Final offer from RFU would see Championship clubs receive £4.3m backing

Championship clubs are close to agreeing a funding deal for the next four seasons after receiving what has been described by one insider as a “final offer” from the RFU.
The Rugby Paper understands the Championship clubs have been offered a deal  guaranteeing them funding up until season 2015-16, although the annual figures involved fall well short of the £500,000-a-year per club some Championship chairmen had hoped for.
If signed off, the agreement will provide each club with £345,000 for season 2012-13 (a three per cent increase from last season), with annual increases of around £10,000 per annum thereafter producing year four funding of between £375,000 and £380,000.
That funding involves the RFU underwriting £400,000-worth of sponsorship until a title sponsor is found.
In addition, each club will receive an annual contribution of £6,250 towards travel costs in the British & Irish Cup. And in an effort to encourage the 12 Championship clubs to take that fledgling cup competition more seriously, English quarter-finalists will also receive £10,000, with another £10,000 for reaching the semi-finals.
An English B&I Cup winner would receive £20,000 while the losers would pocket £10,000, but there is no word yet on whether the Welsh, Scottish and Irish Unions will offer similar incentives.
The total package available to Championship clubs in year one is worth around £4.3m, which is made up of RFU funding for English-qualified players and B&I Cup, a £1m contribution from Premiership Rugby and £320,000-a-year from Sky Sports.
Some clubs will welcome the stability the deal provides in the current harsh economic climate, but others feel it falls short of expectations given the contribution the Championship is making at the top end of English rugby.
Of the recently named senior England and Saxons squads, around half the 64 players played second tier rugby, either with their clubs or through the successful dual-registration scheme.
Former dual-registered players include Dan Cole (Bedford and Nottingham), Owen Farrell (Bedford), Jonny May (Moseley) and George Lowe (Esher), while the likes of Mouritz Botha, Tom Johnson and Tom Youngs learnt their trade in the Championship.
So far this summer, 15 players have been signed by Premiership clubs from the Championship and some second tier clubs believe their efforts to establish a fully professional competition below the top-flight are not being fully rewarded.
Dr Graham Stirling, chairman of Plymouth Albion, said: “While we welcome the offer from the RFU, it's still disappointing. It doesn't meet what we all felt at the outset of the Championship was the appropriate level of funding to have a sustainable, fully professional league.”
NEALE HARVEY