Plan B for Coventry after relegation to rugby's third tier

COVENTRY’S board will meet on Wednesday to plan a way forward for the Butts Park Arena club following their relegation the Championship. A crushing 38-12 home defeat by Rotherham and Birmingham & Solihull’s 38-34 win at Moseley condemned Cov to National Division One rugby next season and a drop in RFU funding in excess of £250,000. The fallout will inevitably bring a return to part-time

status next season and the break-up of the current playing squad with the future of the coaching and support team also uncertain.

It is the third time that Cov have found themselves in the third tier of English rugby, the last time in the 1995-96 season, but while the club bounced straight back at the first attempt on both those occasions, chairman Peter Rossborough acknowledges that it is going to be a difficult ride.

“It’s not going to be easy going down to National One but we’ve got to find a way through,” said Rossborough. “Financially we are not in the rudest of health and losing so much funding is a big blow. Thank goodness we have a really good facility here for use outside rugby.

“We had a Plan A and Plan B in mind for next season and unfortunately it will have to be Plan B. Now we have to sit down and find the best way to take the club forward.

“Our staff have been phenomenally loyal to us over the last very difficult six months. Everybody could have left in November but they didn’t and perhaps it is our turn to consider that loyalty as we look to the future.

“It’s a consolation, perhaps only a small one after relegation, that we still have a club but we do and we still have a future thanks to everything that the people of Coventry and the supporters did two years ago.

“The bond that was raised then paid the wages in December and January and that really saved the club after we had gone into administration.”

Rugby director Phil Maynard admitted to feeling “devastated” at the outcome after a turbulent season in a job he described as “the toughest I have had in 20 years in the sport”.

He added: “It’s the first time I’ve been relegated and I don’t like the feeling. I’m absolutely gutted after all the effort and all the hours put in – I’ve never felt like this in my life. We’ll have to take a deep breath and see where we go from here but I can only apologise to the fans for getting relegated. It wasn’t through lack of trying on the part of anyone but in the end we just weren’t strong enough.”

Tongan fly-half and centre Fangatapu Apikotoa carried off both the supporters’ and players’ player-of-the-year awards at a muted end-of-season presentation after Saturday’s game. Scott Abbott was named clubman of the year.