91Èȱ¬

Former Premiership club Wasps have moved a step closer to a return to professional rugby by securing land to build a new stadium in Kent.

The six-time Premiership title winners were relegated after going into administration two years ago with debts of £95m.

They were then subsequently barred from competing in the Championship last season but have applied to re-enter the second tier for 2025-26.

Club owner Christopher Holland said the club had secured a 10-year option on private land in Pedham Place as part of a wider development scheme south of Swanley, Kent.

"It is rewarding that we have managed to achieve this milestone with the support of key stakeholders," he said.

"It brings our aspiration of a new home in the region closer and hopefully demonstrates our determination to recover Wasps sustainably."

Sevenoaks District Council said the stadium development on the outskirts of Swanley had been promoted by the club as part of the area's new local plan and the public would be able to have their say before the plan is finalised.

"Further down the line, the Wasps proposals would require planning consent, which again would give the public an opportunity to have their say and actively engage in the process," a council spokesman said.

Mr Holland told 91Èȱ¬ Sport "with the best will in the world, it's going to be four years" before the proposed new stadium would be finished and the club aimed to have plans ready some time next year.

The Premiership was cut from 13 clubs to 10 in the space of one season as Worcester Warriors, London Irish and Wasps all buckled under financial strain.

Wasps were once a powerhouse of English rugby, winning seven trophies in a glorious six-season spell from 2002 to 2008 with players including England World Cup winners Lawrence Dallaglio, Josh Lewsey and Joe Worsley.

The club claimed three consecutive Premiership titles between 2003 and 2005, achieving a league and European Champions Cup double in 2003-04.

Originally a north-west London club based in Sudbury, they shared Queens Park Rangers' home at Loftus Road, Shepherds Bush from 1996 to 2002, when they moved to groundshare with Wycombe Wanderers at Adams Park.

In 2014, the club then relocated to the Midlands, quickly becoming ground owners at the Ricoh Arena - and landlords to Coventry City, the club for whom the stadium was built.

Wasps were suspended in October 2022 before going into administration a week later and making 167 players and staff redundant.

Worcester's vacated Sixways had been an option for Wasps to return to playing competitive rugby but in October 2023 Holland said the owners were determined to return the club to the south east.