Setback for Ealing as Premiership ambitions dashed again

Newcastle Falcons and Exeter’s place in the Gallagher Premiership looks to be assured despite their on-field struggles after runaway Championship leaders Ealing Trailfinders failed to meet Premiership Rugby’s minimum standards criteria.

Ealing are currently 13 points clear of second-placed Bedford Blues and they look certain to win English rugby’s second tier for the third time in four years. This year that should have led to them playing off against the Premiership’s bottom team, which will either be Newcastle, who have insisted they will have the finances to compete, or the Chiefs. But that will not happen now, resulting in the same 10 teams competing in English rugby’s top flight next season.

A statement from the Men’s Professional Rugby Board (MPRB) said that Ealing and equally ambitious Coventry had failed the criteria, “principally as they were not able to evidence planning permission being in place”, to prove they could upgrade their respective grounds to 10,001 capacity within the set four-year timeframe. Ealing also failed to satisfy the authorities that they had the necessary safety assurances in place.

Doncaster Knights would be allowed to go up if they won the league and then a play-off, as they have met all the entry criteria requirements. However, the Knights are languishing in eighth place, some 29 points behind Ealing with 10 games of the league season to go, despite having brought in established players such as Semesa Rokoduguni and Telusa Veainu.

The MPRB statement is outlined in full below:

“The Men’s Professional Rugby Board (MPRB) has reviewed the independent audit of all clubs in the Premiership as well as those Championship clubs who applied to be assessed for promotion against the league’s current minimum standards criteria. The audit included three Championship clubs – Coventry Rugby, Doncaster Knights and Ealing Trailfinders.

All existing Premiership Rugby clubs met the leagues minimum standards criteria as did Championship club Doncaster Knights. Coventry Rugby and Ealing Trailfinders did not meet the requirements principally as they were not able to evidence planning permission being in place, and in the case of Ealing Trailfinders that appropriate assurances in respect of safety compliance were in place.

It is clear that the minimum standard required for stadium capacity has proved to be a major hurdle for clubs with the ambition to join the Premiership. In June 2024, Premiership Rugby and the RFU consulted with Championship clubs and agreed a phased runway to reach the required capacity of 10,001 such that the ground is then governed by relevant safety legislation. It was agreed that a promoted club could phase the development of the 10,001 capacity requirement of its home ground over four seasons – year 1, 5,000, years 2 and 3, 7,500, and Year 4, 10,001 subject to there being planning permission in place at the time of audit. It was hoped that this change in criteria would enable more clubs from the Championship to be able to meet the required stadium size and safety standards to be considered for promotion.

Whilst we are disappointed that this did not have the effect all were expecting thus far, the MPRB is committed to supporting aspirational clubs and will work with the chair of the recently established Tier 2 Board, to support Championship clubs and develop a model where those aspiring clubs can have a clearer pathway to operating safely and sustainably within the Premiership.”

Mike McTighe, Men’s Professional Rugby Board Chair said: “We are in a new era for the men’s professional game and there are ongoing and very live conversations about how we can build an investable framework that ensures that it is sustainable. While right now only one Championship club is meeting the requirements that would enable them to come into the league, we are working hard to ensure that is not always the case and that we apply the right flexibility and support where it’s appropriate.

“We know how hard those clubs with aspirations to join the Premiership are working both to generate the required investment to be sustainable within that league and to ensure they have the required infrastructure to support themselves. This forms a vital part of the ongoing discussion and collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders, from the clubs and organisations who run both leagues, to many others, because we recognise that in the future, new and innovative approaches are going to be required.”