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Bath signed back-row Guy Pepper from Newcastle Falcons for the 2024-25 season on a three-year deal - Getty Images/Michael Steele
Newcastle Falcons are ready to engage lawyers in their bid to receive compensation for departing academy products as Ben Redshaw, the England Under-20 star, becomes the latest to trade Tyneside for a Premiership rival.
Steve Diamond, the Falcons director of rugby, said on Tuesday that Redshaw would be joining Gloucester and explained that Newcastle have been waiting 10 months to receive compensation from the deals that saw Bath recruit Guy Pepper and Saracens pick up Phil Brantingham last summer.
With Falcons seeking new investment, Diamond is eager to be handed these funds so that he can make improved offers to existing Newcastle players such as club captain Callum Chick.
In the same month that he was suspended by the Rugby Football Union for remarks made to officials, Diamond took aim at the governing body’s disciplinary department for prolonged Falcons’ wait for valuable finances.
“Phil Brantingham and Guy Pepper left the club 10 months ago, and their compensation claims still haven’t been put on the desk by the RFU,” he said. “That is unlike me, who, within 24 hours, receives his notice for comments I made.
“There is a willingness to do some things quickly and expedite discipline, but when it comes to the crux of the professional game, then this is where they are out of their depth. The processes in place guard against other clubs stealing players at a young age through compensation.”
“The mathematics work like this; there is an amount of money, so let’s say we have had them for three years, then there is an amount per year. If a club asks permission [to approach a player] and we have offered them a contract, and that club speaks to them after March, there will be an amount of commission that they will be aware of.
“If they speak to them before [March] – which they all do and I have evidence of that happening – then there is another amount payable, which is not insignificant.”
As testament to Newcastle’s production line, Pepper has been among the best signings of the Premiership season. The 20-year-old Redshaw, a world champion with England U20 last summer who has spent most of his senior career at full-back and wing, remains eligible for that age-group.
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Ben Redshaw (left) was part of the England Under-20 side that won the Under 20 World Cup in 2024 - Getty Images/Gallo Images
He was in contention to captain them before suffering an injury on the verge of the Six Nations earlier this season.
It is understood that Gloucester are aware of their need to pay compensation for acquiring Redshaw, but Diamond suggested that Newcastle have sought legal advice in their bid to receive payment from Bath and Saracens as quickly as possible.
“The compensation rules are put together by a combination of the RFU, Premier Rugby and the RPA and whenever there is conflict, it goes awry,” Diamond added. “Compensation is important for the club’s finances, and we need a decision on that – we can’t wait 10 months.
“We now have Ben Redshaw going to Gloucester, and they will have to pay the compensation. They all try and wriggle around it, and that is why we need everyone to sit down and say this is right or this is not right, or else it will be a free-for-all.
“We have a legal team working on this, and it is costing money – there is a lot depending on it. If we put all the hard work into developing these youngsters and then, at 20, are snapped up, then that’s not fair or right and not why the academy regions were put together for. It is five five-figure [compensation] sum we are looking at.”
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