Cornish Pirates: We will kick door down to reach franchised Prem Rugby
The chief executive of Cornish Pirates insists she is ready to “kick the door down” to get her Champ side into Prem Rugby if the top flight becomes a ringfenced franchise league.
Prem Rugby and the Rugby Football Union are exploring a franchise model which would see the current 10 teams form a new ring-fenced top division.
That move could freeze out sides in the Champ, which features the likes of Cornish Pirates, Worcester Warriors and league leaders Ealing Trailfinders.
“Bill Sweeney and I are in conversation,” Sally Pettipher told City PM. “I am absolutely clear about our ambition – we will be in the Prem by 2030 and if we’re not I will kick the door down and we will come anyway.”
Pettipher’s bullish comments come after a speech at the Global Cornish launch in the House of Commons, where she said her team – currently fourth in the second tier – would not only be in the Prem within five years but also holders of a European trophy in a decade.
Cornish Pirates investment
Pirates are currently owned by a three-strong consortium and Pettipher is lobbying for two further backers to join their quest to get Cornish Pirates into the Prem.
“We’re looking for an investor that wants to come to Cornwall and build a castle and empire,” she added. “We need to move away from language that rugby is unsustainable – it is absolute nonsense.
“I have been clear. My rugby club is completely sustainable, the revenues we generate run a rugby club and my owners are the cream on the scone.
“What we want to do is have an owners’ consortium – we have three and have room for two more members – and this will allow us to top the Champ and possibly go up to the Prem.
“It’s not that many millions. Red Bull have taken over Newcastle as an example of an absolute bargain bucket [deal]. You’ve got Cornwall and you’ve got rugby and if you own a rugby or football club in this country you post yourself straight into British society.
“So that is a very cheap proposition, genuinely, and there are people out there who would love to do that and can afford it.”
It follows reports that Prem Rugby is planning a tender process to attract investment into the English game. Raine Group has been hired alongside Deloitte to assess funding options.
“What you get out of owning a rugby club is pure joy, I never use the word investment. If you can afford it and you love it, do it,” added Pettipher, the former chief of Jason Leonard’s Atlas Foundation.
“The business plan is: land, infrastructure, a business you put on that land, a rugby pitch, sports rehab centre, a hotel, parking, gym and then you have something that pays for your Premiership rugby team.”