A NEW venue should be considered for the Challenge Cup final, according to the club-led strategic review which has produced 144 recommendations for rugby league.
Eleven months after Nigel Wood returned to the Rugby Football League as interim chairman at the instigation of many clubs with the promise of a review, a number of major changes have been proposed.
Among the most notable is a suggestion that the Challenge Cup showpiece be moved away from Wembley, where it has been held every year bar one since reopening in 2007.
The old Wembley hosted every final, with the exception of replays and during wartime, between 1933 and 1999.
But the 90,000-capacity venue has not attracted a crowd above 65,000 since 2018, despite the recent addition of the 1895 Cup final – which will move away from Wembley this year – and the Women’s Challenge Cup final, which the strategic review suggests making a standalone event.
Other key recommendations include having scope for Super League to be expanded to more than 14 teams, and for a Charity Shield fixture between the winners of the Grand Final and the Challenge Cup.
Many of the proposals have already been enacted over the past year, including the growth of Super League from twelve teams and the merger of the Championship with what was previously League One.
The review says of their top tier: “The league should comprise 14 teams but there should be a long-term plan to increase the number of clubs.
“This should only happen when the sport can financially and operationally sustain such growth – including player supply – and where it will not negatively affect the current financial distribution to clubs.”
It recommends an eight-team play-off, up from six, moving forward, and backs the continued use of the grading system to determine who plays in Super League, albeit stressing a desire for on-field performance to be given greater weight.
The review also proposes “a renegotiation of the terms of participation in Super League for French clubs to incentivise all parties to grow the sport”.
The creation of new events is advocated, including turning the Challenge Cup round of 16 into a “Magic Weekend-style” event, an Anglo-French Cup involving Championship and Super XIII teams, and the return of the Charity Shield, which was previously held nine times between 1985 and 1995.
Annual matches “played around the world” between the best NRL and Super League clubs are also suggested, along with the formulation of a plan to host another World Cup.
The review’s recommendations on governance centre on plans to closely align the leadership of the RFL, Rugby League Commercial and Super League (Europe), which is already in motion.
The strategic review group was chaired by Wood and its other members were current RFL board members Abi Ekoku, Dermot Power, Emma Rosewarne, Jo Coates, Lord Jonathan Caine and Martin Coyd.
The recommendations, which came after wide consultation across the sport, will be put to the RFL Council in March and, if approved, will form the basis of a new strategic plan.