Abu Dhabi, 2015. The mood was jovial as board members of what was then the Cardiff Blues mixed with some of the wealthiest individuals in the Middle East.
As is custom, business wasn’t mentioned, it was just chit chat. But those present all knew the aim – to secure a bright and financially stable long-term future for Wales’ capital rugby side.
As chief executive Richard Holland exchanged pleasantries with Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, the signs were positive.
The esteemed Emirati Royal, who has family ties to Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour and similarly deep pockets, was even presented with a Cardiff tie and plaque.
Almost 10 years to the day since that meeting took place, the organisation now known as Cardiff Rugby entered administration and was instantly saved from liquidation by the Welsh Rugby Union on April 8.
So, how did an historic club – one which has seen the likes of Sam Warburton and Jonah Lomu don its famous jersey – have to rely on the Union to avoid falling out of existence? Abu Dhabi is the start of a long, complex and fascinating tale…
Cardiff Rugby were placed in administration earlier this month with the club’s owners, Helford Capital, unable to meet their funding obligations
The Welsh Rugby Union saved them from liquidation, but do not want to own Cardiff for long
It comes around a decade after a meeting with wealthy individuals in the Middle East, where a stadium development project worth up to £200million was mooted
For nigh on two decades, Peter Thomas’ millions kept Cardiff afloat. As chairman and principal benefactor, he paid the bills and filled the black holes when needed.
Some would argue his control of the club put off other potential investors. But long before he cruelly lost his battle with cancer in 2023, Thomas recognised the club needed external help.
Hence the 2015 Sheikh Nahyan meeting, which laid the platform for what Cardiff hoped at the time would be the launch of ‘Project Phoenix’ – essentially a full redevelopment of their Cardiff Arms Park home at a cost of between £100million and £200m.
Cardiff Council were on board with the development and renowned architects HOK got to work on how the new indoor venue next door to the Principality Stadium would look.
American multinational entertainment company Live Nation were also keen to be involved and bring additional commercial revenue to the venue.
The proposals were submitted by HOK in 2017 and Sheikh Nahyan was lined up to be the main financial backer. Sources have indicated to Mail Sport this idea was ‘pie in the sky’. The proposals, however, were very real.
Ultimately, the fact Cardiff Athletic Club – which owns the Arms Park and lease it to Cardiff – didn’t believe in the project stopped it from happening.
A huge opportunity was missed. The fact Cardiff operate at a stadium they do not own and therefore can’t develop continues to be something that holds the club back. Cardiff ploughed on with Thomas as their backstop.
Peter Thomas kept Cardiff afloat for almost two decades but realised they needed outside help
Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan was lined up to be the chief financial backer in proposals, though Mail Sport’s sources indicate this was a ‘pie in the sky’ idea
Former WRU chief executive Martyn Phillips had sensibly tried to lessen the reliance of Welsh rugby’s four professional sides on benefactor backing. But, only two years after Thomas’ passing, Cardiff entered administration.
Thomas was Cardiff’s regional principal investor (RPI), essentially the guarantor to the club’s debts. Thomas’ financial backing for Cardiff continued even on his deathbed.
But there was still an annual blackhole in the business of around £1.5m that needed filling. His money ‘kept the lights on’. Crucially, the RPI agreement Thomas had signed with the WRU didn’t end with his passing. Instead, it was passed down to his family and amounted to a total of circa £6m over the course of the following three years.
Thomas had already written off £15m that he had put into the club. He ran everything and was even known to monitor bar takings and stock, despite his advancing years.
The Thomas family were keen to exit the business by the middle of 2023, predominantly because they did not want to be liable for such large sums of money.
Cardiff subsequently had to look at alternative options. A merger with Welsh rivals Ospreys was actively explored, as Mail Sport reported in June 2023.
However, the WRU’s obligation to enter four teams into the United Rugby Championship meant this was a sticking point. Time to think again.
Enter Helford Capital, Phil Kempe and Neal Griffith – names that will forever send a shiver down the spines of Cardiff fans. It was they who were in charge when the club entered administration. Kempe and Griffith weren’t new faces to Cardiff, far from it, in fact.
Martyn Phillips had tried to lessen clubs’ reliance on benefactors, but this didn’t work and Cardiff have collapsed in the years after Thomas’ death
Kempe – whose background was in working with McDonald’s franchises – was the club’s link to the Middle East. It is understood he went to Millfield School with Sheikh Nahyan and first met Holland, Cardiff’s long-standing CEO, through their connection at the Celtic Manor hotel.
Kempe is understood to have been a regular presence at Cardiff games and around the club’s senior management for a long time before the Helford deal was done. Kempe would often wear a Cardiff blazer and travel with the team to away games.
He played a key role in setting up the 2015 Abu Dhabi meeting. However, it was Griffith who was seen as the primary source of financial backing rather than Kempe.
At the time, Cardiff’s hierarchy saw the Sheikh Nahyan link as ‘dreamland’. The phrase ‘This is Manchester City money’ was often used. Kempe and Griffith were involved in the oil business in the Middle East. Holland saw the pair – and Helford as an entity – as the way forward.
It is understood former Cardiff board member Martin Ryan also had a consortium lined up to invest, but Helford were chosen to succeed the Thomas family as Cardiff’s RPI.
Helford’s financially viability was overseen by the WRU, who hired Thorium Forensics to undertake the required due diligence and background checks.
Given that Helford never produced the money they promised and ultimately took Cardiff into administration, serious questions must be asked as to the work Thorium did.
Thorium describe themselves as a ‘boutique financial investigation and forensic accounting practice’ who ‘offer an unrivalled standard of service’.
Helford Capital were chosen to succeed Thomas as Cardiff’s regional principal investor and the WRU appointed Thorium Forensics to undertake checks on them
But Helford never produced the money they promised, taking the club into administration
In the case of their work with Cardiff, something clearly went wrong. The WRU have said they won’t use Thorium again. Mail Sport asked Thorium for a comment but did not receive a response.
‘We received a report that gave a clean bill of health for Helford to be funders for Cardiff,’ said Holland at a press conference confirming the WRU’s bailing out of Cardiff.
‘That included a liquidity test linked to expected financial requirement. That gave us confidence, along with the other parties, to agree to the acquisition.’ Unfortunately, that confidence was misplaced.
Former Cardiff chairman Alun Jones said: ‘A due diligence process was carried out by the WRU on behalf of Cardiff. That included financial and fit and proper testing.
‘Cardiff and the WRU did not have any input into that process. All the tests came back clear. There were no red flags.’
Helford completed a Cardiff takeover in January 2024 after acquiring an 84.55 per cent shareholding. Cardiff’s hierarchy predicted a bright future at the time.
Helford received a one-off sum of £500,000 from the Thomas family for them to exit the business. The Thomas family made no money from the takeover.
‘We have a company that entered into a contract to support Cardiff and while some funds have been received, the required amounts haven’t,’ Holland added.
The names of Neal Griffith (left) and Phil Kempe (right) will send chills down the spines of fans. There is a belief that Griffith failed to deliver on his promises
Griffith messaged after the death of club legend Alun Priday – the first time the board had heard from him since the administration process
‘I am sad and disappointed. We expected a level of funds and they (Helford) will have their reasons for being unable to provide it.’
At the turn of the year, Cardiff’s board ‘smelt a rat’. There was a feeling something wasn’t right. Griffith’s continued promises that more money was coming did not materialise.
The debts grew. The Thomas backing was no longer around and Helford were not stepping in. Trouble.
When WalesOnline contacted Cardiff regarding a story that a financial services venture led by Griffith had gone into liquidation in 2021 owing creditors £37m, there was shock and panic throughout the boardroom. It remains unclear as to whether or not Thorium were aware of this. Holland and Co certainly weren’t. A day after the story was published came the administration plan.
Sources at Cardiff have compared Griffith to the ‘Tinder Swindler’, a man who stole millions of dollars from women who were the victims of an American dating app scam.
There is no suggestion Griffith stole money from Cardiff. But the club’s former board members are clear in their belief he failed to deliver on his promises.
‘We’ve all been hoodwinked. We all believed this guy. There was no reason not to, but it was lie after lie,’ one said.
Mail Sport contacted Griffith. We were told he was unable to comment due to the likelihood of future legal proceedings.
The demise of a historic club raises serious questions about its leadership (pictured: chairman Alun Jones)
The tale of Cardiff’s demise must serve as a lesson and warning – it cannot happen again
However, it is understood when Helford agreed their Cardiff takeover, they used an accountant to assess the business and were initially told they would need to invest £300,000 over the next 12 months to cover ongoing losses. Cardiff dispute this and say the ask was above £1m. Helford later employed their own finance guru at Cardiff.
Griffith was subsequently informed Cardiff had been issued with a winding-up petition and were responsible for undisclosed liabilities of £1.5m, including £500,000 owed to an electricity supplier. He was surprised and annoyed by this.
Helford sources claim they put £1.3m into Cardiff during their time as owners, a sum that includes the £500,000 they received from the Thomas family.
Kempe is understood to have lost circa £250,000 from the administration. Griffith’s investment is understood to have been based around an overdraft facility of circa £500,000 – which was used and then repaid – but no hard cash.
Helford were left frustrated by negotiations over the value of an extension to a long-standing lease Holland and Jones signed with the WRU over the use of the Arms Park for broadcasting trucks during Principality Stadium events.
Helford sources say they cannot remember Thorium undertaking a rigorous check on their finances, but insist they would have been able to show proof of funds.
Cardiff insist Helford were made fully aware of the club’s balance sheet. It seems clear poor due diligence was undertaken on both sides of the deal.
The Cardiff board hadn’t heard from Griffith for some time prior to Holland having no other option than to go to current WRU chief executive Abi Tierney for emergency ‘lifeboat’ support. After Cardiff’s administration was confirmed, the club’s board WhatsApp group contained sad news of the death of club legend Alun Priday.
WRU chief executive Abi Tierney said it would have been ‘unthinkable’ not to save Cardiff
Despite the club’s gleaming vision, they would have ceased to exist without the WRU
Griffith responded to Priday’s passing, describing it as ‘terrible’.
Board members say it was the first time they’d heard from him since the administration process and described his behaviour as ‘brazen’. Griffith is understood to have previously agreed to a need for a ‘plan B’ at a February board meeting. At this stage, it remains unclear if Cardiff’s administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers will pursue Helford for breach of contract.
It is also unclear whether Helford will launch legal action against Cardiff and the WRU, though that is a possibility. It is unlikely we have heard the last of this.
On April 9, Holland, Jones, Tierney and WRU chairman Richard Collier-Keywood gathered for a hastily-arranged press conference in the Arms Park trophy room.
A picture of Thomas and other leading figures from Cardiff’s history hung on the wall as the powers-that-be tried to explain what had gone wrong. In an emotive, hour-long briefing following the club’s demise, it was impossible not to think what Thomas would have made of it all.
The WRU have taken plenty of criticism in the last few years, but without their interference Cardiff would have ceased to exist.
They deserve credit for their rescue mission, saving more than 150 jobs and essentially taking on Cardiff’s debts to them of circa £9m, liabilities of £300,000 and paying £480,000 for the business. Cardiff are arguably now a more stable entity under WRU control than they have been for years. When contacted regarding this story, Cardiff declined to comment.
The WRU does not want to own Cardiff for too long. It would welcome interest from other private investors, but that will not be easy to gather at a time when British club rugby continues to struggle monetarily.
Owning a team is a costly and tiring business. Cardiff’s board has been dissolved by its WRU takeover and Holland’s future remains unclear.
But whatever happens in the future, the Helford tale must serve as a salutary lesson for all involved. A repeat simply cannot be allowed to happen.
