TheLocalYokel
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- Jan 14, 2009
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Ring-fencing the Prem is back on the agenda. I remember Martin Johnson, the former England rugby captain, writng in favour of the idea in his autobiography probably at least a decade ago.
The current idea is to suspend promotion from and relegation to the English Championship for at least four years, perhaps a lot longer. The plan has perhaps surprisingly gained ther support of all the current Championship clubs and will now be presented to the Rugby Football Union and the Permiership clubs.
It's envisaged that the Championship will become an England player development hub and Premiership academies would cease. The mainly English players would be centrally contracted to the Championship and each year would become available to Premiership clubs via an annual draft system.
Automatic promotion/relegation would be replaced at some point after 2025 by a Promotion and Relegation Commission chaired by a QC that would decide whether any Prem club's ongoing performance merited demotion or a Championsship club's performance merited promotion.
Currently clubs have to have a ground that meets Premiership standards before being allowed into the top tier. It's not made clear whether that will still apply with the Commission - presumably it will.
Cornwall is a hotbed of rugby union, arguably the most rugby-orientated area of England, but it has no Prem club. Its main club Cornish Pirates struggles to find a suitable ground for the top tier.
Prem club owners believe that certainty of tenure will enable them to invest more confidently in their club. I presume that when Saracens return to the Prem at the end of next season after their huge points deduction and demotion to the Championship the Prem will be increased by one club to 13 with no relegation in 2021 and beyond.
Not being able to develop their own players through Prem academies might be a sticking point for many Prem clubs. Instead they will have to rely on young players developed via an outside source who will join Prem clubs via a draft.
Ring-fencing does not excite me but I would have to wait to see how things turn out in practice before coming to a defining conclusion.
inews.co.uk
The current idea is to suspend promotion from and relegation to the English Championship for at least four years, perhaps a lot longer. The plan has perhaps surprisingly gained ther support of all the current Championship clubs and will now be presented to the Rugby Football Union and the Permiership clubs.
It's envisaged that the Championship will become an England player development hub and Premiership academies would cease. The mainly English players would be centrally contracted to the Championship and each year would become available to Premiership clubs via an annual draft system.
Automatic promotion/relegation would be replaced at some point after 2025 by a Promotion and Relegation Commission chaired by a QC that would decide whether any Prem club's ongoing performance merited demotion or a Championsship club's performance merited promotion.
Currently clubs have to have a ground that meets Premiership standards before being allowed into the top tier. It's not made clear whether that will still apply with the Commission - presumably it will.
Cornwall is a hotbed of rugby union, arguably the most rugby-orientated area of England, but it has no Prem club. Its main club Cornish Pirates struggles to find a suitable ground for the top tier.
Prem club owners believe that certainty of tenure will enable them to invest more confidently in their club. I presume that when Saracens return to the Prem at the end of next season after their huge points deduction and demotion to the Championship the Prem will be increased by one club to 13 with no relegation in 2021 and beyond.
Not being able to develop their own players through Prem academies might be a sticking point for many Prem clubs. Instead they will have to rely on young players developed via an outside source who will join Prem clubs via a draft.
Ring-fencing does not excite me but I would have to wait to see how things turn out in practice before coming to a defining conclusion.

End of promotion and relegation in rugby's Premiership moves a step closer
Ring-fencing of top tier could take place for at least four years from 2021 to 2025 under a plan to restructure English club rugby
