We are all well aware of London Welsh's views on how teams in the Premiership are funded, and so I thought that I would treat you all to my view on the whole situation.
Let's start with the most important fact: London Welsh are given around £1.5 million in funding compared to the other more 'established' rugby clubs, who receive around £4 million in funding from a 'central pot'. If this doesn't already make you think that the system is completely unfair and unjust, then you seriously need to wake up and open your eyes to the situation.
That is a monumental gap, and one which I do not believe to be fair in any way. How is it even remotely conceivable to not allow all clubs to be able to start on a level playing field at the beginning of each season in order to build up their team and really compete in the sport? I'll tell you how - it's not. There have been reasons given that agree and disagree with the opinion of London Welsh, and I am firmly on the side of the spectrum that agrees with them.
There have been many arguments as to why London Welsh should not have access to the same amount of funding as all the other clubs, and I find all of them equally ridiculous (no offence to those that disagree with the club, but I'm telling it like it is). One of these reasons is that this is London Welsh's first season in the Premiership. So? They fought hard to get promoted and, whether anyone likes it or not, they ARE a Premiership club. What right does anyone have to deny them the chance to properly compete, just because they've only recently been introduced to the Premiership?
Another reason people believe justifies this gross difference in funding is the fact that the club, after getting promoted, significantly altered the players that they had at the club, getting rid of a fair few that got them to this position. Teams change. Players leave. Players join. Get over it. Just because they decided to change their squad does not deny them the right to be given access to more money. Yes sure, they have pretty much a whole new squad, but they shouldn't be treated at a disadvantage because of this.
The last reason I'm willing to discuss for the disagree side is the fact that their team is not up to Premiership standard. Are you kidding me? They're not up to Premiership standard? I'm sorry, but what sort of standard could you honestly expect them to be at compared to other clubs when they receive around £2 million less than everybody else? There is absolutely no way a club can even begin to get anywhere near the standard of the others without access to equal funding.
So now let's consider the reasons why people agree with the club. For starters, the club themselves have admitted that they need better facilities and equipment in order to keep their players fit week-in, week-out. This is completely and entirely reasonable, so let them have access to what every team fundamentally needs. Every rugby team should have all possible resources available to them to ensure that their players can stay fit and healthy in order to continue representing in a highly competitive competition, such as the Premiership.
It should not matter whether a team has been in the Premiership for one season or ten seasons, all teams deserve to be treated for what they are - successful clubs that are playing rugby at the top level. Sure, London Welsh may not be an 'established' club in Premiership terms, but they are 'established'. They have been a club since 1885 - that's 130 years, only 5 years less than league leaders Northampton Saints, who were founded in 1880. 130 years is a phenomenal amount of time for a rugby club to be around playing the game, yet people have the audacity to say that the club is not established. I don't think so.
The final argument, and something that I think is really really important, is this - what sort of message does it send to those teams in the Championship, who are working so hard to get promoted? 'Yes you will get promoted to the Premiership, but we aren't going to give you equal funding, and therefore you are unlikely to come anywhere other than 11th or 12th in the table.' That is not in any way a good advert for the Premiership. We all know how incredible the rugby competition is in the Premiership, and I must admit this season has outdone itself in excitement. But this huge flaw in the way that the Premiership is run puts a damper on the competition in my view - it needs to be addressed and sorted out. For the top domestic league, this is one huge oversight that cannot afford to made.
London Welsh have plans to sue the Premiership, and there is even an Early Day Motion to address the issue (http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2014-15/461). I completely agree with this decision, otherwise how else with the will the club be acknowledged and listened to? There doesn't appear to be any other way to get those in charge of the funding to change how it is regulated and distributed - releasing statements and/or politely talking to those in charge of the Premiership is simply not going to work. So if suing is the only possible way to receive equal funding, then I am all for it. It's time for people to get their heads out from where the sun doesn't shine, and accept that the current system is unfair to London Welsh in every possible way.
I am very interested in people's opinions on this topic, especially as it seems to be controversial. Please leave comments with your opinions either at the end of this post, or by using the contact form at the bottom of the blog. Alternatively, you can email me with what you think at ruckmegentlyblog@gmail.com, or you can tweet me either directly @JessKebbell or to the official Twitter feed for my blog @RuckMeGently. The best comments will be chosen to go on my blog, so please do get involved!
Thanks for reading, ruckers!
Jess.
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