Wasps handed sensational lifeline for the dead

The Wasps were European Champions for the second time in 2007, but were to start the following season in the 4 counties of Midland West. Photo: CARL DE SOUZA/AFP via Getty Images

Chris Holland, who owns the club's training facility and his intellectual property, was given permission to play at the Solihull Moors FC stadium and was considering renting the Sixways stadium in Worcester as they tried to secure funding for the club to play in the Championship next season.

It is understood that the RFU also tried to help the club secure funding, including introducing Holland to a potential investor believed to be a British billionaire and holding meetings to try and secure funding. But uncertainty about the future structure of the top two levels and whether the ups and downs will be maintained has proven to be a sticking point.

Sources at the club say the potential benefactor's conclusion was that he was simply not investable due to a lack of certainty in the league's structure, the situation of rugby lenders and a lack of certainty about what they were being told. .

The RFU denied Wasps' 10-day extension to confirm their funding arrangements, but the decision came after the club failed to provide guarantees on several terms, including paying its rugby creditors and appointing a rugby director.

However, while this decision devastated those who tried to revive the club, it now appears that the door will remain open for their return in the «medium term» as both PRL and RFU see the Wasps brand and its supporter base as the key to success and raising the status of the championship with a rebrand.

As the Premier League and Championship are set to move to a franchise basis under a new professional gaming deal with the RFU to be signed next year, the Wasps may be offered the chance to apply for a franchise once the » new leagues.

«We need brands like Wasps and Worcester in the championship and in the medium term there should be a way to get them back faster by restructuring the championship to get them back in the right place in the country,» said one a senior source in the premier league.

Another senior source said: «We need strong brands to make Prem 2 viable.»