The Honorary President of East London Rugby Club, Nick Bracken OBE, has appealed for calm from rugby clubs in the wake of a potential grassroots rebellion over controversial payments made by the Rugby Football Union to its most senior officer.

Media reports in November claimed RFU Chief Executive Bill Sweeney was paid £742,000 in the year up to June 2024, significantly up from the £430,000 he received in the Covid-affected year of 2019 to 2020. His 2024 pay was supplemented by a bonus of £358,000 as part of a long-term incentive plan (LTIP) scheme, bringing the total to £1.1 million. The RFU declared £37.9 million operating losses last month and have laid off more than 40 staff.

East London President Mr Bracken, in his capacity as the RFU Council Member for Essex County RFU, has contacted all clubs in the county. He said: “As you are no doubt aware, there has been a great deal of anger expressed over the recent payment of the LTIP to Bill Sweeney as reported in the RFU’s annual report and accounts for 23/24. Many people cannot understand how such an award has been made at a time when the RFU has reported a significant loss and made a number of staff redundant.

“The situation is a complicated one and I feel that we should take some time to establish the facts and understand how the various decisions were made and communicated.”

Mr Bracken is one of 20 Council Members who have asked for a Special Formal Council meeting to discuss the matter. An informal meeting of the RFU Council took place on Wednesday (18th December). A review has been commissioned from an independent law firm into the process of deciding on the LTIP scheme.

Nick said: “I believe that we should await the review and demand whatever actions, if any, we deem appropriate once we have the information from that review. There has been much speculation for clubs to call for an emergency general meeting. I do not believe at the moment this is in the best interest of the game or our clubs as there would be significant implications with sponsors, advertisers and various other partners and interested parties including departments involved with Government funding.”

Nick and his Essex County colleagues are keen to understand the opinions of clubs and he has invited them to submit questions to be raised on their behalf.