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The scale of the revolt against Bill Sweeney was laid bare on Thursday night as 141 clubs from across England piled unprecedented pressure on the RFU board to sack him.
Sweeney, 67, faces the greatest challenge to a standing RFU chief executive in the professional era, in light of the pay and bonuses scandal which erupted in November.
The rebels who have moved against him, and have already successfully seen off the chairman Tom Ilube, who resigned before Christmas, have gathered in huge numbers to express their disdain for the RFU leadership.
They have far surpassed the 100 member signatures required to call for a special general meeting (SGM). Clubs across several levels of English rugby, from the Championship downwards, and throughout every region of the country have officially signed up, showing the level of anger across the country.
On Thursday evening The RFU received notice of the motion to call for an SGM, which includes a request for the union’s board to terminate Sweeney’s employment “as soon as practicably possible”.
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The RFU, however, have rejected the validity of this letter on bureaucratic grounds. Their rules state that any call for an SGM must be signed by two leaders of each club — this letter they have received has no signatures, but lists the 141 clubs that support it.
The RFU also say it is out of date, as two of the motions mention Ilube, who has already left. The rebels purposefully did not update the motion they sent to clubs in December, otherwise they would have to restart the entire pain-staking process.
If the appropriate signatures are forthcoming Sweeney will therefore face the music by the end of next month, during the Six Nations.
The RFU board can resist a call from the membership to sack Sweeney. Constitutionally, the clubs can only remove the chairman.
Those that are rallying support for this rebellion have gone public as they want more clubs to sign up. They have been writing to clubs directly since mid-December as they are worried that many have not received their call to join, as their letters have been blocked by some RFU council members who they claim are either staying “silent” or briefing others not to sign up.
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They cite Sweeney’s pay, “excessive bureaucracy” for registering players, poor financial results — the RFU have lost around £130million over the last two World Cup cycles — the “debacle” of the introduction of a lower tackle-height in community rugby, poor governance and “wasted money spent on sacking England coaching staff” as reasons for their dismay.
Some of the signatories of the motion to remove him have offered a stinging criticism of his leadership, many going public for the first time.
In a statement from the Rugby Football Referees’ Union (RFRU), who have been organising the uprising, and member clubs of the RFU, the union’s administration stands accused of a “failure to find a whole-game solution to the whole-game problems English rugby faces”.
The RFU have been told they are “driven by data, not by empathy” and that there is an “overwhelming” and “universal” feeling they are not doing a good job.
The statement adds: “Further resolutions may well be tabled following the publication of the [legal firm] Freshfields review into extraordinary bonus payments made in a year of extraordinary financial losses.
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“The signatories to the letter now urge other member clubs and constituent bodies who have not been able so far to join — or have not been aware of this mass movement to bring about reform and positive change — to add their weight.”
Much of the ill feeling in the game has coalesced after the RFU published its annual report last year. The Times revealed before it was published that Sweeney was paid £1.1million, including a bonus of £358,000. This was a record pay-packet for the leader of a British sports governing body — excluding pay-offs.
Five other executive directors shared a bonus of close to £1million while the RFU made 42 staff redundant and made a record loss of £37.9million.
Since those revelations were made public, the pressure mounted on the RFU leadership. Chairman Ilube, 61, was seen as “target No1” for a large, angry faction of the game as he signed off on the award of these bonuses as part of the remuneration committee.
The RFU has always stood by its long-term incentive plan (LTIP), through which Sweeney unlocked his large bonus, although have refused to take questions on it publicly.
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The governing body installed the LTIP in 2021 to keep a strong executive team together during the pandemic, and reward them for their service in that time, although two of the executive team left before it matured in 2024. The RFU says it was put in after an extensive “external benchmarking” process, yet critics of it feel it was not an appropriate scheme for a sports governing body.
Ilube eventually was convinced to resign in late December, as the Times revealed, and will be replaced as chairman on an interim basis by Sir Bill Beaumont, 72.
Summing up the fury, Paddy McAlpine, the chairman of Chichester RFC from level six of English rugby’s pyramid, said: “Every club I know wants to see change at the top, new leadership and a new approach to taking English rugby forward at all levels.”
Having received the letter, the RFU said: “The letter contains a number of inaccuracies. It does not comply with the relevant requirements and is therefore invalid as a requisition for an SGM.”
