Rugby Football Union must regulate player payments which threaten existence of some junior clubs

The following example is typical of what is going on all over the country.

In an area that has say seven junior clubs, one club wanting to attract the best local talent pay their squad ?50 per week. This is not life changing, but in less affluent areas the extra income is enough to attract players from other local clubs. Though individually the sum seems small, when you multiply it by 30 for the squad and then 24 weeks you have ?36,000 to find before any of the club?s other operating costs.

A club paying at this level either have to have a significantly profitable membership or bar, if not they have to have a benefactor and this is the norm where such money is involved.

What this does is create pressure on other clubs to match this spending or lose players. Some, wisely resist the temptation; others do not. These have to also spend to gain parity and would never have done so had they not been effectively coerced.

Once a club start paying they are set on a course that often ends badly. At first they may be the only club in their league who pay but as they get promoted the number of paying clubs rises as do the amounts paid. At ?150 per week per player, they now need more than ?100,000 per season before any other outgoings.

Clubs rise according to the level of payment they make but at some point they get promoted to a league which is too high. That season they lose most of their games and see their best players poached by other clubs. Meanwhile a lot of their infrastructure, that used to be amateur, has left because they do not see why they should work for nothing. Subsequent demotion can spiral out of control and end up threatening the club?s existence.

Another unwelcome effect of payment at this level is that it changes the relationship between player and club. This is the level at which the reality is that clubs are social centres, providing somewhere for players to play and enjoy the company of team-mates and opposing teams. However, seriously they take themselves they should not be places where the JF Kennedy axiom is reversed ? where players ask what the club can do for them; not what they can do for their club.

None of this produces players for England or the Premiership. If these players were any good they would be in the top four divisions already. They do not deserve to be paid because they are actually not very good.

The RFU should decide in what leagues payment can be made and ban payment of players otherwise. Even if a club are able to find the necessary cash, at this level it should be spent on facilities, developing women?s, youth and mini-rugby and the necessary coaching structures. That way the club grow and the real spirit of rugby thrives.

A club?s membership of the Union should require disclosure of their books to the Inland Revenue. This way the RFU can ensure the game has a home for those players who want and deserve to be paid and the rest play for enjoyment.

Source: http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/568401/s/1b7221fb/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Csport0Crugbyunion0Cclub0C89872180CRugby0EFootball0EUnion0Emust0Eregulate0Eplayer0Epayments0Ewhich0Ethreaten0Eexistence0Eof0Esome0Ejunior0Eclubs0Bhtml/story01.htm

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