Knowles has top flight ambition for Cornish PiratesImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Nick Knowles is the newest new investor to join Champ side Cornish PiratesByBrent PilnickBBC Sport EnglandPublished4 hours agoTV 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.”
