{"id":447810,"date":"2026-02-27T03:27:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T03:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/447810\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T03:27:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T03:27:09","slug":"rfu-set-to-confirm-radical-restructure-of-english-rugby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/447810\/","title":{"rendered":"RFU set to confirm radical restructure of English rugby"},"content":{"rendered":"

A radical new structure for English rugby is expected to be rubber-stamped at a Rugby Football Union council meeting on Friday.<\/p>\n

The Prem would separate from the rest of the pyramid, with traditional promotion and relegation immediately scrapped.<\/p>\n

Instead the Prem will look to expand from 10 teams to 12 teams by 2030, with further expansion possible if ambitious clubs meet criteria on and off the field.<\/p>\n

This could mean clubs like Wasps, Worcester and London Irish – who all went bust in the 2022-23 season – return to the top flight in the future.<\/p>\n

As it stands, there is a mechanism for promotion and relegation to and from the Prem via a play-off with the top-placed side in the Champ.<\/p>\n

However, Ealing Trailfinders, consistently the best team in the second tier, have failed to meet the existing standards<\/a> – especially around stadium size.<\/p>\n

There has been no relegation from the Prem since Saracens went down in 2020 after a heavy points deduction for salary cap breaches. Sarries were also the last team to gain promotion after winning the Championship in 2021.<\/p>\n

Under the new plans, ambitious clubs would still be able to apply for a place in the Prem, but would need to meet a variety of revamped criteria – financial and commercial, as well as on-pitch performance and potential.<\/p>\n

English rugby insiders expect the new structure to collectively raise standards across the clubs and make the game more attractive to investors.<\/p>\n

“We are lifting the bar on what we want clubs to do across various areas,” said one leading executive.<\/p>\n

According to sources, any club would be able to apply for a place in an expanded Prem.<\/p>\n

They could be ambitious Champ sides such as Coventry, dormant former powerhouses like Wasps – who plan to relaunch in Kent in the coming seasons – or brand-new entities.<\/p>\n

The Champ clubs had previously rejected plans for a franchise-type model, but leading figures in the club game insist their board has been consulted throughout the process and have endorsed the recommendation.<\/p>\n

“It could be transformational for aspirational Champ clubs,” a senior source told the BBC.<\/p>\n

“We are looking at a range of different options to make the Premiership thriving, exciting and a really interesting place to invest in,” RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney told BBC Sport last year.<\/p>\n

“Part of that will be a model whereby you qualify for an expansion league in the Premiership, but based on criteria around financial sustainability, fanbase and stadium, not just performance on the field of play.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A radical new structure for English rugby is expected to be rubber-stamped at a Rugby Football Union council…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447811,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-447810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}