The two-legged Championship Play-Off Final kicks off this week, with Bristol Rugby desperate for promotion at the seventh time of asking. The fact that they have been here in the play-offs five times in the last seven years yet have never made the Premiership highlights [a need to Scrap Championship Play-Offs] a flawed system.
It must be odd being a Bristol Rugby supporter. They have topped the league in the last three seasons, defeating almost everyone put before them yet, they have earned nothing for it. From a business point of view, it must be great for the club to be able to market ‘winning rugby’ and a team that is permanently at the ‘top of the league’. That factor has certainly allowed them to sign big name players such as Tom Varndell, Gavin Henson and Ryan Jones. The former in particular signed on the basis of promotion and is a player that should still be in the Aviva Premiership.
Bristol Rugby have done well to continually recruit high quality players despite their consistent failures but they have resources beyond most of their league rivals. They play in an ever-expanding stadium shared with their football counterparts Bristol City and backed by billionaire Steve Lansdown. The reasoning behind scheduling play-offs is the extra revenue that further games bring but for a side like Bristol, this is clearly no consolation. The fact that the format has changed numerous times in the past few years shows that the organisation recognize a problem but are not willing to admit the whole system has to go.
The Aviva Premiership, and the other major European leagues all have play-offs because of the impact of international matches – as explored further here. In the Greens King IPA Championship this is not a major issue so the reason to keep play-offs is weaker. The idea of scrapping promotion is argued on the basis that the gap between the two leagues is too vast and that non-established sides cannot compete. The abysmal London Welsh side from 2014/2015 is a prime example–though they were only promoted because they outsmarted Bristol over two matches. No-one could seriously argue that the West Country side would not have fared better if it were the Bristol side that were promoted; as they should logically have been as league winners.
In the past ten years Northampton Saints and Harlequins have been relegated and then returned immediately, where there were no play-offs. They have both gone on to become Premiership Champions and were not exposed to the downward spiral effects that have undoubtedly eroded Bristol Rugby’s ability to adjust quickly to Premiership life. Indeed as an example, this season, the Doncaster Knights would be worthy winners in the final because they are better equipped to compete in the Premiership (having been in National League One as recently as 2014). Such a terrific rise might even create a Leicester City /EPL style ‘fairytale result’ but that is even more unlikely in rugby, than football.
It is ultimately Bristol Rugby’s own fault for not being able to play the system but when the system creates results, such as London Welsh; with the reputational damage it does to the Premiership, the existing system should be questioned. Promotion and relegation isn’t the problem, but the way that promotion is ‘decided’ is.
“Main photo credit”
