Wasps secure land for new stadium

Former English Premiership Rugby club Wasps have secured land in Kent to build a new stadium, taking a step closer to returning to professionalism.

Wasps owner Christopher Holland said the rugby union club had secured a 10-year option on land as part of a wider development scheme in Swanley.

“It is rewarding that we have managed to achieve this milestone with the support of key stakeholders,” he said in a statement.

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

The six-time Premiership winners were relegated after going into administration two years ago with debts of £95m ($120m/€114m).

The club was then barred from competing in the Championship, which is the second tier of club rugby in England, but has applied to re-enter for the 2025-26 season.

As well as Worcester Warriors and London Irish, Wasps buckled under financial strain, resulting in the Premiership being cut from 13 teams to 10 in the space of one season.

Wasps had occupied various homes in London from its inception in 1866 up to 2002, when the club moved to share Adams Park with football team Wycombe Wanderers.

In 2014, the club relocated to the West Midlands to play at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena, which is now known as Coventry Building Society Arena.

Worcester Warriors’ vacated Sixways Stadium had been an option for Wasps to return to playing competitive rugby.

Previously, Wasps had asked Sevenoaks Council, also in Kent, to include an allocation for a 28,000-seat stadium at one of two locations near Swanley – either Pedham Place Golf Club, or nearby Petham Court Farm.The first location is said to be on the radar of housing developers Gladman and Ramac who want to build 2,500 homes on the site, while the second location is currently agricultural land.