London Broncos head coach Mike Eccles has responded to reports of imminent investment in the capital club.
There have been multiple reports that investment in London Broncos is close with the Championship club in need of funding following the departure of long-term investor David Hughes.
Hughes announced late last year that he would be stepping away from the club after 27 years of support with the club’s position under the IMG system being something that he had previously criticised.
London’s lowly IMG score effectively ensured that they were relegated before a ball was kicked and left them unable to recruit properly, something that has been the same again this off-season albeit this time due to their lack of finances.
Despite that, they have managed to contract 12 players and have recently brought players in on loan from Wigan Warriors, whilst also having several triallists.
Ahead of the Broncos’ Challenge Cup clash against Goole Vikings this weekend, head coach Mike Eccles has responded to reports of investment in the club whilst also discussing the year-long plan for London.
London Broncos have a “couple of options” as coach talks investment
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Speaking at the Championship and League One launch, Mike Eccles has spoken to club media about how the Broncos must ‘build through the year’ with the need to ‘stabilise’ being paramount.
“We have to build through the year as investment comes in,” he explained.
“The important word to use is stabilising. We’ve stabilised over the last couple of months and have been able to pay salaries.”
Regarding reports of investment, with the most prominent suggesting that Brisbane Broncos were set to invest, something the NRL club later denied – Eccles offered clarification
He said: “There has been a lot of noise this week about off-field stuff that mostly isn’t true so yeah we are actively still searching for the right investment group.
“We’ve got a couple of options on the table which we’re talking about and discussing all the time. ”
He also explained that investment would not change lots at the moment, noting: “Even if there was huge investment overnight, which there isn’t, we wouldn’t be able to spend that money wisely as players aren’t available.
“It’s going to be a slow build but we’ll get it right. We have to manage expectations. We built well in 2023 to win the competition but that’s not the case this year, we need to ensure that we stabilise the club and pay salaries.
“We need to ensure that we compete in the Championship and ensure we don’t get relegated. We can’t take our eye off that, ensure we tick that box first and then move upwards from there.”
