Khlav Kalash wrote:
Forgive me, but would we be losing the funding to operate an academy, or just the fact we would be unable to run one. If its the later, I don't know how that could be legal.
I found this on the RFL site,I’ve inserted a couple of relevant paragraphs. Interesting that Salford and Leigh have applied, but one club has been refused because they are outside of SL.
Funding, reserves & reviews: How the academy system moves forward post-COVID
18th March 2021 James Gordon Pick, Super League 0
We’ve mandated the academy licence application to say they must run Under 18s and reserves from 2022, so we can get the programme back to where it needs to be. It’s a transitional year, it’s not ideal, but it’s the best we can make out of the situation.”
At the end of this year too, the academy licenses will be reviewed. It is believed that Salford and Leigh have submitted applications to join the party, while at least one other club has been turned away due to not being in Super League.
The funding model
Currently there are two clubs outside the top flight running category one academies – Bradford and Newcastle. A third, Widnes, decided do disband theirs at the end of 2020 citing the uncertainty over the funding which is largely controlled by Super League clubs.
Their experience of this post the club’s administration in 2019, when more than £80,000 in funding – earned by the success of their academy – was withheld in a vote of the 12 top flight clubs.