Super League and David hasn’t signed any cheques since November.. do we just use that money to wrap up the club? It was that close.
“We don’t have a board of directors, we have a single owner who we then lost, and it was left to Jason (Loubser) and myself. There was serious consideration as to what we could do, if anything. We made the decision we’d give it a go, it’s been a bit of a gamble but we’re here, we’re alive and ready to play.”
Eccles has just 12 contracted players to select from to face Goole; the remainder of his side will be made up of southern-based trialists who are bidding to be part of their squad for the new Championship season.
And the London head coach is already thinking long-term about a potential return to Super League. He insists that if the club can survive relegation this year from the Championship, they will use the upcoming campaign to assemble a squad that will not only compete in 2025, but have them ready for a tilt at major success in 2027.
In fact, he believes they can secure a return to Super League under the gradings system by that time, and insists that is why the club will only agree to the right investment package.
When asked about the latest on the takeover, Eccles said: “It’s definitely a work in progress – and we are definitely not out of the wood. We’ve had a few different options put in front of us, and we could have had an option to take over the club now but I think that would have set us back as a club.
“We’ve broke our backs to get to where we are and we’re not far away. One difficult year won’t derail us that much. But in 2026 we’ve got to be right back on track because we think with the right vision, we think we can be back in Super League in 2027.
“London will use this year as a stabilising year. Stability for us is slowly putting a squad together because the players aren’t available right now. They just aren’t. They’ve all been signed up.
“We’ll have to go to the Queensland and New South Wales Cup to get the next level of players but that will take time. Our focus is making sure people get paid and that we don’t get relegated from the Championship.
“The expectations might seem low but we’re picking ourselves off the floor because this could have all gone and all disappeared. There are just no players available right now but there will be throughout the year.
“The players we sign this year need to strengthen us now but make sure they’re on board for a big 2026 too. We won’t take our ball off this year but similarly we have to build for 2026.”
And having essentially run the club on and off the field with chief executive Jason Loubser, Eccles admits it is a relief to be returning to thinking about a game.
Eccles smiled: “You always have to wear many hats at this club anyway but I’ve been detached from takeover stuff for a good few weeks now because I’ve had to get this team ready.
“We’ve had open trials, I’ve identified people who I think could come in and try out and I’ve really enjoyed just worrying about the rugby side again. I still have a little bit of a hand in the off-field stuff, but this is my bread and butter.
“What I will take pride in on Saturday is it’s a team with a London heartbeat. It’s got young lads form the Southern Conference League and the local area who want a chance. And the senior lads who’ve been with us on this journey are here, and they’ve been incredible.
“Will Lovell, Alex Walker, Sid (Sadiq Adebiyi) and plenty of others, they get that there’s a long-term plan here. It could have all disappeared, as I’ve said. It was that serious.
“But we are here. We’re fighting for London. And we won’t stop.”
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