Tier Two in pay-off to bin the play-offs

INCENTIVE payments based on league finishing positions are set to be introduced in the Championship from next season as part of the deal with Premiership Rugby that will see the controversial tier two play-offs scrapped. As revealed by The

Rugby Paper on January 15, Championship clubs will agree an annual £900,000 compensation package with Premiership Rugby to bin the play-offs, £375,000 of which will go towards meritocracy payments for sides finishing second to 12th.

Figures have yet to be finalised but TRP understands the Championship runners-up will receive £60,000 in addition to central funding of £575,000 – up from £530,000 this season – with prize money decreasing thereafter in units of £5,000.

The side finishing bottom

will receive £20,000 but may not be automatically relegated in future as proposals for a play-off with the champions of National One have been submitted to the RFU by Championship clubs, supported by Premiership Rugby.

Championship clubs believe they should be offered protection from the vast funding differential between tier two and National One, in which sides receive only travel expenses and have no England Qualified Player or sponsorship deals with the RFU.

However, any proposal to make National One sides play-off for the right to be promoted to level two will be resisted by the league’s umbrella body, the National Clubs Association, and ambitious clubs like Coventry, Plymouth and Birmingham Moseley.

Phil Maynard, managing director of Coventry, said: “This is self-protectionism at its worst and competitively it stinks; you’re putting artificial barriers in the way of big, traditional clubs such as ourselves, Plymouth and Moseley.

“Coventry are geared to go back into the Championship and we’ve just spent £1.2m buying the head lease of our ground so we can develop a purpose-built stadium in the middle of Coventry, so there’s some serious investment going on here.

“Having to go through a two-legged play-off, potentially against a side with a higher wage bill and central funding from the RFU, would have a huge impact on us. Anyone can see that it’s plain wrong and there’ll be huge opposition to this.”

WITH relegation from the Championship scrapped due to London Welsh’s expulsion, the RFU confirmed that only two teams will drop out of National League One at the end of the season, instead of three.

As things stand, that would mean a reprieve for Hull Ionians who occupy the third relegation spot. Blaydon and Macclesfield are beneath them.