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Premiership Players/ Clubs

The Guinness Premiership is the present name for the leading rugby union league competition for English clubs. It has had the following sponsorship names in the past: more...

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Courage League: 1987–88 to 1996–97; Allied Dunbar Premiership: 1997–98 to 1999–2000; Zurich Premiership: 2000–01 to 2004–05;

History

The governing body of rugby union in England, Rugby Football Union, long resisted leagues as they believed that they would increase 'dirty' play and put pressure on clubs to pay their players (thus breaking the amateur ethos). Instead clubs arranged their own friendlies and had traditional games. The only organised tournaments were the County Cups and County Championship - the former played by clubs and the latter by the Counties within England. The Daily Telegraph and a few local newspapers - such as the Yorkshire Post compiled 'pennants' based on teams performances but as the strength of fixture list varied, it was at best an estimate of a teams performance throughout a season.

In 1972 the RFU sanctioned a national knock-out cup now known as the EDF Energy Cup and this was followed first by regional merit tables and then in the mid 1980s by national merit tables. One of the casualties of the move to competitive leagues was the loss of traditional games as the new fixture lists did not allow enough time for them.

The league evolved over time since starting in 1987 when the Courage Leagues were formed, a league pyramid that had more than 1000 clubs playing in 108 leagues; each with promotion and relegation.

In the first season, clubs were expected to arrange the fixtures on mutually convenient dates. That first season was an unqualified success, with clubs in the upper echelons of the national leagues reporting increased crowds, interest from both local backers and national companies and higher skill levels among players exposed to regular competition. The fears that a league would lead to greater violence on the field proved largely unfounded.

By the next season the RFU allocated fixed Saturdays to the league season, removing the clubs' responsibility for scheduling matches. There was no home and away structure to the leagues in those early seasons sides played one another once only.

Initially two teams, Bath and Leicester proved to be head and shoulders above anyone else in the Courage League, and between them dominated the top of the table.

In 1994 the league structure expanded to include a full rota of home and away matches for the first time. The 1994/1995 season was the first to be shown live on Sky Sports, a relationship which continues today.

The league turned professional for the 1996/97 season when the first winners were Wasps RFC, now known as London Wasps, who were the only other side to be crowned champions in the first ten years. Clubs like Saracens, Newcastle and Northampton were lucky enough to attract benefactors but the professional era also had its casualties as clubs like Richmond and London Scottish were forced into administration when their backers pulled out.