South Wales Scorpions under new Welsh ownership
Two Welshmen have been approved by the RFL and Wales Rugby League as the new owners of South Wales Scorpions.
Marc Lovering, of Cardiff, and Neil Williams, from Monmouth, are the two men who will be in charge of the club for the 2016 season and beyond.
Lovering, an ex-solicitor, has been working for the RFL for the last 15 months, and is also the current chairman of Halifax community club Siddal. He will now be the principal shareholder in the club.
Williams has been the team manager of the Scorpions in 2015, and has also performed similar roles for Wales Academy and junior international teams.
These include the Bronze medal-winning Wales team in last year’s rugby league Commonwealth Championships.
“After what has been a whirlwind couple of weeks I am delighted to be able to confirm that I, along with current team manager Neil Williams, have taken control of the Scorpions,” said Lovering.
“Thanks must go to the WRL who have worked hard to stabilise the club and provide Neil and I with a solid base from which to move the club forward.
“It has obviously been a difficult season for the boys on the pitch, but to their credit they’ve stuck at it, continued to work hard and showed real character.
“This bodes well for the future but clearly adding some more quality and experience to compliment what is a young squad will be our immediate focus.
“Neil and I remain committed to giving quality locally based players an opportunity.
“Building a strong relationship with the community clubs in the region will help us achieve that aim and hopefully create a pathway for the region’s talent not only to the Scorpions but to the national team as well.
“We are at the start of what I am sure will be a very exciting journey and on which I am confident we will be joined by greater numbers of the local community and the wider rugby league family throughout South Wales.
“We are not running a closed shop so if anybody is interested in getting involved we would be delighted to hear from them.”
The WRL have been running the club for the last two seasons, after founder Phil Davies decided to relinquish control.
The governing body has left the club on with no debts, and with a sustainable business model which incurred no debts for the last two years.
The club was put up for tender in August, and six expressions of interest were received.
In August, they felt the time was right to put the club up for tender and received six expressions of interest in the club.
“Wales Rugby League pass the club over to a highly credible duo who will certainly take the club forward into an exciting future,” WRL’s chief operating officer Chris Thair said.
“Whilst we had a number of good options on the table, we decided to choose the one which gave us the most confidence in their proposals and shared our vision for the club.
“We wish the Scorpions well for the future and we continue to support the sports flagship club in South Wales.”