Russell Taylor’s Post

Championship rugby clubs in England face an uncertain financial future following the announcement of the Professional Game Partnership (PGP) between the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and Premiership Rugby (PRL). The PGP, which aims to create world-leading English teams, will see the Premiership clubs receive £33m per season. In contrast, Championship clubs will each receive their lowest-ever funding of just £133,000, a significant drop from the £650,000 they received in 2016. Many Championship clubs feel excluded from the discussions and frustrated by the financial disparity between the two tiers. Despite new provisions, such as a two-legged play-off for Premiership promotion and increased flexibility in entry criteria, Championship clubs remain sceptical. They face immense financial challenges, particularly with the recent liquidation of Jersey Reds and concerns over future funding. Although the RFU has outlined plans to create a more sustainable second tier and develop young talent, the clubs emphasise the need for greater financial support to bridge the growing gulf between the Championship and the Premiership. #Rugby #RFU #RugbyUnion #SportsFunding #SportsBusiness

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FAW League Cup Proposal – Request for Feedback As you may be aware from recent media reporting, there are currently proposals being drawn up in relation to the Welsh League Cup and the inclusion of the four EFL sides (Newport County, Cardiff City, Swansea City and Wrexham) to offer an alternative path to UEFA club competitions. Further reporting can be found here: https://buff.ly/3ZNZ8DL As previously stated, we have had ongoing dialogue with the Club and Huw Jenkins (Chairman) in recent weeks on the matter. We now wish to ask for the opinions of fans on this matter in order to support ongoing discussions between multiple parties, including the Football Supporters’ Association as our own membership body. Some specific questions which we’d like to get responses on are: - Would you like to see Newport County AFC participate in an FAW League Cup competition? - Would any support for the competition be conditional on offering the potential for participation in UEFA competitions? - Do you agree that we should only participate if it did not compromise our participation in EFL competitions, including the league, FA Cup and EFL Cup? We are not limiting this to Trust members and would be keen to hear from a diverse range of fans over the coming days. Please use the comments section of this post and any other means (including by email to info@ncafctrust.org) to get in touch with us. We look forward to hearing your views. #NewportCountyAFC #NewportCounty #LeagueTwo #League2

World Rugby to limit influence of lawyers World Rugby plans to overhaul the red card disciplinary system and restrict any advantage enjoyed by richer nations who can employ expensive lawyers. Standard bans of two or four weeks are to be handed down for red cards during a trial in the Under-20 World Championship, WXV and Pacific Nations Cup. World Rugby's plan recognises the difference between a rugby incident (punished by a ban of two weeks) and reckless conduct such as a shoulder charge (four weeks). The governing body expects 70% of all disciplinary cases to trigger one of the two automatic bans, reducing substantially any influence of lawyers on the outcome of disciplinary hearings. World Rugby wants to remove any perception of the disciplinary system being rigged against developing nations.

If you’re interested in the use of Expected Points (xP) in sport, specifically Rugby, have a read of Brian’s recently pre-printed journal article. Many many hours have gone into replicating this principle in Rugby and although he’s been using it for years, he’s now the first to write about it academically! #SportsAnalysis #Rugby #ExpectedPoints

I think that it is important that England Rugby and Premiership Rugby take from this that in reality the important signs of life are at Leicester Tigers, Northampton Saints and Gloucester Rugby who are viable outside of the patronage model. Now is the time for bold and innovative thinking about a game built on tradition that is clearly not working financially at an elite level. A game that continues to have three main sources of funding: (a) Patronage, which is precarious in the current economic climate. (b) Receipts from internationals, which at the current rate will price itself out of the market. (c) TV rights, increasingly less sufficient. New funding models, new ways of attracting sponsorship, pricing structures, TV packages...everything needs to be on the table in a lids up review. The Leonard Curtis report cannot be allowed to prop doors open at England Rugby, it needs to be adopted, explored and challenged to find ways to: - Improve access and participation. - Attract funding not debt. Think innovation, think radical, be prepared to move quickly and break things. Lean into prosper, not survival. Do not aspire to be a feeder to the FFR - Fédération Française de Rugby leagues. Bring the the Rugby Championship along and while you are at, James Haskell has some good ideas.

Ulster Rugby: Iain Henderson and Rob Herring sign contract extensions Ireland internationals Iain Henderson and Rob Herring have signed contract extensions with Ulster. Ulster captain Henderson, whose central Irish Rugby Football Union [IRFU] contract will expire at the end of the season, has penned a two-year extension with the province until 2027. Herring's new deal will keep the hooker at the Belfast-based club until 2026. - https://lnkd.in/d5Br5tZz

School Sports Rankings for 2024 have been rather interesting but I also dislike how having Rugby and hockey at your school is such an important factor to these Rankings. They are still using Apartheid counting and pointing system and Bantu Schools are disadvantaged because most don't have Rugby or Hockey or Both. This also further invalidates so much work done at other schools simply because there's no Rugby. Maybe we must start to Rank by Sporting codes and not Across the board. It's unfair for Bantu Schools or schools that don't have Rugby.

FA Cup replays being scrapped means less income for smaller clubs: There is little that has been so loved as the plucky underdog fighting above their weight successfully. The smaller clubs who fight to secure a draw at bigger clubs in the cup is one of the most inspiring stories most fans would agree, the income from the replay has been a lifeline for smaller clubs and a joy for their fans. Except in a new development, which will disadvantage the lower leagues further, those FA cup replays are now to be ‘scrapped’ here, due to an agreement between the Premier League and The FA, were the EFL clubs consulted even? https://lnkd.in/eVBsjy4m In La Liga (Spain) they scrapped the replays but implemented that all first and second round games are played by the top tier clubs away at the smaller clubs. At least that takes into account the financial needs of lower tier clubs, this decision in England is a genuinely disappointing development: #benmcfadyean #fussball #facup

An admirable aim undermined by a design-by-committee solution. The declared intention to roll out T1 rugby as the non-contact version of rugby in schools is as parochial as it gets. There is already a fast-paced, well-regulated, recognised non-contact version of rugby with national teams, World Cups and its own star players- it is called touch and is managed by the Federation of International Touch - you could even point to Try Tag Rugby as a more union-adjacent version. Instead World Rugby and the RFU with T1 rugby and previously Touch Union are trying to own the non-contact game and claim its players for their own- hence the dissolution of the O2 touch initiative after lockdown that had successfully seen many people take up touch rugby. As a player of both contact rugby union and touch rugby- I think T1 looks a hateful sport and a miserable experience as a competitive game. I'm surprised, and yet not surprised, that the overriding aim of 'get people running around with an oval ball and scoring tries' is being ignored here in the name of ownership and politics. Original Article: https://lnkd.in/ezdW_iRJ