Premiership II plans announced

Paul10 wrote: I don't know about that. Having a big "known" club nearby helps with mini and junior rugby. My son's team have waved flags and done training at Bedford and watched matches at Northampton. We had a Saints academy lad come to take one training session. The boys loved it. Do Quins reach as far as Kent?

Kimbo wrote: gerg_861 wrote: Se7en wrote: Yes I saw an article about how things seem to have been quietly moving along with Wasps more than I and others had realised.  This part caught my eye: “It has already been agreed that the second tier will be expanded to 14 clubs next year. The roadmap for the club’s return will be laid out by the new Tier Two Board once it is up and running, having been given authority by the RFU council. Research commissioned by Premiership Rugby and shared with Wasps demonstrated that Kent was the best location in England for a new professional rugby club.” Good luck creating a club on £130K. Also, I wonder if the amateur club have any say, as it is their name. With a sizeable ground share now sorted, I do still wonder where their actual squad, coaches and backroom staff will be coming from, on full-time professional contracts of course. I hope there won't be too much poaching from other clubs going on. I'm interested in what kind of club they can build for £150k. Nah. They'll offer a bond to mugs - sorry, investors - to make themselves the Richest Rugby Club in Europe. Worked before... didn't it?

What Wasps do is not the point . The issue is do the RFU accept the principal that any future club can simply buy themselves into the Championship without going through the pyramid of league rugby let alone any club who has a previous record of insolvency?. This would lead to the principal of "Franchise" teams dominating the game. What would stop a major football club simply creating a Rugby section with all their funding and profile (which this is the main reason that the RFU want Wasps back into the top 2 leagues).

workerbee wrote: What Wasps do is not the point . The issue is do the RFU accept the principal that any future club can simply buy themselves into the Championship without going through the pyramid of league rugby let alone any club who has a previous record of insolvency?. This would lead to the principal of "Franchise" teams dominating the game. What would stop a major football club simply creating a Rugby section with all their funding and profile (which this is the main reason that the RFU want Wasps back into the top 2 leagues). Any move by the RFU would certainly create a chasm between levels 1 and 2 and the rest of the Rugby structure.

workerbee wrote: What Wasps do is not the point . The issue is do the RFU accept the principal that any future club can simply buy themselves into the Championship without going through the pyramid of league rugby let alone any club who has a previous record of insolvency?. This would lead to the principal of "Franchise" teams dominating the game. What would stop a major football club simply creating a Rugby section with all their funding and profile (which this is the main reason that the RFU want Wasps back into the top 2 leagues). Any move by the RFU would certainly create a chasm between levels 1 and 2 and the rest of the Rugby structure.

Robb wrote: workerbee wrote: What Wasps do is not the point . The issue is do the RFU accept the principal that any future club can simply buy themselves into the Championship without going through the pyramid of league rugby let alone any club who has a previous record of insolvency?. This would lead to the principal of "Franchise" teams dominating the game. What would stop a major football club simply creating a Rugby section with all their funding and profile (which this is the main reason that the RFU want Wasps back into the top 2 leagues). Any move by the RFU would certainly create a chasm between levels 1 and 2 and the rest of the Rugby structure.    Wasn't that what Newcastle United did with Gosforth RFC at the birth of professionalism?

A little history on how Newcastle evolved from Gosforth, to Newcastle Gosforth & then Newcastle Falcons :

https://www.centurion-rugby.com/blogs/rugby/92374273-history-of-the-newcastle-falcons

sedgley dave wrote: There was an article in The Times last week which, sadly, I have binned, so this is from memory. The return of Wasps, to the Championship initially, was presented as a fait accompli, and apparently welcomed by a spokesman from Canterbury Rugby Club. There was a good point made, I thought, that any budding young professional in Kent currently has a long way to travel to train with either Quins or Saracens, and that was the main point of the article, that having a Premiership club there would beneficial to the game. It was also said (again, if my memory is correct) that Canterbury is the leading club in Kent (is it?) and that they were trying to consolidate in National 1.

Edited by Robb - 1 hour 52 minutes ago at 15:37