| Cornish Pirates - Statement Nov 2006 |
In the last few weeks - with the Pirates in the top six of the National 1 - there has been considerable opinion and media interest in the issue of promotion to the Premier League.
With last Saturdays win over the Titans at Rotherham taking the Pirates to the top of National 1 by a whisker, this speculation and opinion has intensified. Consequently the Pirates feel it is necessary to make (our) their position clear (on our views) on promotion for this season.
Primarily, this statement is not in any way intended to indicate that the Pirates winning National 1 is a closed case, far from it. We are one third of the way through a long hard season and although we have a small, tightly knit and talented squad, anything can happen in the next six months.
This statement is being made to clarify our intentions, as we are being inundated by "interested" parties contacting us.
The following parameters need to be considered.
In April 2009 the current "long form" agreement expires. Precisely what happens after that to the Premier League/National 1 under the current situation between the RFU and PRL is unclear.
In April 2007 and 2008, under current regulations and subject to intensive ground criteria a team could be promoted. We only know of one National Club that currently meets ground criteria regulations for the premiership.
The Pirates remain open on the issue of a ground going forward and continue to seek ways to overcome the obstacles presented by the ground criteria. In business terms however a two-year horizon is nothing and the uncertainty thereafter compounds the issue. First Division Rugby is well aware of the situation and the issue is covered at the regular FDR meetings, which is the appropriate forum for dissenting views of the National 1 Clubs.
We are very keen to ultimately develop our future in Cornwall, which has a population of 500,000, but unbelievably there is not a County Sports stadium in the Duchy.
18 months ago the Pirates members agreed virtually unanimously to support a move eastwards from Penzance to enable us to gauge support for a Cornish Pirates brand. This move has been very successful with crowds last year up 40% and this season, after a slow start, for the Exeter game at Camborne up another 50% year on year. Clearly the supporters are enjoying our brand of rugby.
Our intention is to build the quality of our squad, based on the current players, in order that we can compete without massive changes should we attain Premiership status. We have the first green shoots of the next generation of top Cornish players on our books and in the current squad a backbone that can be developed such that promotion would mean going up and hopefully staying up.
Has everyone forgotten the recent past?
West Hartlepool - what happened to them? Now playing in North Two East. (Level 6)
Rotherham (2003) Ltd. - lost every game, crowds went too, came back down, went bankrupt and the management and squad were made redundant.
Ask the people cast adrift from these Clubs what a stadium and Premiership place did for their management team, players and Club.
Our intention at the Pirates is to build on our success on the field. We don't have an asset to realise value and build a stadium in the chosen area, which basically must be in the heartland of rugby in Cornwall. Perhaps the powers that be - including the Councils and the RFU/Premier League - would let us play Premiership rugby at our present location - whilst we develop resources for a better venue on that site or nearby.
But any Premiership participation must be based on sustainability and some degree of permanence - which can only currently come about through ability, because relegation/promotion in some form must be maintained.
A possible solution is providing a broad based approach to expansion of the Premiership
My personal view is expansion of the Premiership to allow aspiring clubs to build their confidence and their facilities based on a five-year horizon. Clubs entering the Premiership on winning National 1 in the future would receive a financial commitment to be spent only on facilities.
If promotion occurred in a play-off scenario, any Clubs being promoted would enter into the standard five-year commitment and the contract with the relegated Club would be honoured for the full five years. There is perhaps a need for the RFU to reappraise its priorities in certain areas and recognise the opportunities for developing the high quality of exciting rugby in National 1.Finally, the squad are fully aware of the above. Following previous meetings at the Mennaye in Penzance, I met the players and team management prior to the Titans game last Wednesday
The result at Rotherham shows, in part, how the players responded to support for their future well being as part of a more professional future for the Cornish Pirates.
RGR Evans
