Bob Carruthers ready to try again with pro rugby

FORMER Edinburgh Rugby owner Bob Carruthers insists that he has the desire and funds to take on the capital side again, or re-launch the Caledonia Reds, five years after his previous involvement ended in acrimony.

The 51-year-old businessman from Kirkcaldy, who made his money from the music, film and media business, was the only entrepreneur entertained by the SRU after Gordon McKie took over as chief executive in 2005 and looked to introduce private investors. McKie handed Edinburgh over to the consortium in 2006, and it was initially a success, with crowds rising. However, it collapsed after just a season, and it quickly emerged that the improvement of the team and crowds came against a backdrop of continual bickering between the new Edinburgh owners and the SRU over the contract and payments.

It ended with a bitter public feud as Edinburgh agreed ultimately futile terms with Stephen Larkham, the Wallaby internationalist, while threatening court action and withdrawing existing Edinburgh internationalists from Scotland’s pre-World Cup training. Chris Paterson left the club as a result, joining Gloucester, and others threatened to quit before the SRU stepped in to reclaim ownership of the team with a pay-off to the consortium.

Now, Carruthers has launched a book termed The Murrayfield Experience in which his complaints about the SRU’s handling of the affair appear in print, but with no author claiming responsibility for the content.As the book was launched, yesterday, Carruthers’ assertion that he could return to professional rugby in Scotland was more intriguing. The obvious question was ‘why?’ after he had experienced so much pain and, he stated, lost over £1m in the last venture. “I regret everything about it,” he admitted, reflecting on the 2006-7 involvement. “It was a very, very rushed agreement, done over one night, but we had the benefit of a cast-iron guarantee that if anything went wrong the SRU would pay.

“But we have a fantastic, exciting game, and I would like to see the game build in Scotland because I know it can be done. There is passion there from people and we’re still passionate about it. I would also like to see the Borders back because that’s the one heartland where rugby is the first game, not the second, and it’s atrocious how the SRU dealt with that.”

Carruthers insists he has backers and the funds to take on a pro side again, but if that is his intent why would he endorse a book which rehashes the bitter feud of five years ago rather than look to cultivate a positive relationship with the SRU? “When you take on Scottish rugby there are some pretty heavy forces arraigned against you, but I think I would wrong if I just shut up and said ‘that’s fine, you can conduct the game this way’, because every time I go back to Kirkcaldy [Rugby Club] they’re skint,” said Carruthers.

“More than half a billion pounds has come into SRU PLC since 1991 and we should have the best clubhouses, the best facilities, the best everything, and the guys are ending up being net-payers into it [Scottish rugby]. There has to be a balance, but the best way to achieve the balance where you get money back to the clubs is when you shoulder the burden of the professional game among entrepreneurs. It can be done because it’s done in Wales, it’s done in Ireland, it’s done in England and in France.”

Irish rugby is almost entirely funded by the IRFU, the extra coming from sponsors and the provinces’ own income generation, while Wales regions are split between WRU and entrepreneurs and English and French clubs largely funded by entrepreneurs. “I don’t think they [the SRU] are deliberatey taking the game down,” he added, “but the trajectory we’re on isn’t a good one. We’ve only got two teams and we’re 12th in the world rankings so there has to be a way to work the professional game with the club game and stop us from sliding off the scale.”

McKie’s successor, Mark Dodson, has pledged since taking over last September to re-open the commercial markets and take a more pro-active approach to sponsorship and courting investors, which is why he agreed to meet Carruthers in December.

Carruthers returned to Murrayfield for the meeting with Dodson, attended also by Ian McLauchlan, the SRU President, director of communications Dominic McKay and Graham Ireland, the SRU PLC company secretary. He suggested yesterday that he then made known his interest in becoming an investor again but The Scotsman understands that Dodson left the meeting unaware that that extended to taking on Edinburgh or re-launching a third pro team. Carruthers said that he had the backing to do that, at a budget of around £3-£4m, swelled by the £2m approximately that the SRU receive from Heineken Cup and RaboDirect competition.

The SRU insisted Dodson had not turned down any advance from Carruthers, believing no advance had been made, and reiterated they were interested in outside investment.

Dodson has met with several interested investors and new sponsors in recent weeks, but does not appear to be closer to unearthing the serious players to take on one of the existing professional teams or launch a new one.