Crusaders face high court winding-up petition on 10 November
• Super League club pursued by tax authorities
• Players accuse Welsh club over pension payments
* Andy Wilson
* guardian.co.uk, Monday 1 November 2010 18.31 GMT
Gareth Thomas Gareth Thomas gave Crusaders a boost by signing for the Welsh team last March and boosting attendances. Photograph: John Clifton/Action Images
Super League's Welsh experiment is in jeopardy again, with the Crusaders facing a winding-up petition in the high court next week and also being threatened by legal action from the Rugby League Players' Association over missing pension payments.
The club, who were taken over and relocated from Bridgend to Wrexham last winter after a disastrous debut season in the Super League in which six of their Australian players were deported, have now been presented with a petition to wind up the company from HM Revenue & Customs that is due to be heard on 10 November.
Geoff Burrow, the RLPA chairman, also revealed that eight current or former players are pursuing the Crusaders for "unlawful deduction of wages regarding pensions provision that hasn't been set up". The payments were supposed to go into an offshore fund based in Guernsey. It is not known if the two cases are linked, and the Crusaders failed to respond to inquiries about the situation today.
A spokesman for the Rugby Football League confirmed that "we've opened dialogue with them to try and get things sorted out", with further information expected this week.
The Crusaders' move to Wrexham had met with far more success than was generally expected when the club scuttled north almost exactly 12 months ago, with the former Bradford and Great Britain coach Brian Noble assembling a team that finished eighth in the Super League table and qualified for the play-offs.
Attendances at the Racecourse Ground were up significantly on the gates that had been attracted in south Wales, with a sell-out for the first game against Leeds, and the club gained huge publicity by signing the former Wales and British Lions rugby union captain Gareth Thomas. The RFL will be desperate to retain its Super League presence in Wales after the national team's success in the recent European Cup, which they won to secure a place alongside England, New Zealand and Australia in next autumn's Four Nations series. But the latest uncertainty raises further questions about how they could retain their licence beyond 2011 under the system that now determines Super League membership.
More than seven weeks after the Crusaders' 2010 season was ended by a play-off defeat at Huddersfield, there has still been no confirmation that Noble is to leave the club for his expected sabbatical in Australia, or that he will be succeeded by Iestyn Harris, the Wales coach who was one of his assistants. Jon Sharp, the former Huddersfield coach, is expected to leave the club, although Burrow denied reports that he has engaged the RLPA to claim compensation.
Wakefield Trinity, another club whose Super League membership beyond next season is widely thought to be under threat, remain confident that their plans for a new 12,000-capacity stadium will not be called in for a public inquiry, despite complaints from Leeds City Council. A decision is expected from the communities and local government secretary, Eric Pickles, within the next month.
• Super League club pursued by tax authorities
• Players accuse Welsh club over pension payments
* Andy Wilson
* guardian.co.uk, Monday 1 November 2010 18.31 GMT
Gareth Thomas Gareth Thomas gave Crusaders a boost by signing for the Welsh team last March and boosting attendances. Photograph: John Clifton/Action Images
Super League's Welsh experiment is in jeopardy again, with the Crusaders facing a winding-up petition in the high court next week and also being threatened by legal action from the Rugby League Players' Association over missing pension payments.
The club, who were taken over and relocated from Bridgend to Wrexham last winter after a disastrous debut season in the Super League in which six of their Australian players were deported, have now been presented with a petition to wind up the company from HM Revenue & Customs that is due to be heard on 10 November.
Geoff Burrow, the RLPA chairman, also revealed that eight current or former players are pursuing the Crusaders for "unlawful deduction of wages regarding pensions provision that hasn't been set up". The payments were supposed to go into an offshore fund based in Guernsey. It is not known if the two cases are linked, and the Crusaders failed to respond to inquiries about the situation today.
A spokesman for the Rugby Football League confirmed that "we've opened dialogue with them to try and get things sorted out", with further information expected this week.
The Crusaders' move to Wrexham had met with far more success than was generally expected when the club scuttled north almost exactly 12 months ago, with the former Bradford and Great Britain coach Brian Noble assembling a team that finished eighth in the Super League table and qualified for the play-offs.
Attendances at the Racecourse Ground were up significantly on the gates that had been attracted in south Wales, with a sell-out for the first game against Leeds, and the club gained huge publicity by signing the former Wales and British Lions rugby union captain Gareth Thomas. The RFL will be desperate to retain its Super League presence in Wales after the national team's success in the recent European Cup, which they won to secure a place alongside England, New Zealand and Australia in next autumn's Four Nations series. But the latest uncertainty raises further questions about how they could retain their licence beyond 2011 under the system that now determines Super League membership.
More than seven weeks after the Crusaders' 2010 season was ended by a play-off defeat at Huddersfield, there has still been no confirmation that Noble is to leave the club for his expected sabbatical in Australia, or that he will be succeeded by Iestyn Harris, the Wales coach who was one of his assistants. Jon Sharp, the former Huddersfield coach, is expected to leave the club, although Burrow denied reports that he has engaged the RLPA to claim compensation.
Wakefield Trinity, another club whose Super League membership beyond next season is widely thought to be under threat, remain confident that their plans for a new 12,000-capacity stadium will not be called in for a public inquiry, despite complaints from Leeds City Council. A decision is expected from the communities and local government secretary, Eric Pickles, within the next month.