North Wales Crusaders Set to Return to Championship Action
North Wales Crusaders will resume competing in the Championship this Saturday following a challenging period that threatened the club's survival.
The Colwyn Bay-based team had to cancel their previous two matches after players left due to unpaid wages.
This situation arose after the former owners, The EggChaser Group, announced they would cease funding the club, despite the Crusaders having secured the League One title last year.
A new entity, NW Rugby League 26 Ltd, has now taken control and received an interim licence from the Rugby Football League (RFL) to continue participation in the 2026 season.
Consequently, the Crusaders will fulfill their upcoming fixture against Goole Vikings on Saturday, although they must rebuild their squad from the ground up.
"The context of the season has changed now," said Conrad Anderson, a club volunteer involved in ensuring the club's continuation.
"Obviously a new board has been assembled, it's been rectified and a new company has been set up.
"That will give us the best chance to go again in 2027.
"We've got to be upbeat, and at the end of the day the club has been through the wars."
Ownership Changes and Financial Challenges
The Crusaders were acquired in December 2024 by Bobby Watkins and his son Arun, a Zambia rugby union sevens international.
Following their League One championship victory last year, the club earned promotion to the revamped Championship, with then-chairman Bobby Watkins expressing ambitions for the Super League.
In 2021, North Wales Crusaders relocated to Colwyn Bay's Eirias Stadium from Wrexham.
However, in April, the Surrey-based EggChaser Group declared it would "no longer fund the additional costs to run the club with immediate effect." Players, unpaid for several months, subsequently left, rendering their contracts null and void.
The club was compelled to forfeit their 1895 Cup match against Midlands Hurricanes and cancel a league game away to Doncaster.
"I just think the previous owners have lived beyond their means basically and it became very obvious to them that they couldn't fill the pictures," Anderson explained during a fans forum in Wrexham on Wednesday.
"They basically pulled the funding and refused to pay players essentially, and that became a legality with the former players that have now left.
"So the squad which we built up in the beginning of this year have now gone to other clubs.
"At the moment we are speaking to players' agents to assemble a squad for a fixture which is going to happen on Saturday.
"I do think the like-minded people coming together who love the club, if you cut them open they'll be Crusaders through and through.
"We're people that care about the club and it's basically been a race against the clock to get the business plan over, and the proposals over that have been signed off by the RFL.
"We're very confident that we're in a good place and we will succeed."
Club History and Community Spirit
North Wales Crusaders were established in 2011 after the previous Crusaders team withdrew from Super League and subsequently folded.
"We've gone through this several times before but the fans are resilient and they will fight and we will not let it go," Anderson added.
"It brings the community together in some aspects as well and I think it's hard hats on, camaraderie, let's do it and that bringing almost a community spirit.
"Yes, it's nice to win a game but it's not about that really - it's about community.
"Obviously we had our ambitions at the beginning of the year but the squad was worth six figures - now it's five figures.
"You're going to see a bit of a difference.
"We've got to be realistic about it. We're not going to win every game and it's going to be some tough afternoons.
"But... the narrative has changed, it's all about existing and I think as long as we can compete and fulfil our obligations we're in a good place."
