Rugby Union: Sleepless nights over the day job

Tim Glover discovers how a promising career has been stifled

A COUPLE of months ago Robbie Hutton was playing alongside Ben Clarke and Scott Quinnell in the Richmond back row. Last week while Clarke was in Australia with England, Quinnell in Argentina with Wales, Hutton was trying to come to terms with the fact that his club no longer existed.

When Richmond were promoted to the Premiership and recruited star players from home and abroad, Hutton remained an integral member of the squad. "When the game went professional I couldn't believe I had the opportunity to earn money doing what I loved," he said.

The stars have come and gone and with English First Division Rugby incorporating Richmond and London Scottish into London Irish, Hutton is one of the last survivors clinging on to the wreckage. The rise and fall of Richmond, founded in 1861 and the world's third oldest club, has shattered the dreams of many people but Hutton has had more sleepless nights than most. He has been with the club for 15 years, pitching up on a Sunday as an 11- year-old to play junior rugby. "The last couple of months have been absolute hell," he said. "This is my rugby club and the powers that be have allowed a 138-year-old tradition to perish overnight. It's so hard to accept."

Out of a squad of 30, Hutton is one of only five survivors. A few days ago the contents of the Richmond offices were boxed up and the doors locked. Hutton still trains at the Athletic Ground, running with ghosts, but even that privilege may shortly be denied him. The ground is owned by the Crown Commissioners, but is leased by the Richmond Athletic Association on behalf of Richmond and London Scottish. Ken Bates, the chairman of Chelsea, has offered pounds 2m to buy the lease and use the facilities as Chelsea's training ground.

Should they survive as amateur clubs, Richmond and London Scottish want the Athletic Ground to remain as their home for mini rugby, colts, youth and women's teams. "We used to have one of the best youth set- ups in the country," Hutton recalled. "We beat everybody."

Richmond's problems began when Ashley Levett, who owned 86 per cent of the club, decided to cut his losses at the beginning of the year. The club went into administration in March, since when they have been fighting a losing battle. Although several rescue attempts have been made, the administrators felt they had no choice but to accept an offer of pounds 1.5m from EFDR for Richmond and London Scottish to merge with London Irish.

The Irish will have 51 per cent, the Scottish 34 and Richmond 15. Of the 1,000 new shares, the Irish have already received 510 and the Scottish 340 but Richmond's 150 have not been issued. "We've been asked to pay more than pounds 400,000 for them," Tony Dorman, the Richmond president, said. "We are getting nothing out of this. It's a joke." The Scots, meanwhile, point out that their board and members have not even met to discuss the offer and that there are "considerable legal difficulties".

The so-called super club, which will ground-share with Harlequins, will be coached by the London Irish director of rugby Dick Best. There will be few places for either Richmond or London Scottish players. Last week Hutton contacted Best - they start pre-season training on 21 June - and asked for a job. "At this stage Dick doesn't know exactly what his budget is or how many players he's going to have," Hutton said. "He told me that if I had an offer from another club I'd be wise to consider it. He couldn't promise me anything. I've been hanging on for as long as possible because, however small, there's a Richmond entity in the new club. I suppose I'll have to go and tout myself. The players are assets and extremely disposable ones at that. I'm pretty sick of it all. I love Richmond and it's been taken away. No one gives a damn any more about the Corinthian spirit. It's a business."

Hutton has also spoken to John Kingston, who resigned as Richmond coach a couple of weeks ago. "Basically he told me to grow up and get on with it. It will be the first of many flaps. He wrote us all a letter in which he suggested we should remember the good times. John's a passionate guy and he's worked his nuts off to try and save Richmond. We have come up against a playground bully and we've had neither the time nor the money to respond. Everything's out of our hands."

Hutton, who got a degree in sports science from Portsmouth University, and his brother Mike, a doctor and a former Richmond captain, both helped the club gain promotion from Division Three before the game went professional. "What makes it all the more sickening," Robbie Hutton said, "is that the camaraderie at the club was fantastic. We were never in danger of relegation and given another year I think we would have finished in the top four. Most of the players hung around for as long as possible and it was never a question of a rat deserting the sinking ship. When the EFDR put the clamp on we knew we were going down. If it had happened to any other club a lot of the boys would have jumped ship much earlier.

"This is going to happen to others. If Richmond had been on the other side of the fence I'd like to think we'd have behaved differently towards somebody in trouble."

For the time being Hutton, who is 26, will turn up for training with London Irish and take his chances. "I was tempted to put two fingers up to it all but I can't allow what has happened to affect my career. That would be unprofessional. I still think I can play. I've got to get harder and faster. I actually enjoy it. It wasn't just a job to me.

"The biggest worry all the boys have is that they're back to square one. Wherever they are all the team building has to start again. Somebody worked out that if Richmond resume in some local minor league it could take them 13 years to get back to where they were."