Gallagher Premiership Championship statement;
After several months of discussions over the future of the Championship, its clubs issued a joint statement criticizing the timing of the RFU’s plans to launch a new tier two league. In April, English rugby’s governing body agreed in principle that the 2025/26 Championship should have 14 clubs, two more than the 2024/25 second-tier competition.
It added that modeling of 12, 14 and 16 club league structures, balancing commercial and performance with player welfare, will take place before the council meeting in June.
Gallagher Premiership Championship statement: ‘We continue with urgent meetings’
The decision taken was that the 2024/25 season would be a 12 club championship, with 11 existing clubs in the second tier and the National One (Chinor RFC) winning.
It approved a process for existing Championship clubs to demonstrate their ability to meet the “required” minimum operating standards to participate in the new tier two league.
Gallagher Premiership Championship statement: ‘We continue with urgent meetings’
Six weeks after the deal was agreed at April’s RFU Council meeting, Championship clubs have now called on the governing body to call an emergency meeting due to their dissatisfaction with the current proposals.
Read the statement originally published on the Nottingham club’s website last Friday and quickly deleted before general publication was approved at 5pm on Monday: “Championship clubs have recently been issued a deadline by the RFU for certain conditions or functional recognition. The current professional game will be removed from the framework.
Gallagher Premiership Championship statement: ‘We continue with urgent meetings’
– we have now been given an offer which we accept. It Not that it would likely bankrupt Championship clubs and further fragment the Premiership at the expense of playing in England.
To be clear, we have always desired a new tier two league as part of a whole-game solution, but this can only work if there is appropriate governance, a credible and equitable approach to promotion and exit, and a funding model for growth. and sustainability. Support is far from what we are now.
Gallagher Premiership Championship statement:1
Incoming RFU Executive Championship funding went from £645,000 to £325,000 in 2019 without warning or proper explanation, and again to £150,000 when the pandemic hit. These shortfalls have forced clubs to apply to the government for emergency loans to continue playing rugby and support our community activities. A pre-pandemic funding pledge of £325,000 was never met, leaving many of our clubs with significant government debt.
This is in stark contrast to the comprehensive approach the RFU took to negotiating the premiership debt and repayment schedule with the government. These funding cuts were neither evidence-based nor controversial.
“Clubs have worked hard to maintain standards (highlighted by the convincing performances of many of our clubs in recent Premiership Cups),
Gallagher Premiership Championship statement: 2
“The current RFU proposal is £4m a year shared between a 12-club league until 2024 and beyond. It aims to provide stability, grow the league and close the gap with the Premiership. But in our assessment it comes nowhere close to achieving that. .
“An overwhelming percentage of this will be Value-in-Kind (VIK) and allocated centrally to various areas.
Gallagher Premiership Championship statement: ‘We continue with urgent meetings’
In a spirit of good faith, we continue to debate and discuss the best way to distribute any agreed funds. In contrast, the PGP will see £33m of cash allocated to the Premiership by the RFU distributed annually to 10 clubs, a significant improvement from the previous deal.
A ‘ringfenced’ Premiership undermines that principle, and risks people losing interest in the game. We think that everyone accepts and acknowledges this.
Gallagher Premiership Championship statement:
“The current proposal includes a play-off for promotion from the Championship, but the current and significant imbalances with extremely tough and mandatory minimum operating standards prevent two clubs at any level from being able to meaningfully participate in those play-offs, let alone promotion. Let and then be sustainable.
“For example, the current ground-capacity requirement means a club will spend millions with no guarantee of promotion and, if they win the league, have to invest while trying to grow the business at the same time. A more equitable approach is to move towards acquisitions in a sustainable manner. through levels, which we have proposed.
Gallagher Premiership Championship statement: ‘We continue with urgent meetings’
Put simply, the decisions made by the RFU on this allocation are unfair and a failure.
“It is also important to note that the returning club is entitled to access funding from the RFU and the Premiership through its position as a Premiership shareholder. This allows it to maintain a very significant financial advantage over the two clubs in the rival tier and essentially guarantees promotion, as it has done in 14 of the 16 seasons promoted. It is unfair and undermines the integrity of the League.
Gallagher Premiership Championship statement: ‘We continue with urgent meetings’
“We must find a system that allows a relegated club to recover, rebuild and participate in the second tier on a fair basis and, as stated above, allows a promoted club to participate and improve in the Premiership. There is another way forward for professional rugby and we have a role to play in that. Because of this we have no choice but to challenge the status quo.