Ealing Trailfinders will be denied a promotion play-off against the bottom-placed Premiership side after the runaway Championship leaders failed to meet the top tier’s minimum standards criteria.
A statement from the men’s professional rugby board (MPRB) via the Rugby Football Union explained that Ealing, Coventry and Doncaster Knights had all submitted applications to be considered for promotion from the Championship ahead of the 2025-26 season.
However, only Doncaster, currently eighth in the table and 29 points adrift of leaders Ealing with 10 league fixtures left, were successful in the audit. Their prospects of topping the table are all but over.
Coventry, third in the table, were unable to evidence planning permission for their home ground to expand to a capacity of 10,001 four years after going up. Ealing, 13 points clear in first place, were said to have fallen down on this point as well as on safety compliance.
Sources indicated that Ealing did not submit any information about changes to their ground.
“It was agreed that a promoted club could phase the development of the 10,001 capacity requirement of its home ground over four seasons – year 1, 5,000, years 2 and 3, 7,500, and year 4, 10,001, subject to there being planning permission in place at the time of audit,” read the MPRB statement.
“It was hoped that this change in criteria would enable more clubs from the Championship to be able to meet the required stadium size and safety standards to be considered for promotion.
“Whilst we are disappointed that this did not have the effect all were expecting thus far, the MPRB is committed to supporting aspirational clubs and will work with the chair of the recently-established Tier 2 Board, to support Championship clubs and develop a model where those aspiring clubs can have a clearer pathway to operating safely and sustainably within the Premiership.”
Ealing have finished top of the Championship in two of the past three completed Championship campaigns, only slipping to second in 2023 when Jersey won the division. This season, having won 11 of 12 league matches so far, they are on course to do so for a third time in four years. However, they are yet to earn entrance into the Premiership.
Mark McTighe, the chair of the MPRB, insisted that there is hope of movement between the top two tiers in the future.
“We are in a new era for the men’s professional game and there are ongoing and very live conversations about how we can build an investable framework that ensures that it is sustainable,” he said.
“While right now only one Championship club is meeting the requirements that would enable them to come into the league, we are working hard to ensure that is not always the case and that we apply the right flexibility and support where it’s appropriate.
“We know how hard those clubs with aspirations to join the Premiership are working both to generate the required investment to be sustainable within that league and to ensure they have the required infrastructure to support themselves.
“This forms a vital part of the ongoing discussion and collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders, from the clubs and organisations who run both leagues, to many others, because we recognise that in the future, new and innovative approaches are going to be required.”
