Championship funding to be slashed?

[BG]

I wonder if the championship clubs might approach PRL/CVC to see if they can move away from the RFU. Perhaps split their league into north and south divisions but allow them to compete in pre-lim rounds of the Premiership Cup (where on the whole they would be up against a EPL academy/development sides ), a bit like the early stages of the FA Cup.

That would also allow those clubs a little bit of TV exposure and income and no doubt inflated one off crowds.

What RFU have done is disgraceful. They've given the clubs little or no warning, whose budgets and plans may well have already been set for next season.

The RFU receives money from clubs all the way down the leagues but they are cutting funding for the grass roots level.. trees, plants tend to die if you cut out the roots

[Tervueren]

RFU's disgraceful decision leaves Championship players fearing for their future - it is about people losing their jobs
GEORGE EDGSON
DONCASTER KNIGHTS HOOKER
Telegraph 13/02/20

Like hundreds of other players with Championship clubs, I only found out about the Rugby Football Union’s decision to half its funding to our clubs on social media on Tuesday afternoon.

We all awoke with the same thought: where does this leave our future as professional players? It is a frightening thought.

I know some players handed in signed contracts as soon as they heard the news to make sure they were still employed next season. But others without that security are no doubt wondering if they will still have a job at the end of this season, or may have to take a big pay cut.

This is not just people not just playing rugby any more. It is about people losing their jobs. Players have got mortgages to play and families to look after. A lot of lads have bought houses, got a wife and kids and are still earning next to nothing just to chase their dream of making it to the Premiership.

And it is not just the players, but coaches and backroom staff, too. Most clubs are lucky if they have two physios in the Championship. If that is cut to one, it would be ridiculous, for we are still professional clubs.

It is a disgraceful decision and the fact that we only found out on social media only made it worse.

That is not me attacking my club, Doncaster Knights. All the Championship clubs were blindsided by the RFU on Tuesday. The way the whole thing has been handled is a disgrace.

The Championship has been under-funded for years and yet you still have players playing for £12,000 to £15,000, trying to make their dream come true. The Championship needed an injection of funding, not a dramatic cut.

Considering we are the richest union in the world, they are perfectly happy to pay an England international £25,000 a game. I am not saying the players do not deserve it. But how can you justify paying a player £25,000 per game, and at the same time cut the funding to the second tier of English rugby in half?

The money is obviously there, it is just someone is making the calls without any knowledge.

If they had, they would realise that the Championship has helped develop current Premiership players and current England internationals.

There are hundreds of cases around the country. I played with Chris Judge at Bedford Blues. He was playing with Cornish Pirates last year and in the same year went on loan to Saracens and won a Premiership title.

Tom Cruse went from playing for Rotherham for a few years on peanuts to now being a Premiership starter for Wasps.

England players such as Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge and Will Stuart all benefited hugely from spending a few years developing in the Championship. It has been an important stepping stone.

People are now saying that the A League will be the next league to develop players. I played three years as a senior academy member at Wasps and played three seasons in the A League and it was an absolute shambles. When I was 20 I got the call to go on loan at Rotherham halfway through the season and I learnt more playing in eight matches than I did playing three years in the A League.

People do not understand how important it is having that exposure to a proper men’s league with actual consequences.

There are no consequences in the A League if you lose. In the Championship you also become part of a culture, with lads earning next to nothing, but who are putting their bodies on the line every day because their ambition is the same as yours – to play at the top level.

Coaching opportunities will now also be limited. Look at the likes of Lee Blackett, who coached Rotherham at the age of just 30, and has just been appointed interim head coach at Wasps. Will he be the last of his breed because of what is happening to the Championship?

If there is no interest in the second tier of English rugby, it means there will be an increase in foreign players in the Premiership, because there will be nowhere to look for home-grown talent.

I also fear that it will affect National One. Currently some sides are pumping money in because they want to have a crack at the Championship.

But what is the incentive now?

If the RFU is looking for answers, it just needs to look at the backlash to their decision on social media. All the answers will be there.

[Tervueren]

From today's Telegraph, Edward Griffiths is still about

Championship clubs have commissioned a “radical” plan to safeguard their future following the controversial decision by the Rugby Football Union to slash funding to English rugby’s second tier, Telegraph Sport understands.

It is understood that Edward Griffiths, the former Saracens chief executive, has been asked to draw up a proposal to look at ways in which the Championship can become financially self-sufficient and attract broadcasting and sponsorship deals.

The plan will examine ways to make the Championship more commercially attractive and vibrant in a similar fashion to the Pro D2 second-tier league in France.

Griffiths, who was chief executive of the South Africa Rugby Union when the Springboks won the World Cup in 1995, is expected to speak to all 12 clubs and attempt to gain support for a new structure. He is thought to be undertaking the commission on a pro-bono basis.

Currently the RFU sells the broadcasting rights and sponsorship for the Championship, but, under the new plan, the clubs want to take control in a bid to maximise revenues and make the league financially viable, although one source insisted it would not be a “breakaway competition”.

There is growing concern within the clubs that the RFU, which announced last month it will be reducing funding to the Championship clubs by 50 per cent – more than £3million – next season, has no long-term interest in the league.

Following outrage at the decision, the RFU revised its timetable to stagger the cuts over two years, which will reduce annual funding from £530,000 to £288,000 per club, but there is no confirmation yet for funding beyond then.

There are also growing fears that some form of ring-fencing will be brought in to the Premiership.

It is thought that the clubs are prepared to work with the RFU and Premiership Rugby but are determined to increase the league’s commercial value and also consider ways to make it more attractive, including matches against Premiership sides.

“This is going to be a radical proposal,” said one source. “It is about making the Championship able to stand on its own two feet and become financially viable. The Championship remains a hugely important league for English rugby.”

The RFU insisted last month that the reduction in funding followed a review of spending called ‘Project Union’ and that the Championship had failed to deliver on five key strategic targets after a significant hike in funding over the last four years from the profits of hosting the 2015 World Cup.

[Marlow Nick]

Funding the lower leagues should be the RFU priority not a cost cutting opportunity

If they're not prepared to take their own snouts out if the trough why not simply cut England player appearance fees by £5k per match. It's not much for the well paid elite who would remain  the best compensated internationals in the world and would free up enough cash to increase championship funding rather than cut it