Nick Knowles is the latest new investor to join Champ side Cornish Pirates [Getty Images] TV presenter Nick Knowles believes Cornish Pirates are capable of becoming a sustainable Prem club. The presenter of shows such as DIY SOS and National Lottery: Who Dares Wins invested in the Pirates earlier this month. He is one of a number of new investors to join the Penzance-based Champ club over the past year or so. American firm Stonewood Capital Management took a stake in May to join a consortium of local businessmen who took over the club from long-serving owner Dick Evans in January 2025. Knowles feels the sport's place in the area's heritage - including their 1991 County Championship final win - shows there is a base for a top flight team. "There's a lot of conversations going on about whether the Premiership will be sealed off or not but we're in negotiations and talking to the RFU," Knowles told BBC Radio Cornwall. "Rugby is as much part of Cornwall as tin mines and and pasties, it's just always been there. "40,000 Cornish made their way up to Twickenham, which at that stage in 1991 was thought to be about 10% of the population, so it's massively important. "Then on top of that you've got this amazing identity that Cornwall has, it's the other Celtic nation. "All Cornish people know this, but not necessarily the rest of the country does, but Kernow is more of a country in its own right rather than just a county, "So there's that massive identity and we just really want to wake up that 40,000 people and that huge fan base to get up behind the Pirates again and see if we can get that sense of belonging and the cream rising to the top."
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Knowles describes himself as 'Cornish by choice', having struck up an affinity with the county during holidays from his native London as child. A keen rugby player and fan, he has continued to visit the area ever since and is a regular visitor to the Mennaye Field for Pirates matches. "I'm not somebody who's never played rugby and just has turned up and decided to join in," he explained. "I'm not somebody who lives around the corner and has decided that I'd like the Cornish Pirates to do better. "I'm a rugby man and I think that the whole rugby landscape in the UK would be better for having a Cornish team there and the massive fan base that there is in Cornwall being represented at the highest level. "We know we've got the players coming out of the area, we know we've got the fan base that's sitting there waiting to wake up and join in. "We know there's the pride of Kernow in that identity. That's a rich recipe, and we've now pulled together an amazing team of investors and dynamic people to try and pick this up and do something with it." Cornish Pirates beat neighbours Camborne 50-28 in their first pre-season match on Saturday [Brian Tempest] The club have a 10-year plan to try and get to the top of the Champ and be ready for the top flight. However, under new rules that came in last season there is no automatic promotion for the Champ winners. Clubs have to show the rugby authorities that they have a business plan and infrastructure that would support a Prem side. And while the Pirates still have much work to do, especially when it comes to finding a venue suitable to host top flight games, Knowles thinks the whole county would benefit from a top flight side. "If you think about when people come to Bath, for games in Bath, the city comes alive and all the restaurants and the hotels and everybody does really well because people come for a weekend," he added. "I'd love people from the rest of the country to be coming down, especially with the new road you've got in there and an airport just up the road, so there's all kinds of different ways of getting there now that are easier. "So I'd like those people all coming down and all that money being spent in Cornwall and helping the local economy. It'd be a massive boost to the economy. "I know that Cornish people don't like a lot of change. But how fantastic to have that influx of people and coming down and bringing all that wealth to spend in Cornwall."
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