Exclusive: Toronto Wolfpack players set to launch legal action against former owners

The former players of Toronto Wolfpack are set to launch legal proceedings against the club’s former owner, David Argyle, with the assistance of the Rugby League Players Association and the Rugby Football League, Love Rugby League can reveal.

Almost four years on from the club’s initial withdrawal from Super League, many of Toronto’s squad from the 2020 season are still waiting on as much as six months’ worth of unpaid salaries. They have been promised that money will arrive on numerous occasions but now, the matter appears destined to be heading for the courts.

Love Rugby League has been told that the RLPA, a branch of the GMB union and the official players union in the United Kingdom, have sent a letter to Argyle and his representatives informing them that they are now ready to take legal action to recoup the money owed to players, which is believed to be in excess of £1million.

Argyle had been making what had been described as “good-will” payments in the region of £1,150 to the players over a period of several months but those payments have now ceased, leaving the RLPA with no option but to consider legal proceedings.

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They have support and assistance from the RFL on the matter, who are collectively determined to recoup the money the players are owed which in many cases totals tens of thousands of pounds. Some of Toronto’s squad from that 2020 season have subsequently gone part-time or left the sport altogether.

The head of the RLPA, Garreth Carvell, said all the way back in 2022 that the union were fully prepared to escalate matters if the players didn’t get their money.

“Where our members are owed wages, there is no way we’ll give up fighting for them, no matter how long that takes,” he said almost two years ago. We are, along with the RFL, at a stage where we will have no choice but to take legal action should there be any more delays. 

“This may prove to be a long, drawn-out process for our members with, potentially, no more prospects of seeing the money than we have now.”

Argyle has been approached for comment but was yet to respond at the time of publication.

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