Ealing Trailfinders fail to meet promotion criteria, stricken Newcastle Falcon unable to sign players without new funds

There will be no promotion or relegation between the Gallagher Premiership and the Championship, as Ealing Trailfinders have not met the criteria to be considered for top-flight rugby. Meanwhile, the Premiership's bottom-placed Newcastle Falcons may need assistance from the league in order to secure a £4 million loan, and are currently not considering any new signings for the coming campaign.

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Ealing Trailfinders failed to meet the minimum standards criteria to be promoted to the Gallagher Premiership, while Newcastle Falcons are unable to sign new players unless additional funding is found.

Trailfinders currently have a 13-point lead at the top of the Championship, the second tier of English rugby, and applied for promotion to the top flight, which would require a play-off match against the bottom team in the Premiership, currently Newcastle.

However, their application has been rejected, with the Rugby Football Union (RFU) announcing that Trailfinders did not have sufficient ground capacity, nor did they meet safety compliance standards.

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As a result, there will be no play-off match between the two divisions. Doncaster Knights had met the requirements, but are in eighth spot in the league, 29 points behind Ealing. Like Ealing, third-place Coventry did not meet the required standards.

"We know how hard those clubs with aspirations to join the Premiership are working both to generate the required investment to be sustainable within that league and to ensure they have the required infrastructure to support themselves," Mike McTighe, chair of the Men's Professional Rugby Board said.

He added: "While right now only one Championship club is meeting the requirements that would enable them to come into the league, we are working hard to ensure that is not always the case and that we apply the right flexibility and support where it's appropriate."

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Falcons freeze fresh signings

Meanwhile, financially stricken Newcastle Falcons are not planning to sign new players for next season, unless new funding can be found.

Falcons owner Semore Kurdi hopes to find additional funding for the club, otherwise they will need a loan.

"We will not be recruiting new players until there is some clarification of investment coming in or a loan, or any other option that may be out there," said consultant director of rugby Steve Diamond.

Falcons are bottom of the Premiership having won just two games from 11 so far, and are on course for a third season in a row propping up the top tier.

They host seventh-place Sale on Friday evening, a clash shown live on TNT Sports and discovery+ and which kicks off the return of Premiership Rugby following the Guinness Six Nations.

Reports have suggested Premiership Rugby and the league's private investor CVC Capital Partners are in talks over a loan of around £4 million to help keep Newcastle in the league.

Diamond added: "The financial management declaration is [at] the end of April, so we are still within that due process of speaking to investors and figuring out other options - so we are well within our time frame.

"This year has gone remarkably well financially, compared to where we were, even though we are still losing over £2m, so I'm confident of retaining players and retaining staff with a view we'll be challenging to stay in the Premiership next year."

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Diamond said that 28 players are currently committed to staying on for next season, with the academy expected to provide players where necessary.

The club is currently up for sale ever since Kurdi signalled he was ready to sell in November last year.

Diamond played down concerns over the club’s future, explaining: "We are leaning on the right people in the business to sort this out - the shareholders - and once the information is given I will inform the staff and players exactly where we're at.

"I don't think there will be any mystery illnesses or people crying off fearing they are not going to get paid at the end of the month. That isn't even in our vocabulary here. We're in good fettle."

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