The club has always believed in the strength of its case for admittance into the Aviva Premiership, as winners of the RFU Championship, and today’s outcome confirms that we were right to appeal against the decision that London Welsh should not be promoted.
The fundamental strength of our case was based not only on overwhelming legal merits, including in particular anti-competition grounds, but also, equally importantly, on the fairness and justice of rewarding through promotion the team winning on the pitch.
It is therefore not only a victory for London Welsh, its players, coaching staff and all its supporters but also for sport in general and the game of rugby union in particular, reinforcing the ethos and fundamental sporting ethic that the best team should receive the appropriate rewards.
This is reflected in the decision of the Appeal Panel, received earlier this evening, and which was referenced in the RFU press release.
The club would like to thank again its players and coaching staff for their endeavours and commitment last season in bringing the Championship title to London Welsh, and especially for their patience and understanding over the past month as we went through the appeal process.
We would also like to express our very deep thanks to our legal team of Tom De La Mare QC and Tom Richards, of Blackstone Chambers, as well as to Trevor Watkins and his team from Pinsent Masons for doing such a tremendous job in such a short period of time, and for representing the interests of London Welsh so strongly.
Finally, a very big thank you to our very loyal supporters as well as to leading figures, not only in rugby but other sporting spheres, for their encouragement and assistance over recent weeks
