Gloucester take their 100% Premiership record to their west country rivals Bath on Saturday hoping to prolong their finest start to a Premiership season. They do not look like a crisis club but rumours are rife that the financial traumas suffered by their owner Tom Walkinshaw's Arrows formula one team are having a knock-on effect that will force them to cut the players' wages by 5% and trim their squad.
The club vehemently deny the story but a local consortium are reportedly ready to invest in the club should Walkinshaw, who has a 98% stake, decide to sell some of his shares. His Arrows team have missed four of the last five grand prix and are unlikely to line up on the grid in Indianapolis for the US round on Sunday nor for the season's final race in Japan.
Gloucester sold their French international prop Patrice Collazo to Toulouse last Friday in a deal that surprised the club's director of rugby Nigel Melville and the league leaders will consider offers for five fringe players, including the full-back Chris Catling and the wing Daren O'Leary, in action for the reserves last night.
The Gloucester chief executive Ken Nottage likened the Collazo transfer to the move of Rio Ferdinand from Leeds United to Manchester United in the summer but denied the club's financial situation was the reason for the sale.
"Toulouse were in the market for a prop because they had injury problems and it was a deal which made financial sense," he said yesterday. "The notion that we have financial problems which meant there was a delay in paying Patrice's wages is a false one. What has happened to Arrows will not impact on the rugby club, which is in a healthier position than it ever has been."
It is understood that the Collazo move was triggered by the ending of a sponsorship deal with the electronic media company Lost Boys, one of Arrows' backers, which was worth some £400,000 a year. The departure of Collazo will trim £150,000 from that deficit through the transfer fee and his removal from the wage bill and the transfers of Catling and O'Leary, who have attracted the interest of Leeds, would save £120,000. The shortfall of £130,000 would be made up by cuts in administration and the club's academy.
The Gloucester Season Ticket Holders' Association is meeting the club's management at Kingsholm tonight but what should be an upbeat occasion, with the side four points clear at the top of the Premiership and Bath and Bristol struggling, could prove vexatious.
"I can understand the concerns of supporters, given what has been said and written over the last few days," said Nottage. "But Tom's commitment to the Gloucester club is total and we are in a better position financially than we ever have been. Three years ago we had 1,700 season ticket holders and our annual turnover was £1.8m.
"This season we have sold 4,750 season tickets and our turnover is £5m. We have led the way in the marketing area by selling match tickets on-line and there is a lot for supporters to feel positive about. Whatever business you are involved in, you always have to be aware of costs and financial decisions have to be made. Nigel is kept fully informed. Who is sold is up to him."
Nottage said the hooker Olivier Azam would not be following Collazo back to France. "Olivier is contracted to us until the end of next season," he said. "The deal with Patrice was expedient because last Friday was the deadline for Heineken Cup registration. We did not want to accept the offer initially but it proved too good to turn down."
Gloucester were this week reported to be one of four clubs breaching the £1.8m salary cap agreed by Premiership clubs. "I read that we had 42 players in our first-team squad and with that number it would be hard for anyone to remain within the cap," said Nottage. "The true figure is 31."
