International Rugby at Ealing

[Gerg861]

Proving once again that the Prem ring fencing is farcical, Trailfinders Sports Ground will host Zimbabwe vs. Uruguay in the Nations Cup on 14th November. So good enough for a test match but not to host a club match.

[Rothman2]

Quite agree.

[Fatbear]

Agree, total nonsense

[jblee]

But let's be honest the reason the Premiership don't want to admit Ealing (and anyone else they deem unacceptable) has nothing whatsoever to do with ground grading. That's just the excuse they use.

Re-locate Worcester to Vallis Way or re-form Wasps and site them there and the doors would suddenly open.

[Southstand]

Conversely,

re-locate Trailfinders to Sixways stadium and those same doors would be immediately swung open.
The obvious proviso being that Ealing actually get past the play-off semis this year.

Honestly, be careful what you wish for.

Stadium lease. P share purchase, and a competitive Premiership budget, would equate to a conservative estimate of Mike trebling his funding for the Club and the likely prospect of supporting a team rattling around the bottom of the league is hardly a blueprint for growth.

Fields of Dreams are exactly that.

[jblee]

Conversely,

Teams should be allowed to rattle around the bottom of leagues if they are good enough to win a place in that league in the first place. Teams have been rattling around the bottom of leagues in many sports for many years. It's what sport is all about.

Fields of Dreams is most certainly not about ending the dreams of so-called lesser clubs because the big boys don't think they can make enough money out of them.

[Southstand]

I'm not saying any club shouldn't be allowed to "rattle around" at the bottom of a league, what I am saying is it isn't healthy and can be prejudicial to a club's future. Ask the folk from Leeds, Rotherham and London Welsh how long it takes to re-set.

Everyone's attitude is shaped by their own particular experience and perspective.
Mine is from following a Club who I had grown up playing for and ultimately supporting going through the divisions before entering the top division thanks to its funding being underpinned by then owner Cecil Duckworth.

It probably took us a decade to acquire enough p shares for the club to operate on an equal footing with the established clubs. By this time we had established ourselves as perennial strugglers. Recruitment was a seasonal problem as agents didn't want their players going to a club that could be relegated so we quickly gained a reputation as a club who pay "over the odds" for ordinary players.
Plan B was to pump money into developing our own players. Ultimately the best ones were simply cherry picked by the top clubs.

Worcester didn't want to be considered for promotion last season and there is no evidence that that decision is likely to change anytime soon.

The Premiership is a broken model, and, with the owners entrenched in a what we have we hold attitude, there is no likelihood of them voting for a level playing field or fair competition until the next club goes pop. There just aren't enough Red Bulls to go round.

[jblee]

Conversely,

Rattling around at the bottom of a league may not be unhealthy and it may not be prejudicial to a club's future. What is far more prejudicial to a club's future (in most cases) is not paying your debts.

I much preferred the old way in which clubs were promoted on merit and if that resulted in them rattling around near the bottom of leagues so be it. That in my opinion is what sport is all about.

But I appreciate others have different opinions for various reasons.

[Southstand]

And ... there it is.

Enjoy your season
SS

[jblee]

You too SS!