SCOTTISH club rugby will be the recipient of two significant cash injections, with the Scottish Rugby Union announcing that it was investing £100,000 to cover the expenses of match-day officials, while league sponsors Scottish Hydro have pledged £60,000 to a new facilities fund which offers clubs up to £2,000 matched-grant funding to finance their own club improvements.
"The number of people playing the game is growing year on year and Scottish Rugby recognises that, in order to fully support the increased number of players, we must look at ways in which we can offer more assistance to clubs," said Colin Thomson, in
his guise as head of community rugby (as opposed to his other role as interim chief executive of Glasgow Warriors).
"By covering the cost of match officials and offering facilities grants to clubs we aim to help alleviate the financial burden that some clubs may be experiencing in the current financial climate."
While any financial assistance at a time of serious economic uncertainty will always be welcomed by club officials, it is unlikely that yesterday's announcement will appease several prominent figures at the top end of the club game who have recently expressed a desire for greater control in organising and managing their own affairs.
The absence of prizemoney under the current sponsorship arrangement with Scottish Hydro, the need to improve playing standards, and a desire to increase media – particularly broadcast – coverage of the club game, are among the major issues they are seeking to address.
There has even been talk of a standalone SPL-style competition being set up, which would allow clubs to negotiate their own sponsorship and broadcast deals and organise their own league structure without having to win over clubs in lower divisions in order to pass an agm vote.
"We've got a very good sponsor in Scottish Hydro," said Thomson. "Part of our function as a governing body is to take care of the title rights to these leagues and cups. I don't think we are in a position where there will be a breakaway, what is happening is we are talking about how to move forward and that's what we'll continue to do.
"In the grand scheme of things, what we give the clubs is not a significant amount in the context of their overall budgets, but it certainly helps and it is way above the levels of assistance that any other governing body in Scotland gives to the clubs in their respective sports. I'm happy with how we stand up as a national governing body that supports our clubs," he continued.
"Introducing a scheme for paying prizemoney is not high on the priority list at the moment because at the end of the day putting out two teams is putting out two teams whether you win your league or not. Costs are different depending on whether you are up in Inverness, for example, or down in the central belt. As a governing body we've got to recognise the role that all clubs play in developing the game. The club of the month award is now worth £1,000 and if you get to Murrayfield in the Cup you keep the gate money – so there are things that we do which are in effect prizemoney.
"But as a governing body it is important that we invest the money from our sponsors across the community game and not just the people that win, because it costs as much to run a team regardless of league position.
"My personal opinion is that the league structure at the moment isn't ideal, but I work in a governance structure where the clubs decide what the league and cup format is and then we provide the administration for the championship committee.
"As far as the structure of the season goes – whether there is eight, ten, 12 or 14 teams in the leagues – that is for the clubs to decide.
"I can make my point of view heard but the decision is with the clubs, and I'm confident we are in a better place to do that now than we were four years ago because of the way we are communicating.
"There will always be disagreement, but as long as we all have the same goal of improving standards then nothing is insurmountable.
"We have to plan, do and review, which is something we traditionally have not done very well in Scotland. In the past we have tended to react rather than plan ahead."
