SCOTTISH RUGBY UNION
CLUB COMPETITIONS WORKING PARTY
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Remit and Composition of Working Party

The Club Competitions Working party was established following the Special General Meeting of the Scottish Rugby Union held on 30th January 2005, called to discuss the proposed Strategic Plan, at which the following Amendment was passed:

There should be no change to the format of the club League and Cup competitions for season 2005-2006.
A working party should be set up immediately to look at all options to improve the club competitions with particular regard to establishing the desire for any change to the regional structure within the national competitions. This working party to include elected representatives from each of the 3 Premier and 4 National Leagues in addition to District reps and SRU officials. Any proposals for change from this exercise to be tabled at this year's AGM.
There should be no change meantime to the present timing of club season or the introduction of a winter break (other than Xmas and New Year weekends).

John Jeffrey was appointed independent Chairman and elections were held to nominate representatives from the Divisions specified in part (ii) above. The following were elected to serve on the Working Party:

Premiership Division 1: Terence Froud (Hawick)
Premiership Division 2: Gavin Garden (Dundee HSFP)
Premiership Division 3: Robin Boog (Royal High Corstorphine)
National League Division 1: Brian Gilbert (Kilmarnock)
National League Division 2: Martin Keane (Glenrothes)
National League Division 3: Andy Little (Highland)
National League Division 4: Alasdair Farquharson (Aberdeenshire)

The following individuals were appointed to represent the SRU:

George Blackie (Championship Convenor)
John Thorburn (Manager of the Domestic Game)
Richard McGhee (Championship Secretary)

The full Working Party met on 3 occasions between 22nd February and 30th March. It was also agreed, however, that in order to establish the views of clubs at the Division 5/District League levels a further Working Party should be established comprising the Chairman, SRU representatives as above and representatives from each District. Accordingly, the following were appointed:

Edinburgh and District: Barry Sinclair (Portobello)
Glasgow and District: Russell Marchant (Dumfries)
Midlands District: Douglas Cruickshank (Kinross)
North District: Gordon Cox (Moray)
Scottish Borders District: George Storey (Hawick Linden)

The Division 5/District League Working Party met on two occasions within the same time period.

Summary of Issues Addressed and Method of Consultation

It was agreed that the considerations of the Working Party should concentrate its attention around three broad areas:

League Structure
Cup Structure
Season Structure

In addition the question of transitional arrangements to reach the new structure was also addressed although it was acknowledged that this was also a matter on which the views of the Championship Committee should be sought. This has been done and the Championship Committee are in agreement with the transitional arrangements proposed below.

The approach taken by the Chairman was to invite each divisional representative to consult with the other clubs within their division on these areas, report back to the meeting and seek consensus on the best way forward in the interests of all. The same approach was taken with the Division 5/District League representatives.

The following were the main issues raised and agreed in respect of each of these areas.

League Structure

Premiership Division 1

Concern was expressed at the problems caused during the second half of the season (post New Year) due to conflict with representative fixtures and the resultant demands on club players selected for representative duty. It was noted that the demands on the best young players was likely to increase as it is proposed that the National Age Grade squads would effectively be 'in camp' from January in preparation for the respective International Age Grade competitions held at the latter end of the season. It was also noted that the Scotland Seven squad were now competing on the full IRB Sevens circuit, again creating increased demands on young players during the second half of the season.

In order to support the development of Age Grade talent and avoid potential conflict between club and country, the Premiership Division 1 representative therefore proposed that Premiership league competition should be completed by Christmas with the second half of the season given over to Cup competition, possibly some form of cross border competition and, if necessary, a stand alone 'Premiership' type competition. In order to achieve this, given the number of Saturdays available, it was felt necessary to reduce the number of clubs in the Premiership from 12 to 10. This would allow the full programme of 18 fixtures to be played between late August and late December.

Premiership Divisions 2 and 3

It was suggested that the format described above for Premiership Division 1 could be mirrored in Premiership Divisions 2 and 3. However, the feedback from Divisions 2 and 3 was that their preference was for regular league fixtures throughout the season in order to keep levels of interest, activity, competition and revenue high all year. It was pointed out that Age Grade International players were not selected exclusively from Premiership Division 1 and the same difficulties highlighted by the Premiership Division 1 clubs could affect those in Divisions 2 and 3, but the feeling of the Division 2 and 3 clubs was that the problem would not be as great and the benefits of a longer competitive league season outweighed the problems of potential loss of representative players. Accordingly, the preference of the clubs in Premiership Divisions 2 and 3 was for retention of 12 team Divisions at that level.

National League Divisions played on a national basis

For the clubs in National League Divisions 1-4 the key question arising from the proposed Strategic Plan was that of regionalisation. Proposals had been put forward to raise the level at which leagues should be organised on a regional basis above the current Division 5. However, particularly in National League Divisions 1 and 2, the view from the clubs was strongly against regionalisation and in favour of the continuation of the national format. At National League Division 3 level clubs were concerned about a possible lack of competitiveness and were by a majority in favour of remaining national while at Division 4 level the clubs were split on the issue.

For the same reasons expressed by the Premiership Divisions 2 and 3 clubs, i.e. a desire to keep levels of interest, activity, competition and revenue high all year, the National League clubs preferred to increase the Division sizes from 10 to 12. In light of the resultant increase in the number of clubs at this level and the split opinions within Division 4 it was agreed that if increasing the size of divisions to 12 the number of nationally playing divisions at this level should be reduced from 4 to 3, i.e. from 40 clubs to 36. When taking into account the reduction in the size of Premiership Division 1 to 10 clubs this gives a total reduction in clubs playing on a national basis from 76 to 70.

Regionalised level of National League and District Leagues

There was no desire on the part of the regionalised clubs to return to a national format. Indeed, the view of clubs playing at the regionalised level was that the level of regionalisation should be raised in order to provide a more rapid promotion route for ambitious clubs. This view informed the decision to limit the number of nationally playing National Divisions from 4 to 3. There was also no desire to increase the size of divisions due to fears of fixture congestion and bearing in mind the additional Cup rounds played by lower level clubs.

It was agreed that the present format of regionalisation into three areas (East, West and Caledonia) should continue at the top regionalised level (new National League Division 4). Below this, it was agreed that the format should vary according to the requirements within each region, but with the proviso that at the lowest level the rules should be such as to permit new clubs and struggling clubs to play league rugby without the necessity to comply with what can be onerous Championship Regulations - i.e. as exists at present within the District Leagues. Examples of ways in which the structures may vary from region to region below new Division 4 level are:

Within Caledonia it may be preferable to split into North and Midlands Divisions
Within the West the comparatively large number of clubs may lead to the conclusion that the continuance of another tier playing as a 'B' Division within the Championship may be appropriate
Within the East region the comparatively low number of clubs may suggest that at the lowest level the existing Edinburgh and Borders District Leagues combine to make a more viable competition

Promotion and Relegation

The Working Party considered various options for promotion and relegation including proposals for a play-off system, but took the view that with the likely congestion at the end of the twelve team division league season a straightforward two up two down promotion and relegation system should be adopted. In relation specifically to the interface between Premiership Divisions 1 and 2 this decision was also informed by the impracticality of organising a play-off when one Division finishes in December and the other finishes March or April. At the interface between the national and regional based divisions it was agreed that the existing system should continue, i.e. 3 clubs automatically relegated, the winners of the three regionalised divisions automatically promoted and play-offs between the three regional runners-up and the 4th bottom club from the national based league for one additional place. A three down three up system was considered particularly in light of the fixture congestion issue already raised in relation to the 12 team national based Division but it was agreed that it was important to allow a potential promotion route for second placed clubs in the regionalised divisions both to maintain interest during the season and to allow for any disparity in standards between regions.

Divisional Titles

Consideration was given to only having one Division entitled "Premiership" but the majority view of club representatives was that the existing three Premiership Divisions should be retained. Similarly consideration was given to renaming the regionalised Divisions but again the majority view was that the title "National League" should be retained

2nd XV Leagues

The Working Party considered proposals to include clubs' 2nd XVs in the Championship and/or to introduce a 'mirror league' structure. Neither proposal received the support of the Working Party for reasons of competitive fairness but it was agreed that the 2nd XV Leagues were an important level of rugby and should have its own league structure with promotion and relegation based on results.

Cup Structure

The proposed Strategic Plan included a proposal for an enhanced Cup Competition based on a pool system in the second half of the season. This proposal received support from Premiership Division 1 clubs and from clubs at the regionalised level. As already referred to above however, the clubs in Premiership Divisions 2 and 3 and the national based National League Divisions preferred a league structure with larger divisions and league fixtures throughout the season. This effectively ruled out the enhanced Cup competition proposals and it was therefore agreed that the existing knockout system be continued.

In order to accommodate the completion of Premiership Division 1 before the turn of the year it was agreed that the Premiership Division 1 clubs should not enter the Cup competition until the second half of the season. It was also noted that it would be beneficial for clubs in the new National League Divisions 1, 2 and 3 to enter the competition at a later stage partly because of the increase in Division size and increased number of fixtures but also because of the acknowledgement that there are a lot of mismatches currently at Round 1 when clubs from National League Division 1 are drawn against Division 5 and District league clubs. Accordingly it was agreed that there should be an additional entry point for clubs in National League Divisions 1 - 3 after an early round or rounds for clubs at the regionalised level. This will involve an additional round for clubs at the regionalised level but it was felt that this could be accommodated as the size of divisions is not increasing at this level. Another proposal from the proposed Strategic Plan was that an additional Plate competition be introduced for clubs eliminated in the early rounds giving four tiers, namely Cup, Shield, Bowl and Plate, and giving a broader representation of clubs with the opportunity of reaching Finals day.

Season Structure

As indicated above it was agreed that Premiership Division 1 should be scheduled for completion before the turn of the year. In the second half of the season Premier 1 clubs would compete in a Premiership competition interspersed with Cup matches. The format of the Premiership competition should be agreed with the Premiership Division 1 clubs but could take the form of a 'League Cup' with pool matches leading to a Grand Final.

On the question of the season dates, cognisance was taken of the SGM decision rejecting the extension of the season into the summer months and it is proposed that the existing parameters of September to March with a maximum two week break at Christmas and New Year should be adhered to.

The decision to retain the same season parameters coupled with the recent SGM decision putting an end to enforced Sunday fixtures inevitably forces the question of club fixtures on International Saturdays. Until the current season the Sundays of home International weekends have been used for scheduled fixtures and/or standby dates but this can no longer happen. The view of the club representatives was that they would prefer to hold club matches on International match days with kick-off times arranged so as to allow the International to be watched in the clubhouse thereby creating the opportunity for a whole afternoon's rugby event and increased bar revenue. The view was also expressed that the majority of players did not attend Internationals and would prefer to play on these days. Accordingly, despite the obvious concerns raised by the SRU representatives in regard to Murrayfield attendances, the recommendation of the club representatives is that when necessary home international Saturdays are used for scheduled fixtures with away international Saturdays used as standby dates.




Transitional Arrangements

Part of the Motion putting the Working Party into place specified that 'There should be no change to the format of the club League and Cup competitions for season 2005-2006.'

The proposals for promotion and relegation to achieve the new structure therefore refer to the end of season 2005-06. The accompanying notes to the agreed Amendment did suggest that if there was consensus on regionalisation proposals and a wish to put them into effect without delay they could still be approved at the June 2005 AGM for implementation in 2005-06. However, the view of the Working Party is that as the season has already been concluded (including play-offs) and promotion/relegation resolved between Divisions 4 and 5 it will not be proposing the immediate regionalisation of Division 4.

The proposals for revised promotion and relegation at the end of season 2005/06 in order to implement the proposals for season structure are as follows:

Between Premiership Divisions and between P3 and NL1- 3 clubs relegated and 1 club promoted
Between NL1 and NL2 - 2 clubs relegated and 2 clubs promoted
Between NL2 and NL3 - 1 club relegated and 3 clubs promoted
Between NL3 and NL4 - no relegation, 4 clubs promoted
Between NL4 and NL5 - no relegation, remaining 6 clubs in NL4 join relevant regionalised division of new NL4. 7 clubs promoted from each of existing regionalised Divisions.
Between NL5 and relevant (B) Division or District League - 3 clubs relegated, 1 club promoted to new NL4
Structure below NL4, and appropriate transitional arrangements, to be decided in consultation with remaining clubs in each region


Proposed Motions required to AGM to implement new structure

1) "To introduce a new League structure from season 2006/07 so that there is:

Three Premiership Divisions comprising 10 Clubs in Division 1 and 12 Clubs in Divisions 2 and 3;
Three National League Divisions of 12 clubs playing on a national basis
Three Regionalised Divisions of 10 clubs, being National League Division 4 (East), National League Division 4 (West) and National League Division 4 (Caledonia)

2) "To introduce a new Plate Competition in addition to the existing Cup, Shield and Bowl competitions"

This article was posted on 26-Apr-2005, 07:30 by Hugh Barrow.