The Harlequins board meets today to discuss the implications of relegation from the Zurich Premiership but the London club will not follow in the footsteps of their immediate two predecessors, Rotherham and Bristol, by financially imploding and their captain Andre Vos has pointed the way by signing a new contract.
The club's long-term sponsors, NEC, are also poised to commit to a new deal while Quins intend to press ahead with appointing Dean Richards as director of rugby and have not ruled out signing the New Zealand outside-half Andrew Mehrtens.
The club's chief executive Mark Evans, who has doubled up as head coach for the past 30 months, will present his plans to the directors having already conceded there would be redundancies among Quins' 100 staff on and off the field.
Only five of Quins' squad of 32 are out of contract and, though their England Under-21 centre Andy Reay yesterday joined the club replacing Harlequins in the Premiership, Bristol, there will be no mass exodus from The Stoop.
"There is a clause in the players' contracts relating to relegation," said Quins' team manager Mike Scott. "It allows us to give 28 days' notice but it does not work the other way. We have to decide the way ahead for next season because our annual turnover of £7m is sure to go down but there will be no panic and we will be looking to retain the vast majority of the squad.
"We are not going to sit around feeling sorry for ourselves. There is no denying that relegation is a blow because we have built up the business considerably over the last five years but there is no point in looking back. Our aim has to be to bounce back at the first attempt and return to the Premiership stronger than when we left it."
Quins will get a parachute payment of £1.5m next season, double that handed out to relegated clubs until now, but before they can decide how to spend it they must consider reducing prices for season tickets and hospitality boxes because they will no longer be offering either Premiership or European rugby.
"We had sold more than 1,000 season tickets for next season before we knew we were going down," said Scott. "The supporters who have bought them have been offered a refund but judging by the reaction on our website's fans' forum, not many of them will be taking it up.
"It is up to the board to decide the way ahead and there has already been a lot of number-crunching but we will certainly not be going the way of Rotherham and Bristol who virtually had to start over again in the first division. We are the only club based in London which offers professional rugby; our support base has grown enormously in recent years and we are confident we will still attract big crowds next season."
Two Quins players, the wing Ugo Monye and prop Mike Worsley, were yesterday named in a 29-man England squad to prepare for the May 28 friendly against the Barbarians at Twickenham. Jonny Wilkinson was also included, though Worcester's flanker Pat Sanderson, captain in the Churchill Cup campaign next month, will lead the side at HQ.
Newcastle's prop Micky Ward was named as replacement for Will Green, who has withdrawn from the Churchill Cup for personal reasons.
Sale yesterday signed the wing Elvis Sevalai'i and No8 Nathan Bonner-Evans from Neath-Swansea Ospreys and the prop Lionel Faure from Pau.
