NUMBER OF TEAMS IN DIVISIONS NORTH ONE AND TWO MUST BE INCREASED (Feb 2006)
Time was when all that a rugby club had to think about during a normal season was the order for a new set of jerseys,the selection of a team,the time the bus was leaving the club for the away trip,and at what time the bar was shutting on a Saturday night. Life really was quite simple and as long as the members and their visitors kept the bar staff happy (and themselves too!) there was little to bring furrows to the secretary's or the treasurer's brow. Not so today as the costs of running a rugby club mount and the demands on a club's finances soar.
How then is any club in the North Two West League expected to pay its way over a full season with just 12 clubs in the division and having only 11 games when the 1stXV plays at home with the chances of a good bar/catering return a possibility? And how can any club prosper when over 7 week ends are taken out of the calendar with the rounds of the Powergen Intermediate Cup competition? Do not half of the teams get knocked out in the first round? So why are they left with six blank Saturdays from 17th September 2005 to the end of the fixture programme on 22nd April 2006? What has happened to the tradition of playing the later rounds of cup competitions on a Sunday or in midweek at night under floodlights?
In the four full months of September, October, November and December of this year Liverpool St.Helens FC (and no doubt other clubs in the league) will have played just five matches at home at Moss Lane - slightly more than one home game per month. In January and February 2006 the club has been allotted three blank weekends to fulfil its commitments to the Powergen Intermediate Cup - the only problem is that Liverpool St.Helens FC and many other clubs in the league exited from the competition months ago! Crazy isn't it?
A 12 club league is simply not big enough to allow a club the facility to raise much needed revenue from a small number of home matches and, surely, the prospect of three teams being relegated (25%) from such a small league does little good for the stability of those in it. For any league to be viable both on the pitch and off it there must be at least 14 clubs competing in it, and the later rounds of the cup competitions must be played on a Sunday for the 8 or so clubs remaining in contention.
In days of yore clubs enjoyed a fixture calendar which listed the 1st XV home and away on alternate Saturdays, a system which allowed members and those who pay at the gate to become a part of a routine. Is it not time then that some consideration was given to providing for at least 14 club leagues and a cup competition which doesn't leave clubs with too many blank weekends for the 1st XV.And the bar staff!
Ray French
Time was when all that a rugby club had to think about during a normal season was the order for a new set of jerseys,the selection of a team,the time the bus was leaving the club for the away trip,and at what time the bar was shutting on a Saturday night. Life really was quite simple and as long as the members and their visitors kept the bar staff happy (and themselves too!) there was little to bring furrows to the secretary's or the treasurer's brow. Not so today as the costs of running a rugby club mount and the demands on a club's finances soar.
How then is any club in the North Two West League expected to pay its way over a full season with just 12 clubs in the division and having only 11 games when the 1stXV plays at home with the chances of a good bar/catering return a possibility? And how can any club prosper when over 7 week ends are taken out of the calendar with the rounds of the Powergen Intermediate Cup competition? Do not half of the teams get knocked out in the first round? So why are they left with six blank Saturdays from 17th September 2005 to the end of the fixture programme on 22nd April 2006? What has happened to the tradition of playing the later rounds of cup competitions on a Sunday or in midweek at night under floodlights?
In the four full months of September, October, November and December of this year Liverpool St.Helens FC (and no doubt other clubs in the league) will have played just five matches at home at Moss Lane -
In days of yore clubs enjoyed a fixture calendar which listed the 1st XV home and away on alternate Saturdays, a system which allowed members and those who pay at the gate to become a part of a routine. Is it not time then that some consideration was given to providing for at least 14 club leagues and a cup competition which doesn't leave clubs with too many blank weekends for the 1st XV.And the bar staff!
Ray French