McGeechan blasts Carnegie’s blueprint

SIR IAN McGeechan has offered a withering assessment of how he feels Yorkshire Carnegie has been “destroyed and cast aside.”

The former British and Irish Lions coach first arrived back at Headingley in 2012 as Leeds Carnegie’s executive chairman tasked with, among other things, building relationships with businesses, sponsors and clubs across the county to create a sustainable base to build professional rugby.

However, having been the driving force behind the controversial name change to Yorkshire Carnegie, McGeechan quit as executive president in May with the club in a financial mess.

They are now operating as a part-time side in the Championship still without a win this term, their long-held dreams of a return to the Premiership ruined and, instead, left fighting simply for basic survival.

In his Daily Telegraph column, McGeechan wrote about a “flawed business model” which saw the union side “effectively pay a management fee to Leeds Rhinos in return for 20 per cent of the league staff’s time”. But he added: “The problem was that there was no incentive for the league staff to look for union sponsors. Key appointments were needed in commercial and marketing who had a passion for rugby union.

“While the shareholders themselves were an excellent group, everything relied on shareholder contributions as other income streams diminished. The plan was very much based on one major shareholder making the contributions. There was no plan B.”