Rugby chiefs plan to cut Premiership to 10 teams
England's top flight has a lot to learn from Ligue Nationale de Rugby's rigorous financial oversight of its clubs' budgets and funding
By Charles Richardson and Ben Coles 14 October 2022 • 7:26am
Wasps fans - Premiership in discussion over reducing league to 10 teams following crisis clubs' collapse
The Gallagher Premiership could be reduced to 10 teams in response to the growing financial crisis gripping the English domestic game.
The Gallagher Premiership will discuss plans to reduce the top tier of English rugby to 10 teams as the Rugby Football Union on Thursday called for "more financial transparency" after the collapse of Worcester Warriors and Wasps.
Telegraph Sport reported on Monday how a number of Premiership clubs were keen to see the league reduced in size and it is now understood that those plans will be discussed as part of a vital review of English professional rugby union. On Wednesday, Exeter director of rugby, Rob Baxter, backed a potential 10-team reduction, saying a league of 13 teams was "madness".
Any new measures, however, would not come into force until the 2024-25 season, as part of the next Professional Game Agreement between the RFU and Premiership Rugby.
Worcester have been liquidated while Wasps announced on Wednesday that they would be plunged into administration “in the coming days”. Both clubs are expected to be relegated from the Premiership at the end of the season.
A joint statement from both the Premiership and the RFU yesterday confirmed that the two governing bodies would “work together” on a process to examine “issues including the structure of the league and visibility of financial information”. Premiership Rugby hopes to emulate elements of the French model and have its clubs prove their economic sustainability before each season.
In France, the Ligue Nationale de Rugby’s model of club funding dictates that budgets for all 30 teams across the top two divisions must be outlined before the start of each season, with strict financial regulation by the leagues’ independent audit body, the Direction Nationale d’Aide et de Controle de Gestion.
Simon Gillham, president of Top 14 club Brive since 2016, told Telegraph Sport that the situation with Worcester and Wasps “could not happen in France”.
He explained: “You cannot start the season in France if you haven’t proved that you have the money to finish it and pay salaries. If you say in June that you have a new sponsorship contract worth €500,000, you have to show it to the DNACG.
“If a club can’t prove they have it, then they will take €500,000 off the club’s salary bill and, therefore, three or four players’ licences will be blocked. If you want those licences unblocked, then you have to show them the money.
“If the DNACG don’t give you the green light, then you can’t start the season. If Brive said that our objective this year was to be French champions, and we upped our ticketing and sponsorship forecasts because we thought that everyone would give us more money, they would say, ‘We don’t believe you because, with your current squad and your current salary budget, that’s not possible, and you’re not going to get those revenues’.
“Two years ago when Beziers suddenly had this prospective new investor from the UAE, the league asked them for a bank guarantee because they were newcomers and unknown. But the investors wouldn’t give it, so they didn’t come.
“If Mohed Altrad [Montpellier owner] says, ‘If there’s a €3 million loss, I’ll give you the money at the end of the year’, the DNACG would block that money there and then to make sure that he could pay it.”
In the governing bodies’ joint statement, Simon Massie-Taylor, chief executive of Premiership Rugby, said: “As well as supporting efforts to find a long-term sustainable future for both Wasps and Worcester Warriors, it is our responsibility to set a more sustainable path for English club rugby. This was on the agenda already, but we need to now accelerate the work we are doing with our clubs, the RFU and other stakeholders across the game.”
Bill Sweeney, the RFU chief executive, added: “Two professional clubs facing financial difficulties is a clear barometer of the challenges being felt.
“The economic environment has compounded these challenges and there is a clear need for more financial transparency from all clubs together with collective long-term investment and planning for the benefit of the professional game overall.”
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