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Lance Bradley puts figure on extra funding needed by Wales' regions
By Liam Heagney
Ospreys CEO Lance Bradley has claimed that the regions in Wales need an additional playing budget of £2million each per annum in order to become regular knockout stage title contenders. It was 2017 when a Welsh club – Scarlets – last won the old PRO12, but they clubs have since struggled, especially in recent seasons due to financial restraints.
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This past season was the first time in the three editions of the URC involving four South African franchises in a 16-team tournament that Wales had a quarter-final representative.
Ospreys pipped the Lions to an eighth-place finish, securing them a knockout stage trip to Munster, but Bradley believes additional investment is needed to ensure that Welsh representation in the title race play-offs becomes a regular thing.
Ahead of the 2024/25 season which kicks off on the weekend of September 20, Bradley has given a wide-ranging interview to walesonline.co.uk which included an emphasis on the financials required to make the Welsh regions – which currently have a £4.5m budget each – more competitive in the long term.
It’s believed that the professional rugby board in Wales will unveil a five-year plan this autumn that will deal with the multi-million-pound funding gap and ensure that none of the four regions are cut for the game to survive and thrive.
Bradley said: “In the discussions we are having with the WRU everyone is very clear that the plan is to have four pro clubs. If there were to be, and there is ongoing discussions with the clubs and union about how to close the funding gap, there is a proposal on the table that looks like it could do it but there is more detail needed on that proposal.
“It’s looking positive but there are still lots of things to work out. If that does work out and we are able to either take that plan or take the best bits of that plan it looks to me as if we will have funding for four professional clubs in Wales.
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“I know people have spoken about a two-tier funding model and everybody is in favour of that as long as they are one of the two that gets the most funding. We are the same, but our focus is on the plan that is on the table which is for four appropriately funded pro teams. If we can get to somewhere around £6.5m we can be regularly in the knockout stages.”
EXC: Ospreys chief insists region going nowhere as he reveals new WRU proposal is on table | @Steffan_Thomas1 https://t.co/XyXf25TO4k pic.twitter.com/2VYC9Nx6Ql
— WalesOnline Rugby (@WalesRugby) August 6, 2024
