Chiefs members will vote on possible name change
Club to hold its AGM where the controversial name change will top the agenda
ANYONE expecting a decision any time soon over whether Exeter Chiefs will change their name, or drop their Native American branding, will likely be disappointed.
The under-pressure rugby club will discuss the issue at their Annual General Meeting later today, but there will be no official vote held amongst the members attending.
The Rugby club have around 700 members who have all been invited to the AGM at Sandy Park this evening.
A summary of the discussions will be fed back to the club’s board, if they were not in attendance, who will then vote on the decision.
The club will not be releasing a statement on the matter tonight and a timeline for the board’s later vote has yet to be defined although it is expected to be relatively soon.
The WMN and various other media outlets have requested access to the AGM to hear the discussions taking place but have been told it is a members-only event.
The issue is being put before the AGM as the Gallagher Premiership club continues to come under fire from certain sections for using indigenous branding on their kit, despite axing their Big Chief mascot last year.
More than 6,000 people have signed a petition calling for a rebranding of the club and earlier this month America’s largest Native organisation, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), wrote to the Premiership club calling their current branding as “offensive and harmful”.
Despite pressure building from the group Exeter Chiefs for Change and
Premiership rivals Wasps putting out a statement earlier this season raising concerns at supporters wearing ‘war bonnet headdresses’ at the Coventry Building Society and asking Premiership Rugby and the RFU to address the issue, Exeter chairman Tony Rowe believes there is no need to change either the club’s name or branding.
Speaking to The Guardian newspaper back in October he said: “Although I run what I jokingly call a democratic dictatorship, I do listen to people.
“If the membership says we have got to change, I will change. Money doesn’t come into it at all.”
In 2018, Premiership rivals Bristol Rugby rebranded as the Bristol Bears at a cost in the region of £75,000. So while there is a significant price involved to changing the club’s imagery it is hardly breaking the bank despite rugby clubs financially struggling during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Rowe continued: “I’ve got a sense that the members are going to tell me to stay where I am. I’ve had a lot of correspondence from a lot of supporters.”
Rowe also believes there is no issue amongst players or staff at the club over the matter. He said: “I have never had one of my current or past players ever say to me they have a problem calling themselves an Exeter Chief or wearing the kit.”
Exeter have been referred to as the Chiefs informally for close to 100 years with the nickname adopted because of a tradition of rugby clubs in Devon calling their first teams ‘Chiefs.’
However, it was not until 1999, four years after rugby turned professional, that the club rebranded with the Native American imagery looking for commercial opportunities.