Titans up for sale with challenge to sustain recent form

Titans players applaud their supporters at the end of the Championship play-off semi-final defeat to Bristol. (
Picture: Dean Atkins) — Titans players applaud their supporters at the end of the Championship play-off semi-final defeat to Bristol. ( Picture: Dean Atkins)

Custodians Nick Cragg and Martin Jenkinson are relinquishing control and seek new owners to help the Titans maintain their place at the top end of the Championship. Rotherham finished as the highest-placed Yorkshire team in the rugby pyramid this season, reaching the Championship’s promotion play-offs for the second successive season.

On both occasions they lost in the semi-final to Bristol, but it is not necessarily on the pitch where they are falling short in their quest to regain a place in the Premiership.

Their current ground at Clifton Lane does not meet the minimum standards criteria set by Premier Rugby and if they were to even win promotion the Titans would have to play out of town, with Barnsley’s Oakwell football stadium one possible destination.

They are still to confirm where they will play next season, with the owners of their Clifton Lane ground – Rotherham Athletic Company – issuing a new lease for the union club to sign, something neither side has reached agreement on.

Cragg and Jenkinson saved the club in 2004 after their disastrous second spell in the Premiership nearly ended in financial ruin.

Director Jenkinson said: “Running a Championship level club in Rotherham has required commitment and hard work.

“We now need fresh ideas and support if the club is to continue to produce the level of rugby that we all love to see.”

Chairman Cragg added: “We are immensely proud of our achievements in taking the Titans to a top-four Championship club over the last 10 years.

“But the club’s journey doesn’t end here; with the anticipation of the Rugby World Cup, plus the additional financial support from the RFU for the new season, there has never been a better time for the next generation to take the reins. Many professional clubs are striving to find a model which is sustainable and we are no different. It could be that this proposition rests on the shoulders of the many rather than the few.”

Interested parties are requested to express interest in writing to Nicholas Associates Limited, Reginald Arthur House, Percy Street, Rotherham S65 1ED or contact 01709 789000.