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Coventry applied to have Butts Park Arena audited against minimum standards criteria (MSC) for the Premiership this season - Getty Images/Cameron Smith
Coventry have become the first Championship club to express their interest in an expanded Premiership of franchise teams, but have demanded that funds trickle down from the top tier.
Jon Sharp, the Coventry chief executive, has spent around £10 million on the club over recent years, spread evenly between facilities and player recruitment. He is confident that his side would be ready to join the top flight in two years.
Sharp is currently seeking new investment to improve the squad and “kit out” a new stand that is set to take the capacity of Butts Park Arena to 7,500. He believes that a franchise system, which is being considered by English rugby union’s powerbrokers, could eventually grow to two divisions of 12 clubs each.
“We’d be interested in joining the Premiership by whatever method,” said Sharp. “We owe it to our supporters and to our history.
“There are some concerns around whether this would shut out too many clubs. But if it is treated properly, it should be limitless as far as the number of clubs that can come up.
“A franchise system could get to two conferences of eight and if the money keeps on trickling down to the league below, we could create two full tiers of 12. I don’t see why that can’t happen, but it does mean that, in the first instance, money has to go below the Premiership in order to help those clubs improve their facilities and their playing squads.
“Finance is everything, and you have to develop sides to be Premiership-ready. There has to be investment there and it has to come from the Premiership and the Rugby Football Union. Then, when a team is promoted, according to more sensible criteria that isn’t arbitrarily handed down, the team coming up has to have funding equal to those already up there.”
Coventry applied to have their home ground audited against minimum-standards criteria (MSC) for the Premiership this season. Although they failed, Coventry would surely rank well for the proposed criteria of a franchise system because of the fan base, the regional value and the brand as a historic club who boast strong traditions.
Sharp is hopeful that the club’s recently launched academy will contribute 60-70 per cent of first-team players within three years and is proud that Coventry, who employ five community officers, have made an impact on their local community with welfare initiatives.
A flagship programme called Project 500 has benefited over 6,000 local children since its inception in 2019. Sharp, a successful businessman in the aviation sphere, was honoured with the Coventry Award of Merit last month and hopes that work on a new stand at Butts Park Arena could begin early in 2026.
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Coventry chief executive Jon Sharp says club would ‘be interested in joining the Premiership by whatever method’ - Andrew Fox
He did strongly suggest, however, that promoted clubs should not have to purchase a “P-share” upon being admitted to the Premiership. It entitles shareholders to a percentage of the central income of the league as well as voting rights on issues essential to the league.
“You should automatically be given a P-share,” he said. “There is still some thinking here which is restrictive. It may be that Ealing Trailfinders, who have a rich benefactor, can buy one.
“I don’t know how many other Championship clubs could. I’ve always advocated for Ealing to go up, because they’re strong enough, although they’re not a team with a large fan base.
“There is evidence that people in the hierarchy are thinking about the bigger picture, but they still need to get less protective over their finances. The P-share, if you look at the balance sheets of different clubs, is worth whatever they decide. They have to address that as well.”
Coventry have averaged upwards of 3,000 supporters at their home matches this season, with three sell-out crowds of more than 5,000. For them to join a meaningful expansion of the Premiership, though, Sharp insists that they need top-tier clubs to be open-minded.
“The concept is great, but there really has to be some biting of the bullet – not only by the Championship clubs accused of not investing enough – but also by the guys up the top in order to make this work.
“I fully agree that the Premiership is just not vibrant enough to interest sponsors, because it’s stale. I would support franchising, but the conditions have to be right and Coventry is two years away from the Premiership in terms of squad development.
“In terms of facilities, we are £250,000 away, aside from the artificial 10,001 capacity requirement. We’re chasing new investment because I need new money to kit out our new stand and associated facilities and improve our squad. But some of that money should come from above.”
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