I’d like to welcome Worcester Warriors to the Bay tomorrow in what should be a tough game for both sides, and hopefully on a pitch with a little less water than we saw against Cambridge a couple of weeks ago. Please join me in giving them all a warm welcome.
Here in The Champ, an important meeting is taking place down in the ivory tower of Twickenham, where the RFU Council will be voting on the future of Premiership Rugby, along with some governance reviews that have been a major topic of conversation around the game for some years now.
I fear that, after years of trying to navigate the complex inner workings of Premiership Rugby, it’s odds-on favourite that the game — through misinformation and self-preservation propaganda — will vote through what I can simply define as a divorce from the collective game, removing promotion and relegation from the meritocracy of the whole game pyramid, which they say allows them to seek investment. They say promotion and relegation will be reviewed again in 2030; however, we know from past history that these words are not commitments and they definitely can’t be trusted. This allows them now to sell off their league, league assets and club assets to the highest bidder, who will then be allowed to take a direction of travel that fits with the new owner’s strategy. Some would say good riddance and let them be, and I’m not sure I totally disagree with that sentiment, as for too long now they have dominated the direction of travel of our game and have perhaps been a distraction from the growth and survival of the whole game. I’m still not sure. What I don’t agree with is that the game’s money — our money that we have passed over to help build the Premiership into what it is today — is something they are now wanting to sell on with no recourse or payment back to the RFU membership. This should not be allowed.
The second part of the vote is the reformation of our membership rights through what is known as a governance review. The key matter here is that our RFU Council is to be slimmed down in size, which is not a bad thing when you consider the overall size and the methodology of appointments, which many agree is not fit for purpose. However, it’s the responsibilities that are in question, with the RFU Board moving towards a Council that will become an advisory group only and will have no voting powers. This scares me and should concern all members within the game, as my question is: who will be the check and balance of the RFU executives? I’m told it will be the non-executives who will fulfil this role. Well, if this goes through, my fears will come true, with the game and membership handing total control of all decisions to the RFU Board, with an AGM as the only possible recourse.
Last year we found out that, even with over 200 clubs supporting reform and governance via the Whole Game Union call to arms, challenging the Board and executive seemed an impossible task. We lost our resolution votes at an SGM earlier in the year and at the recent AGM back in June. We were successful in securing the Chair’s resignation before the SGM vote; however, it was clear that not enough voting clubs in the community game came out and supported us, with only 50% of eligible clubs voting. The Whole Game Union has committed to fight for fairness and governance that supports the real game at heart — not just a chosen few — and is following the current situation closely.
On a more positive note, our representatives on the Tier 2 Board, “The Champ”, have been working hard behind the scenes in commercialising our new league. They have achieved some success in a few new areas, including the appointment of dedicated staff to support our work in the community, marketing, communications and league sponsorship. I’m delighted to say that the streaming deal is going well, and the coverage and professionalism of the production has been excellent, so please sign up and take advantage of this service. In the next few weeks, we should be able to confirm who the new league sponsor will be for next season, and I’m reliably told that we could be getting closer to a new centralised ticketing system, so please keep an eye out for more information very soon.
It has been a very busy season for the club off the pitch so far. We have completed the broadcast/coaching viewing platform and created a new hard standing in the fan zone area. Work is due to commence next on the refurbishment of the office, followed by a new TV/scoreboard, which we hope to have in place during the summer months. We continue to drive forward with our plans for the development of the ground, working with both our amateur rugby partners, Corsairs, and Nottinghamshire County Cricket.
You will also see that we have new boundary fencing erected on the eastern side of the site, and the north boundary has had tree removal work and further fencing repairs, all ready for the new footway and cycle bridge, which is due to open in a few weeks’ time. This will enable easy access from the north side of the river and give us two new access points, which will be a major stepping stone in achieving greater ground capacity — a requirement for our future ground plans.
Finally, I’d like to thank all of those who have continued to support the club this season — our shareholders, existing and new sponsors, season ticket holders, and those here tonight. We simply can’t do it without you, and we need your continued support (and more) to ensure that Nottingham Rugby is here for the next 100 years.