Not sure this really passes the smell test but then nothing about PRL smells particularly good these days. From my perspective it would be an unsatisfactory way to get into the Premiership without having earned the right via legitimate promotion.

Nothing about the 20/21 season is normal though, I can see a series of friendlies taking place but not a full blown league season unfortunately.

For what it's worth, I am in favour of a 'Premiership 2' league made up of fully professional clubs irrespective of facilities, with a 10 team 'Premiership 1' league.

It's the Daily Mail Brizzer, of course it's not true... 

'For what it's worth, I am in favour of a 'Premiership 2' league made up of fully professional clubs irrespective of facilities, with a 10 team 'Premiership 1' league.

Great suggestion particularly if its backed up with a cup competition involving the teams in both leagues and ideally automatically two teams promoted/relegated each year. '

Gents of the current 12 Premiership teams at least 3 are almost already in the financial waste basket. Only Saracens and Ealing in the Championship can afford after this season to remain full time. We will be lucky to have one league of 12 full time teams going forward- a second professional league is simply dreaming.

Pretty much all Premiership clubs can’t afford the Premiership without their 1 or few wealthy owner/investors.  They can disappear quickly and hard to replace.

That's what Saracens fans were saying when the Daily Mail broke the news about their cheating and then dug up so much evidence PRL could no longer sweep it under the carpet.

I would have liked Ealing to have been promoted into the Premiership but would any club who had the money turn that opportunity down ?.

How many chances will there ever be before it is truly ringfenced. The decision is  solely Mike Gooleys owner of Trailfinders. 

But then, this is rugby.

As for $aracen$, it's a club that cheated for years and if its decision to accept relegation rather than demonstrate for all to see that it was still cheating rebounds on it due to unforeseeable circumstances then I say 'tough, shouldn't have cheated'.

Without funding from the RFu - or a TV contract - the Championship cannot exist as anything other than semi-pro.

Assuming Ealing and Saracens go up - you will need 6 (or possibly more) clubs from leaghue 1 to step up. This would be the only national league.

Then we can regionalise underneath that. Possibly with 14 team leagues to give players  a little more time off to recover.  And I believe three conferences is about right.

I can see numerous reasons why Ealing, they've consistently finished 2nd in the last 3 seasons losing out to the relegated PRL Side. They have infrastructure that already would be of envy to some premiership sides and have plans to add to this (an indoor training facility i believe is on the way). Being based in West London, provides the potential for alot of future supporters coupled with the fact that the area is a rugby hotbed. 

Saracens are one of the leading sides in England, yes they were caught breaking the salary cap but who says others aren't at the same time?. They were winning titles in Europe versus sides with bigger budgets than them.... I believe the French league handled their incident alot better....

I do believe that in the future we should have a side in Cornwall and Yorkshire but i don't believe either side are ready, ET are.

I do feel that this is a number that's been inflated by the media, Exeter paid £5 million for theirs.

Excuse me but ET did not finish 2nd last season as the league was not completed, Pirates were only one point behind with a superior points difference and still had to play them. Seeing as we beat them 30-10 in our first encounter it was not a foregone conclusion that ET would have won the return. also they still had to play Newcastle and we didn't so anything could have happened.ET as yet do not have a Premier ready ground same as Pirates,

In short the only criteria for an team wanting promotion should qualify on the field of play and earn it by winning the league NOT buying the place in the PL.

I do feel that in the future sides from Yorkshire and Cornwall should/need to be included however i feel Ealing are the best/most likely option at this time.

Always 😉

Seriously?

5 million might buy you a half-decent grandstand.

http://web.archive.org/web/20111013062307/www.exeterchiefs.co.uk/history" rel="nofollow - £15 million in 2006.

Quite.

York City's new Community Stadium comes in at around 44 million, while Boston United's tiny new Quadrant is slated to be around the 12 million mark.

Neither would be Prem-compliant (Boston's nowhere near it).

Vallis Way already hosted a season of Super League and the Tyrell's 15 finals. I think it could get to Prem standard without starting over from the existing 2000 covered seats.

I better look for that Euro Lotto ticket, guess a £10 might buy a brick for a needy club.

No question.

Temporary grandstands can be bought or rented very quickly, but the associated essential hospitality facilities then become the issue.

Ideally, and what some other clubs are planning for, permanent buildings with extravagant yardage of pitch-overlooking hospitality would be required, with the associated infrastructure to back them.

This is where the substantial monetary investment comes in.

Of course, I have no idea as to your owner's intention on that score, but if it's in the plans, then good for him.

I agree about Saracens, they refused to open their books and expose the true extent of the `cheating` over numerous years. They preferred to accept the demotion and obviously expected to bounce straight back into the Premiership.

The geographic spread Nationwide just does not work. Yorkshire Carnegie are the prime example. The principle that all rugby supporters from miles around would flock to see Yorkshire Carnegie in a massive Stadium just did not transpire.  I think we all need to realise the limited appeal of rugby union to the paying public. The best supported team in the Championship , Bedford can not afford to maintain a professional squad . They abandoned their excellent development teams because of spiralling costs.

Ealing Trailfinders through the ` wealthy benefactor` Mike Gooley have become the most sustainable team around. The grounds are close to 20 acres and have been continuously developed over 20 years. The site is used day and night with multiple revenues. The latest is a huge indoor training facility, about to be constructed. Rugby Union, Rugby League, football, cricket, Netball, Gaelic football ,public gym , commercial Nursery, weddings, conferences, film and TV venue

Mike Gooley has created a legacy and a long term commitment to Rugby  by creating a scholarship system at Brunel University where young Rugby talent are coming from all over the country and some from existing Premiership Academies. There is a partnership with Henley College ( ex Wasp`s Academy site ) for ACE scheme to flourish with talented players from the age of sixteen both studying and receiving top flight rugby coaching from the Ealing pro coaches.

The Amateur section of the Club Ealing Trailfinders 1871 is going from strength to strength . I witnessed a few weeks ago three teams playing opposition, two  amateur Wasp`s and Harlequins and they were able to sit outside and have a beer . There was an event upstairs / outside to watch the England game . 

The current U16`s have a squad close to 50 players ! and attendance two weeks ago was at a record 43 players  on a Sunday morning and Ealing were abled to support the squad with nine qualified coaches.

There is so much more but I feel that maybe enough of blowing the trumpet for Ealing Trailfinders but they are not comparable to any other club in my biased opinion.

I accept that I am biased but I cannot see any other club coming close in being the right team to be accepted to the Premiership. 

The national stadium, 2 premiership sides and 3 championship sides would constituent any location to be a hotbed for rugby, in my opinion. Supported by the huge number of amateur players that are within that area.

Rosslyn Park according to the last complete set of data averaged 655 through the gate, and with LIWG i'd argue it was a number of factors.1) They're not the flagship side for their club, that's the Premiership side. 2) They're not really in London, they're more to Surrey. 3) They've experienced a poor run of form in recent years, which has seen them drop from L4 to L6.

Aside from the fact that ET haven't finished second because the season wasn't finished, what facilities do they have that a Premiership club would envy?  All the others have better facilities except Bath have a pawpaw stadium but has an outstanding training ground, Wasps has a fine stadium but pawpaw training.

The evidence that west London is a hotbed for professional rugby is severely lacking.  None of the current clubs other than 'Quins attract support in any numbers.  Some Premiership clubs get crowds for a single game that exceed those of Ealing's entire season.

The good train links meant a lot of the London clubs bought old market gardens round there.

Many were failing as rail made it easy to bring food in from further away. 

Kimbo wrote: To be perfectly frank, 655 at the top end of level 3 is pish poor.

It is very poor and from my experience an announced 'crowd' of 655 probably means that the true paying attendance was in the order of 350/400.

Best Stadium? I think not. Biggest maybe.

I agree about Castle Park, always my favourite away trip, and a model of how to develop a ground.  Just the right size, good facilities and space to expand if the situation warrants.  Surely a better proposition than Ealing if the Premiership wants to bring in another club (leaving aside all the issues about financial backing etc).

Mowden Park’s arena is in need of a good lick of paint to day the least 

I agree that Darlington Mowden Park have found that the stadium has been a millstone around their neck and have been struggling to make it pay. You are quite right the running costs must be horrendous and it will only work if Non Match day revenue covers the running costs. In theory it was a great idea and getting it for a knock down price seemed a no brainer unfortunately they did not have the infrastructure to  Manage it.

Oh you haven't been there of late then Neasham - our Knight Shift Renovated the whole area last season it is much more bright and welcoming - but yes it was a concrete hall but it was covered, had a very long bar and good food.

And at Moseley....

Yes the present accommodation cannot hold 28k - but we can, in a matter of months, get the ground set to the minimum standards for crowds etc etc. And be a place with atmosphere - at Darlington you would need a crowd in excess of 15 k to create an atmosphere I would guess (the current numbers they get will make it feel like Nottingham when they played at the County Ground souless, which I believe they still have a deal in place to use if they made the premiership).

There's more to a good dad/stadium than size.

Quite.

Obviously you've never been to Otley. 

Don't take them into the stadium and expect to eat them hot though. DMP have offered the stadium to the NHS for cold storage of the Covid vaccine. Might be too cold though as it only needs to be stored at -80 degrees.

Prefer the ones at Skipton personally. Takes all sorts though.

PP, those Christmas pies are so nice that last time we played Macc at Christmas I bought some to take home with me.  I'm salivating just thinking about them!

Here's to a swift return to N2N for Macc.  Christmas games ain't the same without you.

as we are now discussing pies on the Saracens & Ealing thread, does that mean we need to save our thoughts on those two clubs for the 'Best Food' thread? 

Sure why not.  This year's already crazy enough, let's throw caution to the wind.

Liegh Centurians

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/55300001" rel="nofollow - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/55300001