Already having an effect on Rugby in Britain..
TWO clubs could face the axe from the English Premiership as recession takes its toll.
Poor attendances and difficult trading conditions are forcing the owners of England's top rugby clubs to consider a cut in the number of teams. At a recent meeting of owners and chairmen, proposals were discussed for a 10-team league which might start next season.
Bristol, with average home attendances this season of 7776, are especially vulnerable, and insiders say the club needs to find additional funds of £1 million ($2.3 million) to pay players' wages. Newcastle, where home attendances have shrunk to 5298, are also in trouble despite a recent deal in which their ground was sold.
"It's fairly common knowledge that one or two clubs are finding it difficult," Harlequins chief executive Mark Evans said. "Rugby union cannot expect to be immune from what is happening in the wider world. We're at the stage where we don't know the extent of the downturn. I'm not at all surprised that we're starting to have some chatter about a 10-man league."
Even the big clubs in the 12-team premiership are experiencing difficulties. The champions, Wasps, declared a loss of £2.8m last year and will announce a deficit of about £2m this year. Bath recently posted a shortfall of £375,000. Leicester's principal sponsor has shed jobs, and the company that produces their match programs is out of business.
"If I were a player and somebody offered me a new contract, I wouldn't go round saying: 'You've got to pay me an extra £20,000.' I'd sign it like a shot tomorrow because I suspect we've seen salaries hit their peak," Leicester's chairman Peter Tom said.
Martin Johnson's England may be a long-term beneficiary of the difficulties. One initiative floated at the owners' meeting was to renegotiate the eight-year deal with the Rugby Football Union. The idea is to get rid of promotion and relegation thereby avoiding the costly parachute payment to the relegated club, and reducing the need to buy expensive foreign players to avoid the drop. Johnson and the RFU would benefit from a greater proportion of England-qualified players in the smaller league.
The Telegraph, London
