THE HERALD REVEALS



Exclusive by NEIL DRYSDALE December 08 2008
Scotland's leading rugby clubs are poised to break away from the Scottish Rugby Union and create their own championship structure, organised on the lines of football's Scottish Premier League.

The proposal, which has already been discussed by representatives of the Premier 1 forum, is a belated attempt by the clubs to gain autonomy and forge their own commercial deals, broadcasting partnerships and other revenue streams, as well as generating prize money for successful championship teams, at odds with the present situation where the title winners receive nothing but a trophy and a set of winners' medals.

The full extent of the plan was unveiled yesterday by Billy McHarg, the president of Scottish Hydro Electric Premiership leaders Ayr, who said that, whereas in the past there may have been problems between certain clubs, there was now "greater unity than ever before", and a consensus that the current structure was generally selling the domestic game short.

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The Herald can also reveal that the Premier 1 sides are close to securing a six-figure sponsorship injection if they establish a new competition and that they will be looking to commence the new league as early as 2011 or 2012.

"We need to shake things up," said McHarg. "There is a common recognition that we should take responsibility for our own affairs. Look at what has happened in the SPL. Scottish clubs are not being offered enough incentives to raise their game at the moment.

"At the various forums I have attended, we have drawn up a list of things which we would like to see happening and the bottom line is that if clubs want to be in it the new organisation, they should meet certain criteria, such as having floodlights, a mini- rugby section, their own youth development officer, and other things which we can thrash out in the months ahead.

"The fact is that we had a situation a couple of years back where Currie won the league and got absolutely nothing for it, which was a real kick in the teeth. And that set a number of us thinking: We have to do something to change the status quo.' "That feeling has only increased in the last year, because we are losing our best players every season, having to start from scratch, and the profile of the club circuit is shrinking and it is a struggle just to keep our heads above the water.

"We should spell out we do not want conflict with the SRU. The opposite is true. What we are looking at is taking charge of our own affairs and having control of our own destiny. I don't think this proposal could be implemented overnight, because although we have representatives from Edinburgh, Glasgow, the Borders, Stirling and ourselves in the Premiership at the moment, ideally, we would want to turn this into a truly pan-Scottish tournament and that would involve the likes of Aberdeen and Dundee.

"But I would have thought that, in the present climate, the SRU would actually support this scheme, because it would lighten their load and leave it up to the clubs to search for sponsors, forge closer links with their communities and local authorities, and sort out their affairs, on and off the pitch.

"We the Premier 1 delegates met at Murrayfield at the end of November and the response of the other Premiership clubs has been very positive. Yes, a lot of work still needs to be done across the board, but we are pretty united in accepting that change is for the good."

His words were borne out when The Herald spoke to a couple of leading Premiership figures last night. Iain Paxton, the former British Lion, who is now general manager of reigning champions Boroughmuir, said: "This will be a ground-breaking step forward if it comes to pass. Scotland's clubs are strapped for cash and we have to be pro-active and work together."

Ally Donaldson, the head coach at Currie responded: "Anything which raises the profile of the game has to be good, but we have to careful this doesn't lead to a system where the rich just get richer, such as has happened in the SPL and the English Premiership, where the same four clubs are way ahead of the rest all the time."

However, the whole basis for such a radical restructuring is to build the sport up from the grassroots and transform the marked decline in playing and spectating numbers in the SHE Premiership. The matter will be discussed further by the clubs in January.


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This article was posted on 8-Dec-2008, 08:02 by Hugh Barrow.