Strategic review key points: new cup final venue, Charity Shield game and Super League play-offs

The club-led strategic review which was approved to be designed almost a year ago has finally been revealed – with 144 recommendations for how to improve rugby league in the United Kingdom and Europe unveiled.

The Rugby Football League have published a detailed and in-depth report commissioned by a group that were tasked with putting together a plan to fundamentally overhaul the sport’s structure and governance.

The group was chaired by Nigel Wood. Its other members were Abi Ekoku, Dermot Power, Emma Rosewarne MBE, Joanna Coates, Lord Jonathan Caine and Martin Coyd OBE. Robert Hicks acted as the group’s secretary.

Many of the recommendations have already been approved – such as a 14-team Super League and a merged Championship and League 1. But others are yet to be brought in – and are fascinating to say the least. Here are the key ones seen by Love Rugby League.

A new Challenge Cup Final home?

Section E of the report relates to the Challenge Cup, and has a number of recommendations. Chief among them is point 70, which reads: “The sport should consider a new venue for the final”.

This would be a hugely controversial move. Wembley Stadium has been synonymous with the cup final for decades – though the venue has failed to fully sell out the cup final since the sport returned there in the mid-2000s.

There have been discussions about moving to other venues such as Tottenham. This will only further bring that discussion to the table, it seems.

Another key change the review recommends is to bring in a ‘Magic Weekend-style’ round of the cup, likely the last 16. This would enable the sport to ‘put the magic’ back into the cup, according to the report. It would also create a new flagship event for rugby league.

A Charity Shield-style curtain-raiser?

Point 100 raises the prospect of a new fixture in the calendar, similar to football’s Charity/Community Shield – where the winners of the Premier League face the winners of the FA Cup.

Here, it would be the Challenge Cup winners against the Super League champions in a curtain-raiser that would kick off each new campaign with a bang.

Crucially, it would raise money for charity. The report says: “The sport should consider starting the season with a match between the Challenge Cup winners and the Grand Final winners to raise money for the sport’s charity, Rugby League Cares;

“Any new event should be about more than the fixture(s) being played and should have at its core experiences for fans which provide entertainment for all.”

Super League expansion and play-offs

Having already gone to 14 teams, the report details that there should be a ‘long-term plan to increase the size of Super League even further in the coming years.

The report says: “The league should comprise 14 teams but there should be a long-term plan to increase the number of clubs. This should only happen when the sport can financially and operationally sustain such growth – including player supply – and where it will not negatively affect the current financial distribution to clubs.”

That report has also approved a top eight play-off format – until Super League goes beyond 16 teams.

“The play-offs should become a Top 8 format until such time as the league moves beyond 16 clubs. Consideration should be given as to how to innovate the play-off format to ensure more talking points are created. Any format change should be based on data and insight from partners and result in increased revenue.”

The full report can be read here.