Sad Day for Professional Rugby

By Ridley Hall
May 9 2002

So the dirty deed has been seen to be done. Rotherham will be in the First Division because of some trumped up ruling on their ground. Now the Baths of this world can rest assured that their right to remain among the fat cats is indeed a divine one. What a dreadfully sad day for rugby.

I can't think of a single reason why this could be good news for the game, or anyone in it, apart from ten or so millionaires who have managed to ringfence their investment in that most risky of investments - sport.

But what kind of message does this send out to the scores of ambitious clubs the length and breadth of England who are busy running youth team, grooming the players of the future who will be snapped up by the likes of the Falcons Academy? Why should they bother to work hard on nurturing talent when it can do them little good because they will rightly think they will never be allowed to eat at the top table. Stifle ambition in sport and it dies.

And how much is this down to the fact that it was Roth who were coming up? A club from an unfashionable industrial town and a Northern one at that. Goodness, the M4 Brigade might have had the prospect of having to come up the M1 three times in one season. Would this have happened if Worcester had won the First Division?

And this raises an interesting question for us "Northern Outposters" as our witless friend from Harlequins insists on calling us. Where did we stand when the lobbying was going on over the past few weeks. Did we side with a Northern club on the basis that the more top class rugby in the region the better? Or did we step inside the ringfence or just sit on it? From Rob's previous comments, about having a long period without promotion and relegation to protect investors, I think we can guess.

This is what the man who is really badly done to had to say today:

"We now have to brace ourselves for the battle to win promotion yet again, only this time we will be better than ever and it will not be possible to keep us out again," said chief executive Jim Kilfoyle.

"For the third time in four years we have seen a different form of qualification put in front of us from that which others have had to face.

"This year we have proven undoubtedly to be the best side in National Division One by our points record and our scoring record, as well as winning the inaugural Powergen Shield.

"We have done our best to satisfy the criteria that does not apply to the present sides in the Premiership.

"When we could not develop our own ground that we share with a cricket club (as Bath do) we moved within the time frame to play at a football stadium (as Saracens and London Irish do).

"We have run an efficient and economic support system off the field that was appropriate to the needs of National Division One, and were expanding it to match the needs of the Premiership.

"We have developed our community work with some excellent rewards in a deprived area, and we have pioneered our own academy for the benefit of young, talented players in South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, North Nottingham and North Lincolnshire which is a large industrial conurbation with plenty of successful rugby clubs in it.

"We have witnessed the Premiership develop into an exciting competition with every match being meaningful to the end of the season and crowds growing because of the competition to avoid relegation.

"The failure to gain promotion to the Premiership is a blow to all of this as well as to the aspirations of all well-run and ambitious clubs in the country.

"It goes against the general principles of most sports in this country.

"We have done everything that any club could do to gain promotion, but it has been decided that in the first embryonic stages of the concept of criteria and audits that our efforts have been unsuccessful."