Bad news for LW
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/18175903
Bad news for LW
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/18175903
Damn, was probably going to happen. Lucky Newcastle get away with being the worst.
"The story so far:
In the beginning the Universe was created.
This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move"
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If there's no relegation then the winner of the playoffs gets the parachute payment, I believe, which is a decent sum of money (£1.75m).
Whoever wins could use that money towards building a stadium.
http://www.espnscrum.com/premiership-2011-12/rugby/story/164479.html
Newcastle Falcons to stay in the Premiership, even if LW wint the RFU Championship.
One must ask, regarding the Championship final, what is the point?
I know winning the league and all that, but it is hardly comparable to promotion to the Premiership.
That whole primacy of tenure rule is a complete joke.
Convenient that nobody is eligible when Newcastle are doomed. When Squeeky is the Chair of Pro-rugby in England...
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This annoys me as a worcester fan. All that effort not to get relegated when actually it never really mattered
Its hard being a worcester fan
LW set to fight ruling
I'm pretty interested in what a judge has to say about the primacy of tenure rule that is applied to clubs coming up like LW but not to clubs already in the top flight like Sale Sharks and London Wasps.
http://www.espnscrum.com/england/rugby/story/164493.html
Last edited by Nielsch; 24-05-12 at 08:15 AM.
Primacy of tenure is an odd one - it's to do with the sport more than actually who owns the stadium.
Sale Sharks did have primacy of tenure at Edgeley, and are equal shares of Salford - however because at Salford we're sharing with a Super League side it doesn't matter.
The reason they want you to have primacy of tenure so if Sky want you to rearrange a game you can do so with no fuss - Sky have the right to Super League as well so they're not going to rearrange a Sale and Salford game for the same day.
Still doesn't make sense for teams like Irish, Wasps, Sarries who all share with Football sides, it's just straight up hypocrisy from the RFU (shock horror!).
Wasn't the only criteria on which they failed though to the best of my knowledge. No back-up stadium in thirty miles either.
It may be hypocrisy, but it wouldn't make such sense to get rid of half the teams in your league!
True, true. But then they should allow RFU clubs to be promotoed, but say "You've got a season to get sorted - if you don't then you get relegated regardless of league position" or something like that.
From what I gather London Welsh provided documentation that along with the Kassam they would be able to have the power to re-arrange fixtures. The LW chairman even confirmed this during the pre-match interview with SKY last night. Basically if London Welsh has shown this and have abided to what the RFU have asked them to show then the RFU are treading a dangerous line with an appeal and legal action.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012...P=EMCSPTEML866
Scroll down for an interesting look at the full details of tihs.
This doesn't seem to have been picked up anywhere else, a possible lifeline for London Welsh? http://insidecroydon.com/2012/06/01/...y-to-selhurst/
Ok move, having been to Selhurst Park recently (is 2008 recent enough) it's a good stadium, decent transport links and easy to find. But it's a old stadium and it shows in the overall look, flaking paint, wooden seats in places. Easier than the Kassam for the fans to get to
"The story so far:
In the beginning the Universe was created.
This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move"
2010's Most Underrated
2012's Best Signature
Does anyone else think the last thing we need in English rugby is another assetless London club playing in a half empty soccer ground which happens to be miles away from their orginal home and fan base?
If it was Wasps up for the drop you could bet your bottom doller the press would not be banging on about London Welsh getting promoted as much and Andrew was a Wasp long before he was a Falcon
Last edited by TRF_Cymro; 02-06-12 at 07:32 PM. Reason: Merged ... please edit your posts
If Welsh aren't successful with their appeal then they should promote Bristol. They meet criteria and technically won the league.
Nah but what it does need is healthy competition which allows teams to be given a chance when they have rightfully won promotion to the league. No point ring fencing the old boys, last year it should have been the Pirates, this year it should be the Welsh. These teams earned the right to compete in the Premiership and if Welsh have everything in order and win their appeal / legal proceedings then it will become a pathway for the likes of the Pirates and other clubs to achieve their dreams.
On a side note, please stop double posting. Learn to edit your posts. It's getting frustrating having to merge your posts all the time.
I concur
Sorry will do,
Healthy competition does not come from clubs that are unsustainable, killing whatever history and local support they ever had chasing some premiership dream. Exeter did the hard work before going up and it has worked but if London Welsh were serious about promotion they should have sorted out a ground share back in September
No they applied very late only when it looked like they could go up unlike Exeter who put everything in place ready, if it was up to me I would relegate all the clubs they dont met the standards because Wasps, LI and Sarries have had plenty of time to sort themselves out but thats not going to happen and I wonder what LW fans think about moving to a ground 55 miles away........
Urm no, they filled the application in before the deadline and filled it with good amount of time to spare. Welsh fans have said it's not ideal but if it means Premiership Rugby then they are all for it. Exeter were lucky that their stadium allowed for expansion where as Old Deer Park is unable to be, sad case really because the likes of Old Deer Park and Penzance packed will have good atmosphere that would match most grounds in the Premiership and would certainly be better than the half filled stadiums. But then Welsh aren't a club as perfect as Leicester so there we are.
A ground share is not as simple as quickly sorting one out. It takes months of planning, negotiations and legal talks about contracts and stuff.
Just because a club is playing in a lower league it does not mean their support dwindles, yes some stay away just because the "top" teams aren't bring played but the true fans remain. The Premiership isn't the be all and end all of rugby.
As for simply promoting us instead that would add more problems, I would be fairly sure of a Newcastle challenge. It makes more sense to relegate Newcastle regardless. That way the worst team get what they deserve and the RFU keep their friends
"The story so far:
In the beginning the Universe was created.
This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move"
2010's Most Underrated
2012's Best Signature
sly dig there but to be expected....
For the record I have nothing against London Welsh and yes Tigers are lucky in that they have always had a ground at Welford rd that could be developed but I am worried about this promotion firstly because London Welsh do not have the assets or the stucture to have a sustained Premiership life and this campaign they are waging could destroy what they have built up over the years like it did to Richmond, secondly English rugby union need clubs in the north if Welsh go up thats 5 clubs in the south east 4 of which dont even have a ground, the stucture of the HC is such that rugby development is put before simply picking the best 24 teams in Europe and its something I agree with. Rugby Union is still developing as a pro game and sometimes tough choices need to be made but London Welshes promotion could spell doom to that club and rugby in the North east I know mine is not a popular view but its the most sustainable one for English rugby.