One of the most famous club rugby teams in the world is taking the plunge into the fixed income market.

Just as the late rock artist David Bowie once enlightened us all with the idea of securitisation by issuing bonds that used his music oeuvre as collateral, a rather different entity in the shape of UK rugby team Harlequin FC is issuing a five-year bond.

The bond, paying 5.5 per cent gross interest, is designed to raise £7.5 million ($10.7 million) although the club might issue up to £15 million to meet demand. But investors – and no doubt the club’s fans – will be interested to know that they can buy as little as £2,000 of this paper. Members of the club, match ticket buyers and others can buy the paper in a so-called priority period that ends on 3 May.

A possible “catch” for regular fixed income investors is that the bonds cannot be traded so these are classic buy-and-hold instruments with club loyalists and supporters in mind.

The club is marking its 150th anniversary this year and wants to invest on and off the field. Holders of the new bonds hope recent financial performance continues. In the financial year ending 30 June last year, it logged £17.9 million in turnover, a record, rising 18 per cent on the previous 12 months. Club membership is up 13 per cent, at 8,079.

An institution such as Harlequin FC may not have the financial clout of European top-flight soccer teams, or for that matter the riches of the late Bowie, but for some investors at least, rugby might yield returns above and beyond the joys and pain of watching their team scrap it out on the field of play.