Tigers tie up gives kids route through
Nottingham were among the leading clubs in England 30 years ago with players such as Brian Moore and Rob Andrew on their books, but professionalism meant that rather than thrive it became a battle to survive. They are now established in the Championship and last week secured a partnership with Leicester as part of an ambitious plan in the long-term.
The financial gap between the Premiership and the Championship has never been wider. Never mind the current suspension of relegation from the top flight, Nottingham cannot dream of joining the elite any time soon with their Lady Bay ground’s capacity 3,500, but a lesson from failures of others in the past is that dreams turn into nightmares unless a club builds from the bottom up.
Which is what the partnership with the Tigers is intended to do. The two clubs lie 30 miles apart and there have been links in the past: Dan Cole, Tom Youngs and Calum Green all had spells with Nottingham when they were starting out, but under the agreement the club’s head coach, Craig Hammond, will spend a couple of days with Leicester working with their senior academy players.
“Some of them will come to us, whether for a month or a year or more, and it will give them the chance to play at a competitive level and be part of a squad,” said Steve Smith, below, Nottingham’s chief operating officer. “Every young player needs to learn at their pace and level: sometimes an 18-year old will struggle in the Championship, never mind the Premiership.
“We can help them become Premiership players. Ollie Chessum (back row) had a year with us and developed really quickly. He went back to the Tigers and has made his mark. That season in the Championship was huge for him and we will be giving more guys that same opportunity. The standard in this league is good and what Leicester are also interested in is giving the players rounded opportunities.”
As well as training with Nottingham, some have started university courses to give them something to fall back on should their career as a professional rugby player fail to take off: Nottingham have in the close season taken on 20 players from around the country who came through the academy system but failed to secure a senior contract.
“We have one who is qualifying to be a doctor and another doing a degree in sports science and coaching,” said Smith. “We have Nottingham Trent and Loughborough universities on our doorstep and Leicester are keen on the education side so players have options in the longer term.
“It is very much a partnership with Leicester. Craig will be an integral part of the programme at Tigers while their scrum coach, Tom Harrison, comes to us on a Tuesday and it gives him the chance to be involved in other areas of the game. It is an opportunity for players and coaches as well as the strength and conditioning and analysis guys. We are determined to make this work.
“It allows us to keep standards here high and it provides young players with a pathway. We have 20 who have come out of Premiership academies this year and gone into courses at Nottingham Trent. They have a second bite to get back into the professional game while gaining a qualification.”
Smith hopes that in the coming years, after the game’s finances have recovered from the stress of the pandemic, that more attention will be paid to English rugby’s second tier which he
believes is essential to the national side’s long term success.
“I would love to think that England could emulate France in having two properly funded top divisions,” he said. “Without a strong second tier, where do young players develop? If you look at the England squad, 60 per cent of the players have appeared in the Championship. There is a review going on and I hope that it results in our league being given the credit it deserves as a breeding ground for talented English players coming through the game.
“There needs to be a vision of what English rugby will look like in the next ten years. If there is not a second tier of high quality, there will be fewer opportunities for young players and that would probably mean we are not successful at international level. A winning England side stimulates interest in the game at all levels, and while every country has been hit hard by Covid, we have the chance to lead the way for the recovery of the game.”
Nottingham’s immediate goal is to improve their ground and extend its capacity while consolidating their place in the Championship and providing opportunities for players to make the step up to the Premiership. “Tom Youngs, Calum Green and Alex Lewington have all come through our programme and we accept they will move on if they are good enough,” said Smith.
“Part of our role is to be a stepping stone for aspiring players, but we also want to kick on in the future and have a plan in place to be able to do that. Everyone aspires to getting to the top, but the current reality is that 13 or 14 clubs have significantly more resources than the rest. Unless something changes fundamentally, a club like Nottingham will not be able to get into the Premiership.
“You never say never and things can change quickly if a couple of people become involved, but your priority is to look after the club and kick on when that moment arises. If we can develop Lady Bay and have a community facility that can hold 5,000, we would be in a position to make a push in the Championship.
“What we have seen in the past is that it is stacked against sides who get promoted and have a few months to spend on a squad. Like most clubs in the Championship, we are semi-professional with the players holding down jobs.”
With no one relegated from the Premiership last season, the Championship campaign should be more competitive. “Ealing will be very strong and there are a couple of other full time teams,” said Smith. “I would like to think that matches will come down to who turns up on the day.
“There is a real buzz around the club with Craig rejoining us
and we are trying to put ourselves at the heart of the rugby community as well as re-engage past members. What the agreement with Leicester does is provide a pathway for a kid at a local club through to elite performance in
the Tigers’ environment.”
“Part of our role is to be a stepping stone for aspiring players”