At a Special General Meeting of the Scottish Rugby Union at Murrayfield on Sunday 5th March, club delegates from throughout the country voted in overwhelming support of what's known as the Flockhart Report, a second working party set up last year to agree the final stages of governance of the union game in Scotland.
This is the last piece in a year-long jigsaw to re-organise how the sport is run in Scotland, from elite level through to the community game. It is also intended that what has been achieved will be subject to healthy ongoing scrutiny and revision as the sport moves forward.
By voting for the Flockhart Report, the clubs present at the SGM completed far reaching changes in the governance of the sport. The report finalises the representation process on the Scottish Rugby Council for those clubs who, next season, will play in the new Regional Leagues below the National Leagues.
The SGM completes the review of the new Scottish Rugby Council and the Executive Board, which replaced the previous General Committee and Interim Executive Board in June last year.
The SGM confirms that former "District" representation now gives way to the creation of six representatives, elected on a Regional League basis.
Rob Flockhart said the implementation of his final report would "ensure a level playing field for all concerned."
For his part, the SRU President, Andy Irvine, said this would ensure a "first class governance system." He added,
"There is now a much better sense of unity going forward."
Much of the sport's governance was agreed throughout 2005 - a year of great change. From April 2005, for example, an SRU President (currently Andy Irvine) now requires the support of 10 clubs to be nominated for office and the posts of senior and junior vice-presidents were removed altogether. The sport is now driven by a 12 man Executive Board plus chairman, currently Allan Munro. (four executive, four non executive and four members of the SRU Council)
Flockhart delivered an interim report and recommendations last June. This also highlighted the need to create a high performance structure for the professional game, community and disciplinary structures, a reassessment of both the competition structure and the recruitment, training and administration of referees.
New regional development groups for each of the new rugby development regions, chaired by the Regional Development Managers, are also being established to help drive club development within the rugby community.
This week's SGM completes the circle by agreeing how clubs below National Leagues are to be represented and confirming the composition of geographical representation.
The SRU Chief Executive, Gordon McKie also addressed the SGM on sunday, updating the clubs present on how the governing body is modernising as a business and becoming more accountable to all its key stakeholders. He gave credit to Scotland coach Frank Hadden and the National Squad for the recent Six Nations successes but stressed that the success of the three professional teams is critical.
He reported that the SRU is likely to make an as yet unquantified loss this year and explained the return of around 10,000 tickets from clubs in January for the Scotland v France RBS 6 Nations game on 5th February, accounted for £0.5 million of lost revenues. On the running of the governing body in the past McKie added,
"There has been a serious lack of accountability in the past and the SRU has now got to be run as a business. My job is to fix it but it is moving forward. The Council is very much in synch with the Board now but we still need radical change.
"We have nine financial ledgers, which is unwise. There will be one ledger by May 1st and a better budget process. Anything to do with a major spend will go out to tender."
The Chief Executive described the SRU's internet technology system as a "bit like a patchwork quilt not knitted together, with little hardware or software control but he stressed that a proper system will be put in place."
He saw the commercial challenge as the biggest single area to get right but getting the Bank of Scotland Corporate on board as sponsors for the autumn internationals has "added credibility." He also promised much work will be done in communicating better with debenture holders. In a wide ranging address he continued,
"Our academies are not joined up and need to be. We're trying to develop partnerships with the clubs and get more schools playing rugby. It's much better growing and developing our own players. We need to see what's right for Scottish Rugby, not just at Premier One level but with the BT Leagues.
"I'm not elitist and I really want us all to work together. There is a feel good factor working here now and I hope it's permeating through to the clubs. The clubs are the life blood of the future of Scottish Rugby."
Offering his assessment of where rugby union in Scotland is today, the SRU President, Andy Irvine, added,
"We're a small nation. If we are not united, we've no chance taking on the bigger rugby nations. What head coach Frank Hadden has done recently is fantastic. We've come a long way. The Calcutta Cup victory was a game that has helped inspire a whole nation."
Please note:
The clubs in the new Regional Leagues will now have 6 representatives, an increase of one on the current situation.
Caledonia Regional Leagues - one representative from North, one from Midlands
East Regional Leagues - one representative from Borders and one from Edinburgh
West Regional Leagues - one representative from Glasgow North, and one from Glasgow South.
These new representatives are to be elected by the end of May 2006 and will replace those currently elected onto the Council from that level of rugby, via the now discontinued District set up.
The Marr amendment changed the election process and rules from those detailed in the Flockhart Report to one to be chosen by the affected clubs, subject to approval of the Scottish Rugby Council.
The final report as voted in, also refers to Additional Matters regarding Communication, immediate implementation, and clarification on bye-laws if required.
It further, in these Additional Matters, called for a continuing and ongoing review of constitutional matters, and in approving this final report, the clubs have endorsed this ongoing process.

This article was posted on 6-Mar-2006, 18:23 by Hugh Barrow.