Probyn: How the RFU were outflanked by Premiership
As the dust slowly settles on the player release for the Lions, an interesting letter from Arthur Grun in last week’s paper asked some questions that I shall attempt to answer.
First, he questioned the transition from the amateur game to professional and asked if anyone involved at the RFU (particularly the council) had appreciated the impact that professionalism would have on the overall game.
Well, back in 1995 the talk of a professional game was very much top of the agenda for all the major nations that played the game. This was because of the threat of TV mogul, Rupert Murdoch who talked of setting up his own ‘Rugby Circus’ with paid players, and a number of big names had signed up for a rival World Cup.
David Lord had suggested something similar in 1981 (see Peter Jackson’s column P29).
Murdoch was a serious threat to the established game which resulted in a knee-jerk reaction from the IRB (World Rugby) to throw the game open (professional).
Before this, I was part of an England team that were looking for some kind of reimbursement for all the extra time we were expected to take off our normal work because of the ever-increasing commitments of the international game.
My role was to speak to the then RFU secretary Dudley Wood who said candidly that while he accepted that the international game could perhaps deal with the financial consequences of professionalism, clubs could not.
As a result, when the IRB threw the game open, the RFU put a moratorium on any change in the game for a year to allow everybody to have time to adjust to this brave new world.
However, some wealthy businessmen foresaw opportunities and began recruiting players, coaches and clubs, with Sir John Hall at Newcastle leading the charge.
During the moratorium, Newcastle recruited half the current Wasps team of the time (my old club) and insisted they join the club halfway through the ‘95 season.
The RFU didn’t impose any sanctions on Newcastle for fear of litigation they could ill afford, which encouraged others to do the same.
This resulted in a number of clubs being taken over with no thought of where the money was going to come from to pay for the professional staff, players and coaches etc.
Meanwhile, the RFU were undergoing a number of changes of their own as they sought to put in place a more robust business-like structure at HQ.
This involved a restructure of the council with recommendations from outside the RFU and the creation of a board to deal with the day to day needs of the Union.
Over the next few years some of the early club investors ‘jumped ship’ which saw a number of the old established senior clubs either go bankrupt and disappear or, like Richmond, (one of my old clubs) lose all their ‘star players’, drop to the bottom of the league and start again.
Interestingly, during these fractious times Francis Baron became the first ‘professional’ CEO of the RFU and brought a different ‘skill set’ to the Union.
Francis broadened the Union’s business horizons which brought many of the hospitality and travel businesses indirectly associated with the game into direct control or partnership with the Union.
Meanwhile four years had elapsed and by 2001 the RFU had a deal with EFDR (the Premiership) but could not agree a deal between ESDR (The Championship) and EFDR.
With the Premiership now growing inpatient for their money they called off negotiations and signed a deal with the Rugby Players Association (RPA) creating the Premier Rugby Partnership.
With the RPA and Premiership in a 50/50 partnership they reopened negotiations with the RFU for (as they said at the time) ‘the players and clubs to have a more equitable reward and recognition for their talents and investment’.
The eventual deal with the Premiership encouraged by RPA has led to inflated player wages and an influx of foreign players. As RPA CEO Damien Hopley said of the deal at the time, “It won’t just be players qualified to play for England that will benefit. All professional players regardless of nationality playing in the Premiership will also benefit from the revenues generated by this joint venture.”
Unfortunately, the RFU at the time were not prepared for the sharp business practises of the Premiership and had tried to use the traditional democracy of votes by the game to reach a decision which left them completely exposed.
At the same time former Leicester chief executive Peter Wheeler admitted, “This partnership with the players enables us to go to the RFU with a proposal for the future of the game, which will unite the whole of professional rugby in England.”
He added, “However, the time has come to recognise the professional clubs and the professional players have legitimate rights to manage the club game and to a stable playing and financial environment in which to work.”
He could have added: And even if that takes all the money generated by the RFU so be it.
Put simply, the RFU knew the pitfalls the professional game presented, but they failed to realise the ‘dog eat dog’ nature of those who had taken control of the clubs and their blind vision to protect their assets no matter the consequences to the game as a whole.
“The RFU were not prepared for the sharp business practises of the Premiership”