Bring back the "EDF Energy Trophy"

[mrman2011]

Will that be worthwhile? as it wasnt a bad competition

 

[RedruthRFC]

Not for a chance I'm afraid. No club would support swapping guaranteed home matches (like in the B&I) for a competition in which you might be drawn away and lose in the first round. National league already play 15 home league matches, I believe that most would sat that number is enough and wouldn't support the idea of swapping some of these for a competition that guarantees no home matches.

Ignoring all of this, was it actually that good a competition anyway. Some clubs (here's looking at you Stourbridge) didn't take it seriously and giant killings were few and far between, greatly outnumbered by one sided massacres.

 

[Stumpy]

I'd love an FA cup style trophy as there would be more interesting away games to go to and new teams we don't see play often. But as was stated above the teams would not give up guaranteed home games unfortunately

 

[RedruthRFC]

I'd love an FA cup style trophy as there would be more interesting away games to go to and new teams we don't see play often. But as was stated above the teams would not give up guaranteed home games unfortunately

Would it be an FA Cup style tournament though? The nature of soccer means that there is much more potential for upsets than in rugby. While it may be an interesting change of pace to face different opposition and visit different grounds, for every Bees vs Wasps, there are tens of one sided hammerings which nobody gets much out of.

 

[Alias]

Depends what you mean by getting nothing out of. Professional players playing amateurs will always be a contentious issue, risk of injury etc. But name an amateur player who wouldn't want to pit his wits against one? Shouldn't the big clubs want to put something back into the grass roots? There are many clubs that are struggling in the present financial climate who would welcome a much needed boost to their funds. Add to that the potential to gain new supporters and club member's drawn in by seeing players and clubs they wouldn't normally have the opportunity to see. To me there is much more to gain than to loose but the format of any competition would take a lot of planning For example not having the top clubs entering until the later stages would help minimise one sided results.

 

[valley commando]

Yes lets have an British and Irish cup comp on 2 levels.
Level one English prem, pro 12 and top 8 in English championship randomly drawn straight knock out, 32 teams.
Level 2 Bottom 4 championship, top 4 national 1, top 8 Welsh prem, top 8 Scottish prem, top 4 in each division of Irish 1. 32 teams.

Currently if teams finished in their current positions the level you would have the level 1 comp containing -;
Saracens, Exeter, Harlequins,Leicester Northampton, Wasps, Gloucester, Sale, Bath, Worcester, Irish, Newcastle,Bristol,Doncaster, Carnegie, Bedford, Jersey, Nottingham, Pirates,Ldn Welsh, Scarlets, leinster. Edinburgh, Conacht, Munster, Ulster, Ospreys,Glasgow, Blues, Zebre, Dragons and Treviso.

Level comp.
Rotherham, Scottish, Ealing, Moseley,Richmond, Blackheath, Hartpury College, Esher, Llandovery, Ebbw Vale, Ponty, Aberavon, Cross Keys, Newport, Llanelli, Bedwas, Ayr, Melrose, Heriots, Currie, Glasgow Hawks, Hawick, Stirling County, Boroughmuir, UCD, Clontarf, Garryowen, Cork Constitution, St Mary's College, Ballymena, Dublin Uni and Buccaneers

Both comps being straight knock outs randomly drawn meaning an extra 5 games maximum. I don't know if there would be a thirst for this with the level one clubs but am sure there would be a massive response in the level 2 comp, it would also mean teams fighting for position at the end of a season in order to qualify, making previously meaningless games more important.

 

[Aderg0ea]

the later stages would help minimise one sided results.

 

[GarethGriffiths]

Sounds like a very good idea, Valleys Commando, so long as there is space in the schedule for these extra games.

Budgets might be stretched (Wales-Scotland/Ireland is never cheap), but where there is a will there is a way.