What’s the debate about?
It’s an issue that has arisen over recent years about whether the Premiership should be expanded. Previous discussions have involved expanding the league to 16 with the 4 Welsh sides joining but this proved controversial as the Welsh sides would be immune from relegation which didn’t sit too kindly with the Championship sides. The debate has resurfaced as the Premiership shareholders basically want to dissolve more power from the RFU and as a result become richer. Everyone from clubs down the ladder to England head coach Stuart Lancaster have had their say on what would be the best way forward, in an attempt to increase the competiveness of the league without weakening the England team in the long run. However teams below the Premiership must not be neglected otherwise we may end up with a situation pre-professional era! Who are the shareholders? There are currently 14 shareholders in the 12 team Premiership with all of the 14/15 season teams, bar London Welsh holding a share. The other 3 shareholders include Championship trio Bristol, Worcester Warriors and Yorkshire Carnegie, formally Leeds Carnegie. This shareholders system in itself appears outdated and partly explains the gulf between various teams with the 11 Premiership teams with shares at the beginning of this season (14/15) receiving £4 million, while newly promoted London Welsh receive a measly £1.5 million. This is one of a few reason why I ask is the Premiership an exclusive club as this was not the only handicap London Welsh have suffered as first time they got promoted to the top flight (11/12 season for the 12/13 campaign) they faced a battle with both the RFU and the Premiership to get promoted, with the Premiership doing all they could to keep Newcastle Falcons in the top flight. This was down to ground requirements, which is part of the criteria upon on promotion, however as pointed out by other clubs hoping to achieve promotion to the top flight a number of current Premiership clubs would fail this criteria too. So it seems to me a case of the Premiership moving the goal posts to suit themselves, or in this case the sticks! My View My view on this matter is the move to cut off and distance the Premiership from the Championship and below could of a detrimental effect on the future of rugby within this Country. If this ludicrous decision was given the green light I would not think it would be too long after the changes are implemented that we see teams from the Championship and below go out of business. Reasons for this would be due to the lack of funding from above an TV as well as decrease in revenue due to the competition (Championship & below) being deemed pointless with no real objective. However the argument for ring-fencing the Premiership is that it would allow teams to build a sounder future and increase competiveness within the top flight, while teams in the Championship and below would be able to improve their infrastructure with the possibility of one day being allowed into the Premiership. The reality though could well be that the Premiership becomes less competitive, while the gulf between the top flight and the Championship would widen with promotion never being considered again. The main problem though is that the Premiership is run by the Premiership (looking after their own interests) as suppose to the Championship, National League 1 and below who are run by the RFU and whom have to look after a variety of interests. The solution would be to have one entity looking after the entire league structure as this would make funding fairer than it currently is and there wouldn’t be a clash of interests. However I do not see the point I just made ever being considered as the top teams would lose out on some money and we can’t allow that can we! (sarcastic comment). This is especially worrying given that these changes should it happen would take place a year after the World Cup we are hosting later this year, so all the interests clubs lower down the ladder may receive as a result from visitors would slowly diminish. So by the time the 2019 World Cup in Japan comes around we may only be left with about 14 fully professional clubs within this Country which would be an absolute shambles.
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