Sell all the RFU's assets to the highest bidder

As the other poster pointed out quite rightly, several 100's of clubs would take the handout and run, with their clubs going under a short time later when the freebie ran out, mismanaged by clubmen who, although well intentioned, on the whole would squander such an amount of capital chasing short term glory. In no small part, unlike yourself as an accountant and numbers man, because they lack a grasp of financial common sense and business acumen.

I'm talking about the sorts of chairman, treasurers, presidents that harbour aspirations of elevating their club 'up the ladder' to fulfil their dreams and, in some cases, massage their egos in the community - I've seen it before, and it can have long lasting negative effects on players, coaches, and the whole fabric of a rugby club.

Like was also mentioned by someone, your idea would erode the actual community game (which in the truest sense is actually some way below the Championship), and in 5 to 10 years time you would have yet more land (formerly pitches 1 - 3 at 'Old Farts RFC') sold off to property developers to build more houses/flats that no one asked for.

This is not a realistic and progressive vision for rugby union in England that I can entertain, if only for the sake of the fact that I would like my grandchildren to actually still have a local club in existence to play at in the next few years.

What is happening at the moment is that 10 Premiership Clubs are getting the majority of RFU resources and will almost certainly continue to do so at the expense of the Community Clubs......who are likely to get nothing or virtually nothing from the RFU ......ever!

Each club (Community or Premiership) have a single share in the RFU......there will be perceived winners and losers amongst the Community Clubs as they will all get the same payout....but it is likely to measure in the £ hundreds of thousands for each club.

The Rules of the RFU and its ownership will proscribe how the proceeds will be divided.....and it will be almost certainly proportionate to shareholding.......just as it should be, not just 10 shareholders scooping up the majority of the resources.

I have no regard for the Premiership clubs, they are owned by very,very rich individuals and have received most of the RFU's money for the last 20 years.......if it is such a great business and such a great investment CVC can bankroll them and let the Community Game get on with what the RFU should have been all about.

Just to provide a little context I am a Chartered Accountant and a Corporate Financier.....I have been advising on and managing such transactions for the last 30 years... generally in the £10s of millions not the £100s of millions (except for one international deal which was of such a size as this transaction could be ).

Big deals such as this are made to work because :

i) It makes real sense for such a transaction as each group of shareholders are freed up to pursue their differing strategic objectives

ii) There is enough in it to galvanise and motivate a very substantial number of small shareholders

iii) the fees  for the lawyers, corporate financiers and accountants are very big and the best firms want to get involved.

Trust me Berksrugby...this could happen!

The other issue is that the armed forces regiments and Oxford/Cambridge are also members.

It would cause chaos in the players market as the community game is levelled with equally funded player salaries and then has clubs going under once they've spent their pot of gold.

Bonus is freedom from RFU and CVC. Perhaps also implementation of transfer fees up into good ship CVC

Having said all this, it's a great idea.

Under another thread in Clubhouse Chat I posted a reply to Richard Lowther setting out how I would engage with all 2,000 Community Clubs to prompt action to cleanse the 'rotten borough' that is the RFU. I have reproduced my post in italics below:

I believe that it is time to uncouple the 10 Premiership Clubs and the rest of the elite game from the 2,000 or so other Community Clubs. All 2,000 Community clubs own the RFU but most of the RFU's resources are directed to the elite game and the 10 Premiership clubs.

The interests of the 10 Premiership shareholders and the elite game are vastly different and the RFU is no longer looking after the majority but only the tiny minority.

Dissolve the RFU by selling all its assets and distributing the proceeds proportionately. The numbers and rationale make perfect sense

In any corporate situation where the interests of the shareholders were so diverse......a sale of the assets or the body corporate would be an obvious solution. It is radical but having considered most of the other scenarios I have concluded that any other course of action would just be tinkering and would not address the fundamental issue.

My concern if this radical course of action isn't undertaken is that the 2,000 or so Community Clubs will only see a few crumbs from King Billy's table as most of the resources are syphoned off to the Premiership and CVC. This way each Community Club will get its fair share of the RFU's net assets which will be an equitable outcome.

This would go to a vote of the clubs at an AGM or a Special General Meeting....two thirds would need to approve so checks and balances in place