Where Rugby Gets It Right & Football Gets It Wrong

[GarethGriffiths]

With a number of bad club owners in the Premier League and Football League (such as Mike Ashley, Roland Duchatlet, The Venky's and The Oyston's among others), I am relieved that Rugby Union has avoided people like them from running our domestic clubs.

Is it good fortune or is it something else which has meant (and touch wood it remains) that people like these do not buy into rugby clubs?

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

 

[RedruthRFC]

I think members of London Welsh and Rugby would disagree that rugby has been fortunate!

 

[TRF_Olyy]

There's no money in rugby,
Investing in money is just flushing cash down the s***ter, it's a labour of love really.

 

[ratsapprentice]

There's no money in rugby,
Investing in money is just flushing cash down the s***ter, it's a labour of love really.

It's prestigious enough that "money men" have increasingly been using rugby clubs as play-things...

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

:Cough: Bruce Craig :Cough:

 

[GarethGriffiths]

I think members of London Welsh and Rugby would disagree that rugby has been fortunate!

True, and what happened to them is a disgrace.

It seems to be more commonplace in football though than in rugby, so was wondering if there was better scrutiny of potential owners by World Rugby than the FA and EFL?

 

[RedruthRFC]

True, and what happened to them is a disgrace.

It seems to be more commonplace in football though than in rugby, so was wondering if there was better scrutiny of potential owners by World Rugby than the FA and EFL?

I have no idea what if any involvement World rugby and / or the RFU have in this regard. I believe that clubs are required to submit accounts to the RFU. Based on my impression of the London Welsh fiasco I don't think they do much with what's submitted. The way I see LW's demise, it came about because those in charge continued to bury their head in the sand and spend to the same level as the previous season despite a cut in funding. IIRC the previous investor had promised to bring someone else in in his stead and those holding the purse strings chose to believe this despite the apparent lack of anything happening.

The two examples I mentioned are the highest profile ones since London Scottish / Richmond and maybe Wakefield but there have been a lot of stories of clubs flying close to the wire, defaulting on debts and getting hit with a points deduction, most recently Plymouth Albion. I don't know how many horror stories there have been in football, and how this stacks up against rugby. Rugby may give a better impression of stability, but I suspect that this is because there are less of them and they are easier to bail out by supporters and / or a new benefactor as the debts are smaller.

 

[welshglory]

I don't really like the OP's angle on "types of people" i think that's a bit snobby and there's a lack of bad types of people in rugby mostly because no one cares about rugby and there's no money not that rugby is such a pure sport. Id look at the financial models more. The funny this is that football supporters tend to get quite defensive when you critisise the ridiculousness of the football financial model. Just look at the amount of clubs which go into adminstration in the UK alone. I'd much rather rugby followed the profit driven model of the US which attracts businessmen than whatever the **** football has put in place which attracts lunatics who are willing to lose millions. It seems to be half and half at the moment due to the lack of money in rugby.

 

[GarethGriffiths]

It was definitely not intended to be a snobby remark, rather I am praising the fact that on average rugby teams seem to be better run than their counterparts in football.

I was trying to gauge whether this was due to better management of the clubs themselves, stricter regulations than what the FA ask for, or is there less money (personal profit) to be made in Rugby Union.

As for football, yes the model looks to be unsustainable and one day there will be a financial implosion - you only have to look at how many fans of Premier League and Championship clubs etc. are voting with their feet and wallets and are watching local non-league clubs instead.

Take it as a compliment that rugby does not have these type of people (and I make no apology for terming them as such, if you knew how insidious somebody like Owen Oyston is for instance - a convicted rapist who is still allowed to own a major British sports team).

 

[Majorhound]

How to make a small fortune out of Rugby (either code?) Start with a big fortune. TBF Man U apart, I don't reckon there's that much profit in soccer. Look at Leeds U. Third biggest city in the country (Manchester is 3 authorities) and huge crowds. But struggling in the second tier, even been down in the third tier for a season or so. They should be one of England's dominant teams. They're not.

 

[Staphylococcus Aureus]

I fear that the English and French models are emulating football to a degree and both nations have paid the price internationally. I think Ireland has got it spot on and (hopefully) Wales will catch up. Although as long as Murdoch and his millions are around I will always fear for the future. It's not a hard choice, Skys 500 cameras, beaming 4k images at you in full dolby surround, nice and cosy in the living room with plenty of beer in the fridge and 4 or 5 mates around, verses an away game on the terraces in f*******g Connacht. In February. With horizontal rain gouging your f*******g eyeballs out, at minus f********g 45!!!!
The Pieman at Cardiff Blues has a fair grip on reality, choosing to pick up talented youth boys and bring them on through the club system. This does have its own downside too though, I've seen crowds average from 10k (full house near as dammitt) to 5, 4 and even 3k over the last decade. As much as he's despised Peter Thomas has always done what he's thought best for the Club/Region and has always known he'll never make any money out of the place so he'll take the poor support as an alternative to losing silly money.

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

I'm with Oly. If and when the sport grows enough, they will be bought.