Yorkshire Carnegie’s famous Academy closes down as cutbacks begin to bite
A source has confirmed to the YEP that the National One outfit’s 10 remaining employees were all made redundant on Monday.
Seven members of staff and three players were all given the bad news as Covid-19 hammered the final nail into the coffin of a set-up that has developed a host of England internationals over the years.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThe cash-strapped former Premiership club has been in turmoil both on and off the field for some time, leading to their switch from professional to part-time status last summer.
Fallen Giants were relegated from the Championship in spectacular fashion in 2019/20, losing every single game that they played, while the academy was forced to operate on extremely limited funding.
The Rugby Football Union had to subsidise its running last term and had been expected to continue to do so during 2020/21 in partnership with Leeds Beckett University.
The financial impact of the coronavirus crisis has however put paid to any chance of that deal going ahead.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThe RFU provides up to £350,000 in funding to each of its academies, but has had to tighten its belt significantly having announced earlier this month that it is facing projected losses of £107 million in the short term.
Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.
Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.
And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdPostal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.
If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.
Sincerely. Thank you.
James Mitchinson
Editor