Salary cap article

Exactly.

The Salary Cap is a 'Cap' not a 'target'.

If Chinnor only want to spend £150k on players, no problem, get on with it.

If other Clubs stay within the cap but spend more than Chinnor they will probably finish higher in the league, which is obviously what Chinnor are worried about.

I have followed Rolling Maul for many years and observed many constructive discussions along with others not so constructive based on hearsay and half truths. I have watched silently as we have been criticised as we have come through the leagues for one thing or another and various rumours and speculation repeated . However this issue is of such importance that I do feel the need to inform the debate. Of course everyone is entitled to disagree but I would hope in these circumstances everyone is able to address the issues I raise constructively  and stay away from personal attacks.

I was Captain of Chinnor in the 80’s , have been its principal sponsor for some 25 years and been Chairman and President and Board member for a combined total of 12 years.

I have come to accept and respect that all clubs have their own way of doing things and providing they comply with the rules and regulations then all is fair . Integrity is also important . 

Therefore in these extraordinary circumstances I have tried to start an honest debate on some fundamental issues and if there is an element of self interest in the proposals I would respectfully suggest that is no more than most of those that comment also apply . However believe it or not my approach is principally driven by a care of the whole game and how it will look in a year or two and going forward.

It is the case that this situation we find ourselves in is unprecedented and already has caused more instant economic and social disruption than anyone thought possible. Apart from supermarkets ,Amazon and PPE manufacturers every business in the land has had to make savage cuts ,many temporary and many permanent including mine. I have been a Principal of a Company through three major recessions but have never seen anything like this. I do believe that it will not be as long lasting as they normally are but it is more instantly brutal and will require intensive thought and action if one is to survive. Unfortunately for some , nothing they do will enable them to withstand the sheer force of this and they will lose everything they have worked for. We do need to gain some degree of perspective therefore as at the end of the day this is just a game and we need therefore to apportion the degree of risk that we should sensibly bear. I am very fortunate to have a Board at Chinnor that are very experienced in commerce and we have carried out many permutations on budgets and in no scenario is there anything other than a massive reduction in income and I do not see how any other Club at any level could arrive at any other conclusion . Historically we have had a casualty between the Champ and the next three levels down of maybe 1 Club every 3 or 4 seasons where a club has over extended themselves in the quest for promotion .I fear that if Clubs do not make major contingency plans now then that number could multiply many times over within the space of 12-18 months.  Indeed our current worst forecasts show two months of cancelled play but I am most rapidly coming to the conclusion that there is a significant prospect of no play at all in our Game which involves extreme personal contact and I fail to see how in the absence of a vaccine you can ask anyone to go and do battle. Such a vaccine is I gather many months if not a year or two away and regardless of the financial concerns of what the future might hold   it is on that  point alone we should be exercising extreme caution .

I know I am biased, but its hard to find a fault with the logic in Simon's posting. 

Clubs that have already signed contracts with employees (thats what they are after all) and state that there will be no changes are potentially going to push themselves to the edge even quicker.   

Rugby is no different to any other mass participation audience event and I would ask "Will you be flocking to Twickenham for the 6 Nations when there is no vaccination?" If you are, then let me know because you can have my tickets!

A major flaw in the system is how is the salary cap defined and policed? 

The current level was set in consultation with the clubs and the clubs were happy with it because it was set at a level that most of the clubs either couldn't afford to exceed or didn't want to so it is easy to police, however, if the salary cap is reduced there will be a number of ambitious clubs who will work around it and break it to attract the better players to give them an advantage, these clubs will be the ones who have a benefactor who is willing to "employ" players separately to the club they are sponsoring thus keeping that clubs playing budget below the salary cap, even with the current salary cap it is happening throughout the divisions resulting in those clubs going on to win promotion.

Summing up it would be very difficult to police, and it would hand an advantage to those clubs who have the type of benefactor who is prepared to help them bend the rules. 

and at risk of repeating myself it is up to the clubs how much they want to allocate to a playing budget as long as they don't exceed the set salary cap levels, nothing is broken so nothing needs fixing!!!