Clubs - Rise Now, And Be A Union Again

THE SRU has finally published their Annual Report for season 2018-19. It is the usual slick publication, which can be viewed on the SRU website. Needless to say, it is big on generalities, of necessity it must be a broad brush-strokes publication, which, naturally, glosses over the bits The Junta don't want to discuss – Russellgate, the SGM, the fight over S6 etc.

First the good news:

• Turnover is up 6.7% to almost £62 million

Now the not-so-good news:

• Costs are also up, by a smidgeon under 10%

In the current business climate, I am not going to criticise the SRU executives for that, as I said when I reviewed the 2017-18 figures, these are not bad results; clearly the “suits” are having to sprint faster, merely to try to stand still. These days we are unlikely to see results which will earn TCD and LL-B a standing ovation at the AGM.

But, good housekeeping demands, prudent budgeters keep a check on those areas of their operations where costs are rising fastest, and attempt to keep them under control.

Now, I should perhaps place a caveat here – I am not and never have been one of life's great savers or cost-cutters, so, I am hardly the person to lecture on how to spend cash, but, a wee non-professional rummage through the figures, produced some interesting talking points:

• The costs of running the international and professional teams rose by 6.6% between 2017-18 and 2018-19
• In the same period, the costs of the Domestic and Performance areas of the SRU rose by 12.9%
• Commercial and Operational costs rose by 16.7%
• Club Support and Development costs rose by 6%
• Wages rose by 12.6%

The SRU conveniently produces five-year figures for all their financial measurements, and these make, to me, particularly interesting reading. Over that period, from 2014-15 to 2018-19:

• The costs of running the international and professional game have risen by 35%
• Domestic and Performance costs have gone up by 58.9%
• Commercial and operational costs have risen by 42%
• Club Support and Development costs have gone up by 11.4%

There, in those figures, you can see The Junta's biggest problem – the area of Scottish Rugby coming out worst financially, is the area of most concern to the ordinary clubmen and women, the grass roots people who make Scottish Rugby work – that is the area being treated badly by BT Murrayfield. Or so it would seem.

If you look at the five-year figures in terms of a share of the costs, you find:

• In 2014-15 the international and professional game was charged with 53.4% of the costs

• In 2018-19, it was charged with 52% of the costs
• In 2014-15 the domestic and performance arm was charged with 14.6% of the costs
• In 2018-19 it was charged with 16.6% of the costs
• In 2014-15 commercial and operations were charged with 25.5% of the costs
• In 2018-19 these were charged with 26.1% of the costs
• In 2014-15 club support and development was charged with 6.5% of the costs
• In 2018-19 it was charged with 5.2%

Or to put it another way, in terms of their overall operational costs over the past five years:

• The SRU is spending 2.6% less per year on the international and professional game
• It is spending 13.7% more on the domestic and performance arm
• It is spending 26.1% more on its commercial and operational arm
• It is putting 20% less into club support.

Can I just be clear on this, yes, in 2018-19, the SRU put £3,088,000 into the club game, as against £2,772,000 in 2014-15.

However, in terms of a share of the overall cake, the club game got 20% LESS than five years ago – which backs-up anecdotal evidence from various clubmen.

This is not a good picture for The Junta and The Council to have to defend.

These running costs are a complex picture to try to examine. We should congratulate the guys running the international sides and the two professional sides on their cost-control. Overall, inflation has risen by 2.4% over the past five years, so, the guys running Edinburgh and Glasgow have actually beaten inflation - well done. 

Given the wide field it covers, as explained in the Annual Report I can live with the rise in the costs of running things like the FOSROC Scottish Rugby Academy, coach education, referee development and so-forth, which are charged to the domestic and performance arm.

I have my concerns about the higher costs of running the Commercial and Operational arm of the SRU. Horns require to be drawn-in here, for instance, (since I suspect this is where their costs are being obscured – do we really need the tie-ins with Nice and Old Glory? – It beats me what these two entities bring to Scottish Rugby).

However, in allowing their support for the grass roots game to lag so-far behind their support for other areas, The Junta have made a rod for their own backs, The Council members stand accused of NOT sticking-up for their constituents, and this failing has caused so-much of the current bad feeling within the game.

The “suits” inside BTM need telt:

It's oor gemme, no yours, gie us a fairer deal – or pay the consequences. Time to rise now, and be a Union again.