Championship clubs in shock over RFU’s decision

373 wrote: Trailfinder wrote: Surely it's time for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to step in and overhaul the governance of rugby in this country? It's not fit for purpose no matter which rung on the ladder your team is on. I strongly advise you to ring them tomorrow and see how far you get.

The RFU screwed up professionalism twenty five years ago and the pigeons are now coming home to roost. The only sport in this country that has the clout to be professional is Association Football, and they are so bloated with greed they will kill the goose that laid the golden egg. Every other sport just begs for scraps from their table.
Look at the 'gates' from the so-called professional Rugby leagues...somewhere between football's Championship and Division One. Yet look below that and I'll wager there's more folk support their local rugby club than football. And that's down to the game's ethos and camaraderie. Something that football will never have for all it's money. And it's time the RFU recognised this and put the support down to grass roots. And not to a bunch of firework fantasists.

Saw this, which was interesting 

Surely it's time for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to step in and overhaul the governance of rugby in this country? It's not fit for purpose no matter which rung on the ladder your team is on.

Play offs would surely be preferable to the unloved Championship Cup. 

Edited by Pirate Pig - 13 Feb 2020 at 18:06

islander wrote: For what they're worth, these are the 5 objectives/KPIs, as reported by the Times yesterday: <ul style="-sizing: border-; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 12.5px; color: rgb34, 34, 34; font-family: "Gentium Book Basic"; font-size: 16px;"><li ="responsiveweb__paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0="" yiebl"="" style="-sizing: border-;">Make steps towards becoming a financially viable league, given the average annual club loss is £260,000.<li ="responsiveweb__paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0="" yiebl"="" style="-sizing: border-;">Develop a league where more clubs have an ambition of winning promotion.<li ="responsiveweb__paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0="" yiebl"="" style="-sizing: border-;">Increase the number of English-qualified players.<li ="responsiveweb__paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0="" yiebl"="" style="-sizing: border-;">Develop future England coaches and referees.<li ="responsiveweb__paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0="" yiebl"="" style="-sizing: border-;">Develop a community programme to grow the game in the club’s region [COLOR=#222222" face="Gentium Book Basic]<span style="font-size: 16px;]my immediate thoughts in bold:</span>[/COLOR] <ul style="-sizing: border-; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 12.5px; color: rgb34, 34, 34; font-family: "Gentium Book Basic"; font-size: 16px;"><li ="responsiveweb__paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0="" yiebl"="" style="-sizing: border-;">Make steps towards becoming a financially viable league, given the average annual club loss is £260,000. - virtually all pro rugby clubs make a loss<li ="responsiveweb__paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0="" yiebl"="" style="-sizing: border-;">Develop a league where more clubs have an ambition of winning promotion. around half the clubs have either a concrete plan or ambitions to go up of some sort, in spite of the high barriers in place <li ="responsiveweb__paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0="" yiebl"="" style="-sizing: border-;">Increase the number of English-qualified players. all clubs have to field 16 EQPs in each matchday squad and invariably do<li ="responsiveweb__paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0="" yiebl"="" style="-sizing: border-;">Develop future England coaches and referees. the RFU chose to hire an Australian head coach and he hasn't dipped into the Championship in recruiting the rest of his coaching team. But does that mean there aren't qualified candidates in this league. Just this week Lee Blackett promoted at Wasps, evidence of the pathway. Loads of refs who've benefited from time in Ch'ship, Luke Pearce the most senior<li ="responsiveweb__paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0="" yiebl"="" style="-sizing: border-;">Develop a community programme to grow the game in the club’s region. loads of community work by all clubs, too much to list

Well said Islander.
Hardly a failure is it? Especially if parameters have not been put around the objectives.

Clive Norling wrote:  "You have endeavoured to make a massive mammary of yourself and have done so with much aplomb" .... Well I did that for 21 years in The Premiership, so why stop now??

Bill Sley wrote: islander wrote: You're missing the point somewhat Bill... The 5 objectives were listed in national media coverage yesterday as part of the RFU's leak on Tuesday PM ahead of the official announcement yesterday AM. They included the clubs in GKIPAC not having become sustainable - well nor are the Prem clubs - and not developing English-qualified players for the Prem and national side - in fact there's a huge list of players who've made that move. And besides, as pointed out by multiple well-placed senior sources from the clubs, these objectives weren't made clear, and they weren't monitored as an ongoing assessment such as any normal business would do with key performance indicators on a monthly/quarterly/annual basis. They were then wheeled out at a convenient stage in an attempt to justify a premeditated course of action - news that was delivered less than 3 months before the end of the current season. And besides, as you say, the RFU should have a wider purpose to represent club rugby rather than act as a venture capital/ return-on-investment type organisation... And besides, if somebody or some organisation is determined not to do something, they'll find an excuse, or more likely a multiple layer of excuses, not to do so. The RFU was clearly set on this course of action and then came up with an 'excuse framework' in which to set it. Thanks Islander - I don't think I missed the point (might have done) but more I missed the coverage in yesterdays papers. Are you saying that the clubs DID achieve the 5 objectives or didn't?

As usual the Championship is blaming the RFU when it ought to be sharing part of the blame.  Cuts to lower levels never got a mention by the clubs whilst they happily took the RFU's shilling.  The Championship does so little to help itself collectively preferring to take handouts rather than develop itself (a few clubs have taken steps to build facilities and processes I agree) in commercial terms.Everyone knew the current funding round was coming to an end.  There was no guarantee that funding would increase, or even be maintained, in the new one.  Given the RFU's financial state it was always likely to be reduced.  What actual plans did the Championship have in place to address these possibilities?  Other than to be outraged that is.  As for the so-called plan issued by a few clubs, it has little in the way of concrete proposals and is really nothing more than a statement, with pretty pictures, that they are going to think about what to do in the near future. They should have been thinking about it before.  The 'proposal' (code for 'making it up as we go along' for a third tier European competition including the French D2 has absolutely no detail whatsoever.  What incentive can the Championship possibly offer those clubs when it is already claiming to have no money.  Nothing is addressed, just a few vague ideas.  Sadly, all too symptomatic of the Championship.The RFU has never had a clue about what to do with the Championship.  Unfortunately the Championship has taken that as a sign that it didn't need to get its act together either.  The RFU has hardly covered itself with glory but the fault doesn't lie entirely there.