Jersey good enough for Lions but not for Prem

JERSEY Reds are top of the Championship. They have outstanding training facilities, complete with altitude training chambers, at the Strive complex which was used by the Lions to prepare for the 2021 tour of South Africa.

The training complex is next door to Jersey’s compact 4,000 capacity Stade Santander stadium, and it all speaks of a club with organisational ability, financial stability – and the ambition to play at the highest level.

Yet, should they go on to win the Championship title this season, they will have nowhere to go. The Premiership cartel of 13 clubs will be supported by the RFU in ruling out Jersey’s chances of promotion because they do not meet the minimum 10,000 capacity ground criterion cooked-up to ring-fence England’s top league.

Even though three current Premiership clubs – Worcester, Newcastle, and Sale – struggle to exceed 5,000 attendances. Bath, who have lost their three opening games of the season, still have a ground which is not fit for purpose. Large

parts of The Rec remain uncovered, and many of the facilities have needed upgrading for years.

These Premiership double standards stink, and are laid bare by the Premier League’s support for Bournemouth, who spent five seasons in the top tier (2015-2020) despite their Dean Court ground having a capacity of just over 11,000 in a league in which many grounds are five times that size.

The Premiership, by contrast, is being allowed by the RFU to run the top tier of English Rugby Union like a rotten borough, taking away the integrity of the sport by blocking the right of clubs like Jersey to promotion.