‘Zombie league’: Championship clubs push back against RFU’s tier-two plans
English rugby is heading for yet another significant political bust-up after the second-tier Championship clubs urged Rugby Football Union council members and the government to delay approving the proposed new eight-year Professional Game Partnership (PGP) agreement.
Instead the clubs want the RFU to engage in fresh negotiations, insisting that plans for a “franchise” Premiership Two league are not in the best interests of the wider game.
The Championship clubs are opposed to a “closed shop” 10-team Premiership involving no promotion or relegation which they believe could create a “zombie league” of neutered feeder clubs. They also object to familiar “brands” such as Wasps or London Irish being parachuted into a reshaped second tier, arguing that clubs which have gone out of business should be required to repay their debts in full before being eligible for inclusion.
The huge reduction in central funding from the RFU over recent years is another serious bone of contention and Nottingham’s chairman, Alistair Bow, suggests the union’s representatives have treated talks with the Championship sides as “a tick-box exercise” which allows them to say they have given the Championship clubs a realistic opportunity to be part of a brighter future.
Bow even alleges that high-profile Twickenham executives have not been properly engaging in the discussions. “When you go to a meeting they can’t actually remember what they told us in the previous meeting. They twist it to suit their own agenda on that particular day. It gets extremely frustrating, especially when the chief executive will sit there and spend the whole time on his phone. It’s very difficult when you’ve got some people who obviously don’t want to engage.
“I think we are being seen as the problem child. But I do think we’ve got unity, and if we can get the council and the government not to approve the tier-two proposal and the PGP without all the details being discussed, then
I think we actually have a chance. The Premiership need a route through for their players. At the moment we feel there is too much effort from the RFU executive to find a solution for just 10 Premiership clubs.”
Simon Halliday, chairman of the Championship committee, says his members have no plans to break away but criticised the plan to recommend the PGP deal to the RFU Council, with a potential vote being conducted next month, as “extremely premature”. He stressed alternative proposals had been made to the RFU and Championship officials also say their clubs’ outstanding Covid loans to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which total around £5m, could become an issue and need to be taken into account.
“We have discussed this matter with Sport England because without further clarity on funding and governance, it will be impossible to ensure Championship clubs are able to repay their Covid loans,” read a Championship statement. “We believe they share our concerns.”
The former Leicester chief executive Simon Cohen firmly believes that the national team needs a strong, meritocratic Championship, particularly with future Premiership squads due to be restricted to 37 senior players and 12 young academy transition players. “If they want the best possible England team then they need the Championship clubs,” Cohen said.
“England are lacking in players coming through and depth in certain positions. They need that game time and they need that game time in the right environment.”
Bow, meanwhile, said the idea of fast-tracking clubs such as Wasps back into a “Premiership Two” league was “an absolute no-no” from his perspective. “Unless you have paid all your debts back – rugby debts as well as government debts – you should not even be considered to come back into the league,” he said.
“If one is allowed to do it then others will follow suit. Or if you are allowed in under the RFU regulations you should join at the bottom of the pyramid, as plenty of other clubs have done over the years.”
In another twist the RFU has formally confirmed Doncaster have applied to be considered eligible for Premiership promotion if they finish top of the Championship this season and, as per the existing arrangements, win a playoff against the bottom Premiership side. In that event, however, Halliday said any parachute payments for the relegated side would be blocked.
“If it were to be passed for Doncaster to go into the Premiership, under acceptable conditions, there is no way we’re going to allow a parachute payment. Not a chance.”