“Resilience,” Ralph Rimmer says as he considers the best word to describe how rugby league has sustained itself during a three-month crisis which is still a long way from being over. Rimmer is the Rugby Football League chief executive who last month dragged his sport back from the brink when he negotiated a £16m emergency loan from the government amid the onslaught of Covid-19.
“Over the last 125 years we’ve demonstrated our resilience,” Rimmer continues. “We’re facing exceptional circumstances but I don’t think anyone in the sport feels cowed. It’s very much a feeling of pulling together to find a solution.”
Rimmer’s work in securing that financial injection has been vital in propping up a sport that relies so heavily on gate receipts from live matches. Rugby league has struggled against the odds for years, despite the central role it plays in the cultural and economic wellbeing of so many towns in the north, and the pandemic has threatened its professional future.
Neil Hudgell, the owner of Hull Kingston Rovers, warned in late April that, “we may not be around as a full-time elite sport come the end of the year.” Rimmer pauses when I ask if he shared that bleak perspective?
“Perhaps, at one stage, I thought it would be significantly damaged,” he concedes. “But we’ve won recognition from the government that our clubs are so important to their communities. It’s an endorsement of the sport and how important it is to the people that support it. That approval has lifted the sport above where it normally sits. I’m very grateful.”
Rimmer, who was mocked unfairly as an unimaginative choice when he replaced Nigel Wood as the governing body’s chief executive two years ago, must have felt intense pressure when he began talking to the government? “Possibly, but I love the sport. I would fight for it anyway. I feel incredibly privileged to be in my position. I was also in the right place at the right time, with a fantastic team and a sport around me. I could only put the case [for funding ahead of other sports] because of what rugby league does day in, day out in those communities. None of that was built on me. It was built on what the sport delivers.”
Yet the good news has clear limits. Apart from the burning question as to whether £16m is enough to safeguard the future, doubts about the game’s structure are obvious. Rimmer looks thoughtful when I ask if it is pragmatic to have 34 professional clubs in Britain?
“They are sustainable or they are not. For those that do face insolvency in the future, that happens in all sport. That’s generally down to local management, and those directors have a duty to run their own clubs. We are not a shadow director as a governing body.”
Will all 34 professional clubs still be here in a year? “That’s a very good question. I would like to think so, but I’m not at all reluctant to change. This crisis is moving very quickly so never say never to anything. We need to adapt and be very smart, and that will inevitably mean some change. That’s not something I’m fearful of. We need to protect the sport and ensure its safe passage through 2020 and 2021 – when we hopefully win three World Cups [men, women and in wheelchair competition] at the end of next year.”
The importance of the 2021 World Cup in England was accentuated by last week’s announcement that this autumn’s Ashes series has been cancelled. It was inevitable but the latest financial hit, estimated to be around £1m, highlights the precarious position. Rimmer’s previous answer would suggest some clubs could go under.
“It’s a fear,” Rimmer admits. “These days sport is a business. It’s important to whole communities but each club has a responsibility to themselves. Neither I nor the rugby football league is solely responsible for their future.”
Which clubs are most in jeopardy – those in Super League, where overheads are high, or further down the ranks where income is modest?
“I don’t see any Super League clubs being particularly in jeopardy right now. They’re run by smart people and will dig a way out. The government funding gives them some confidence to plan going forward. I would be fairly confident the majority of clubs are going to be fine..”
Wakefield and Salford, two Super League clubs, lose £60,000 and £70,000, respectively, for each home game they cannot play. Rimmer makes the point that: “There are bigger losses than that. Those figures might not have that big an impact on the Premier League, but in rugby league they’re vast losses.”
Rimmer jokes about wearing odd socks as his lucky charm but he was persuasive and skilful in obtaining government support. He will also ensure the money is used prudently. Each club has to prove they have exhausted all other funding options. “We have the finances in place and we know all the clubs intimately. Most of the burden is prescribed to Super League clubs because their staff earn more, and they’re full-time. But we will help the majority of the sport in one way or another.”
How many professional clubs are in a critical position? “I would say about 10 clubs in the first instance require help. What those clubs have to prove is that they have a business plan which ensures they’re sustainable going forward. We would not condone putting that government fund at risk. It’s public money, and a lot of responsibility comes with that, so we’ll be very cautious about how we make those loans.”
Is £16m enough to help rugby league recover from a devastating crisis? “I think so. I’m lucky enough to sit down with all of our tiers of rugby league and I always start with the same words: ‘If we’re going to find a way through this the solution will not be perfect. You all have to give a bit in order to make it work.’ We will all feel a good deal of stress, but pulling together is what I’m getting from people. In so doing we will emerge out the other side. This is our 125th year and it’s not a year to go down. It’s a year to come up fighting.”
The division between Super League clubs and the rest of rugby league has lessened this year. Does the sport now need just one governing body? “Oh, that,” he says wryly. “I’m not going to get involved with that. There’s always speculation but I work regularly with Super League to promote the sport. Those conversations will continue.”
Perceptions of Rimmer have shifted during the crisis as his Super League critics have relied on his nous and expertise in dealing with the government. Rimmer must have noticed the change? “Perhaps,” he says with a smile. “I’m always my own man and I have been all my life. I never get too carried away with the rare plaudits. Likewise, I try not to get too downhearted about criticism. All I ever try to do is the right thing for the sport.”
It must have been disheartening when his appointment was met with derision in some quarters – primarily because he had been Wood’s understudy. “Nigel is a great fellow,” he says, “and you’ll probably never find a more knowledgeable guy. But he would be the first to acknowledge I’m very different. You’re right. I am an insider. I’m steeped in the game. Some people may use that as a negative. My underlying objective is that if anyone wants to get involved I have to find a way for them to do it – whether playing or volunteering. We’re a very inclusive sport.”
Rugby league is different to most professional sports because its clubs remain rooted in their communities. “At every level,” Rimmer stresses. “Look at Super League. Warrington’s work with dementia and St Helens’ work with autism is outstanding. But lower down the ranks there are great examples of what Barrow does in the community. That’s a strong town. Its whole community is built around the rugby league club.”
Rimmer is a proud Cumbrian and Barrow is his home club – for whom he played briefly in the late 1980s. “My dad would take me up to watch Barrow at home and I played there before going to Liverpool University where I also played. But the pinnacle of my playing career would be my four games [in the reserve grade] with Barrow. We drew one game 44-44 which gives an indication as to our level. But the game runs through my blood.”
He rose from being a development officer for Doncaster to the CEO of the Sheffield Eagles, when they beat Wigan in the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley in 1998, and a director of the Huddersfield Giants before joining the Rugby Football League. He was one of the first, when the lockdown began, to take a pay cut and his approach has been matched across the sport.
“Absolutely. As an executive board, on day one, we said: ‘We’re taking a pay cut.’ That will remain. Likewise, clubs have done the same thing and it was picked up right across the communities. It’s us thinking differently about how we’re going to get through this.”
Rimmer smiles when I say he sounds surprisingly buoyant. “I’m always optimistic. I get out of bed every day optimistic. I’ll never lose that.”
Rimmer hopes that Super League will resume in August, with other tiers of the game to follow. When that blissful moment happens, “I really want us to punch the air and say: ‘We’re back!’”