LondonIrishLondon Irish are set to announce a takeover of the club by a group of Irish businessmen on Thursday. The club have called a news conference at their training ground in Sunbury for 10:30 GMT, where they will announce further details of the takeover.

bbc

Three members of the consortium will be present at the news conference, along with director of rugby Brian Smith.

The Premiership side have been owned by hundreds of individual shareholders for several years.

Currently, there are a total of 840 shareholders, then a group of 35-40 large shareholders who control the club.

One of the big issues for the new owners will be whether to move away from their home at the Madejski Stadium in Reading.

The Exiles have been playing at Reading FC’s ground since 2000 but have struggled to fill the 24,161 capacity, registering an average attendance of just over 9,000 last term.

Irish have failed to finish in the top six in each of the previous two seasons and currently sit 11th in the Premiership, but pulled off a major coup recently in signing Australian back James O’Connor.

However, key players such as Jonathan Joseph, Alex Corbisiero and Matt Garvey have all left the club and they are currently fighting hard to keep hold of England wing Marland Yarde.

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