Premiership II plans announced

Sadly Ealing will always fall foul of the minimum ground capacity regulation which I believe is Ealing's capacity +1.

Here Here well said Kimbo

What are the requirements for the URC, particularly around ground capacity?

A quick check on Wikipedia shows that the average attendance at a URC match last season was 11,200. Over 3 times that of even a bumper sell out Championship match in England, to say nothing of an average attendance at a match between two part time sides.

What should the magic number for minimum ground capacity in top level league rugby in England be? Should there even be a number? Should it be a notional one man and his dog? Many questions.

Football is and always will be a very different beast to rugby in this country, and comparisons between the two bear very little relevance for a whole host of reasons.

However, if pressed to come up with a magic number, a minimum of 5,000 capacity in rugby seems fair and sensible to me. Any less does not lend itself to a professional experience/product capable of growing the game.

As we've had 'bumper sell out' matches with in excess of 5200 recently, so that doesn't quite stack up.

However, I agree with the general point. 

Far better than any football stadium.

Love this, what strikes me watching the interviews and post game analysis is what a difference the playoffs and promotion/relegation makes. Not only in terms of meaning for players and fans but also for the tv coverage as well, no wonder sky dropped their coverage when the playoffs were removed (which incidentally was because the RFU bunged a few extra quid for a couple of seasons then dramatically dropped the funding), what an own goal by the Champ that was in hindsight.