Championship clubs 'left out in the cold' by PGP deal

Bedford Blues say they are extremely disappointed by the level of RFU funding

The financial future of the Championship, English club rugby’s second tier, is very uncertain according to several of the league’s clubs.

It follows the Professional Game Partnership (PGP) agreed between the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and Premiership Rugby (PRL) for the next eight years.

The RFU will pay the Premiership clubs £33m per season as the PGP aims "to create world-leading English teams and thriving professional leagues".

But Championship clubs – which are not a part of the new deal - will currently each receive their lowest ever sum of £133,000 this season.

"The RFU have made it clear, based on funding, that we Championship clubs remain irrelevant," Mark Lavery, director of rugby at Ampthill told BBC Sport.

"The PGP deal was done between the RFU and PRL and the Championship clubs were excluded from the discussions, so this is not a whole-game solution," he said.

"It's extraordinary when you consider we have had such a vast drop in funding since Covid despite Premiership clubs seeing a massive rise. What does that tell you? We were told it would go back up."

'We have been left out in the cold'

Ampthill in pre-season training for their opening game at Doncaster

Ampthill’s local rivals Bedford Blues feel similarly hard done by.

"We are extremely disappointed by the latest developments," said Bedford chief executive, Gareth Alred.

"It's hard to swallow the Premiership receiving a per-club increase from just over £2m to £3.3m each, when we have just suffered another blow.

"In the last cycle in 2016, we received £650,000 per club, now we are down to our lowest ever central investment of £133,000, yet they say they want us to be competitive."

Cambridge RFC have felt the financial squeeze more than most.

Along with Chinnor, they haven’t been included in this season's Premiership Rugby Cup, a competition between clubs in the top two tiers. It's cost them £125,000.

"We have been left out in the cold," said Cambridge chairman Tim Hague.

"The compensation is not adequate and we didn’t think the overall funding would be this low.

"We can survive, but we will have to look at our costs and our investments."

Bedford Blues' Chief Executive Gareth Alred says the financial picture in the league is tough

From 2025-26, as part of the PGP, a two-legged play-off will see the bottom-placed Premiership side and the winner of the Championship meet to decide who stays up or goes up - provided the second-tier club meets the minimum standard criteria for promotion.

There is also increased flexibility in that criteria for entry into the Premiership, to help aspirational clubs reach the top flight.

But questions remain about how a Championship club can finance such a promotion bid. Championship clubs are not members of PRL so they would not benefit from the same financial support to compete in the Premiership.

“Currently it appears the support of promotion and relegation is only lip service with the actual detail making it nigh on impossible, not to mention the unequitable funding when you actually reach the top table," said Alred.

"Any additional money we get from the RFU goes on infrastructure not on the development of our playing squad," Ampthill’s Lavery added.

"There is still significant uncertainty about the funding of the competition – don’t forget we lost our Champions, Jersey last season."

Jersey Reds went into liquidation last September leaving an 11-team competition. This increases to 12 teams this season with Chinnor’s promotion and potentially 14 sides in 2025-26.

RFU to help clubs become 'financially sustainable'

The RFU says clubs will be supported and that for the last 18 months both the RFU, the Championship clubs and Premiership Rugby have worked together to develop a 'reimagined Tier 2'.

"The objective is to create a second tier that supports the English system by developing young English talent," RFU executive director of performance Conor O'Shea said.

"Clubs will be supported to be financially sustainable by growing local audiences and increasing the value in the league."

A new Tier 2 board has been created to support the future of the Championship, driving plans for a revamped league in 2025-26, with three representatives from the RFU and three from the league itself, plus an independent chair to be recruited.

"Funding levels for this season were agreed with the Championship with any future funding discussions to be held by the Tier-2 and RFU Boards," said O'Shea.

Cambridge chairman Hague is more optimistic about the league’s future.

"I can see what the RFU are trying to do," he said.

"The RFU are trying to make the Championship a good bridge, a good pipeline and make it a better product.

"The disagreement is what this looks like. What’s missing are the subsidies. That’s what grates people. The gulf to the Premiership is massive."

As clubs prepare for the start of the new season this weekend, teams like Cambridge, Bedford and Ampthill say they are unified and determined to make their new league commercially viable.

"This is a fantastic league with great stories, brilliant rugby and real clubs in the heartbeat of their community," said Alred.

"There is an ambition to make the Championship a high-quality league equivalent to French rugby’s second tier," added Lavery.

"But we currently have no idea where the funding will come from to achieve it.

"The odds are stacked against clubs like us getting promoted to the Premiership.

"That said, anything is possible. We’ll cope and we will steer a way through this."