How insulting is this?

According to the Chairman of the RFU Management Board, the RFU is pursuing this structure because of what the RFU agreed with the thirteen team PRL Cartel! Can’t they see how insulting this is? It was agreed without any discussion with FDR - the clubs which are affected by it - but at the insistence of the Cartel!

If the RFU attempts to impose this reduction without proper financial compensation, it could bankrupt some FDR’s clubs. Already we are governed by a regionally unrepresentative cartel of these thirteen PRL clubs operating in relatively small localised catchment areas of England – hardly fulfilling the RFU’s own mandate of “developing rugby throughout England”!

(NOTE: There are more people just in the City of Birmingham alone than there are in the towns/cities of Bath, Bristol, Gloucester, Worcester and Leicester combined - and yet they all have clubs in the PRL Cartel! Please note – we have excellent relationships with many of the PRL clubs and in particular Gloucester. We are NOT having a ‘go’ at them!

Ever widening funding disparity between the PRL Cartel and FDR

There is huge financial disparity in funding between ‘the PRL Cartel’ and ‘FDR clubs’. The ratio of direct RFU funding between PRL:FDR has moved from 2:1 in 1998 (£500K to £250K each club respectively) when professionalism came in to about 5:1 in 2008 (£13M split between the cartel compared with a reduced £168K per FDR club!). When TV revenues and other sponsorship deals are taken into account, this raises nearer to a massive 10:1 disparity. And yet at the same time ever increasing numbers of Non England qualified players are coming into PRL every year (over 50% now)! Where’s the logic in this?

All the RFU is doing is pumping more and more of our cash to fund the salaries of “past it Antipodeans” while blocking the progress and development of English players who increasingly are playing on FDR. No wonder the other rugby nations are laughing at us and our National Team is failing.

The RFU does have other funding options for FDR

The majority of players for the England 7s squad (at least 15 out of the 26 squad announced last week) play their rugby for FDR clubs which develop increasing number of English players. Therefore if the RFU is really serious about funding FDR properly it could start by allocating the reported £5 million in the England Academy Scheme to FDR clubs where these players play.

This would be instead of the current absurd situation where the RFU pays the PRL cartel for these players which promptly send them out to (and charge) the FDR clubs which train, play and develop them! This is a double income for the Cartel clubs which do relatively little to help develop English talent. How absurd!

What makes this so serious is that if proper funding is not forthcoming, it could have a detrimental effect on the financial stability of FDR clubs especially in these economically difficult times. Many of the teams in the upper part of the National League One table are funded by generous individuals - a number of whom have now stated they will not continue their current level of funding.

Moseley’s priority will be always be financial stability

Moseley Rugby Club has risen from the ashes by the great will and resolve of its tremendous and committed membership base after a lot of very hard work. The club’s representatives at the meeting on Wednesday will not permit our great club to be affected by financially irresponsible proposals.  

Moseley will get back to the top of the rugby tree at its own pace, making solid and sure progress as its goes. If the RFU wants to restrict FDR club’s income while making other financial demands it must make compensatory financial resources available. If it does not and that means Moseley Rugby Club will not be a part of the proposed new structure, then so be it. At least we will have our club.

Please remember this has been copied from the Editorial of the weekly Moseley newsletter. Which puts their point of view forward on the impending meeting between RFU and FDR.  What do you think??

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