By Dragons' Den
April 18 2011

This spring there is only one thing focussing minds across the Championship at the moment – Alternative Promotion v First Past The Post. In a deluded moment Dragons’ Den pretends that Championship supporters have a say over the future and that the two camps are campaigning for our support......

No to AP - Because the winner should be the winner

NOtoAP is a campaign that has support from right across the country. Supporters of Championship teams, everyone at Worcester RFC and Paul Hull are part of a campaign that has a common goal. Whilst we have many different views on what system of promotion is best for the Championship, we all believe that the Alternative Promotion (AP) system will only damage this league.

AP is costly
AP costs more. Clubs have to waste money on audits, ground improvements and staffing with no guarantee of promotion when it could be being spent on players and food. With clubs facing increasing squad costs can we really afford to spend money on this promotion system? Players and pies, or the Alternative Promotion – that's the choice.

AP is complex and unfair
The winner should be the team that comes first, but under AP the candidate who comes second or third can actually be elected. That’s why it is used by no other RFU league. A full season should decide who the best team is, not the play-off system. We can't let the 13^th Premiership team slumming it and staying down for more than 12 months by keeping this loser's charter.

AP is a RFU fix
AP leads to more worried Chairmen, confused supporters and Premiership teams spending more than a year in the Championship, like Bristol from 2009 onwards. Instead of the Premiership lending us a club for one season, an element of luck holds power. Under AP, the only results that really count are the play-offs. We can't afford to let nine play-off games decide who gets promoted.

Say YES to AP - Yes to Fairer Promotion

You can use the old ‘league winner gets promotion system’ to decide who joins the Premiership, or you can choose the fairer system - Alternative Promotion (AP)

AP is a small change that makes a big difference 

Clubs working harder to earn promotion

Your club would have to get into the top 8 and then win the play offs to be sure of promotion. Performance over all 31 games and not just the first 22 count.  They’ll need to work harder to win.

A bigger chance of promotion

A knockout finale resets the season - in who comes first and who comes last. If your favourite doesn’t win, you can still have another chance. It’s as easy as 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8…

Tackling the ‘Premiership for life' culture

Too many Premiership clubs have their ‘safe seats’ for life. Force complacent clubs to sit up and realise that joining the Championship isn’t a short holiday.

AP keeps what works with our current system, and then adds another 9 games. It's a long overdue upgrade to make a system fit for Sky TV in the 21st century. 

(With apologies to the current AV referendum campaigns)