Jersey Reds' storied season and why it's bittersweet
Jersey Reds are unique.
They’re the only professional sports club that reside in the Channel Islands and in just under two decades, they’ve gone from playing park rugby to becoming essentially the 12th best club side in England.
Despite the challenges that come with being separated from mainland UK, this year they managed to etch themselves into the history books by winning the Championship, the second division of English rugby, for the first time in the club’s history.
In a turbulent, two-horse title race between themselves and Ealing Trailfinders, who came into the season as the reigning champions and heavy favourites to retain their crown, Jersey’s late-season charge capped off an unforgettable season and provided a watershed moment for the growth of rugby in the Channel Islands.
Winning the title is unarguably the greatest achievement in the club's history.
However, unlike almost any other title-winning situation, Jersey are left with a sour taste in their mouth despite their success as they have been denied promotion into the Premiership for the 2023/24 season under the Rugby Football Union's (RFU) minimum standards criteria.
The following is Jersey's story to success and an insight into the feelings of having the dream of Premiership rugby stripped away from them.
Photo Credit - Jacquie Ranieri
JERSEY'S SEASON
Coming into the 2022/23 season, expectations were high after their club-record fourth-place finish in the 2021/22 season.
Those expectations then heightened after three strong preseason outings against Premiership sides Leicester Tigers, London Irish and Bath, providing a shot of momentum for the season ahead.
As the Championship season began, Jersey got off to a blistering start, winning their first ten games of the season and gaining 48 out of a possible 50 league points heading into their highly anticipated clash with Ealing Trailfinders.
Ealing had enjoyed a similar start to the season, winning their first nine games and recording bonus points in all of them, which left the round 11 clash between the two sides a vital top-of-the-table matchup.
In that game, Ealing were merciless and the 43-22 defeat provided a stark reminder of the daunting task Jersey were up against.
That loss was followed by an unexpected draw against Coventry, leaving significant daylight between Jersey and Ealing heading into the second half of the season.
However, Jersey regrouped and reignited their early season form, winning their next eight games in comprehensive fashion.
That run, along with Ealing slipping up along the way, left the Reds just one point adrift of the Trailfinders heading into the two sides' penultimate-round matchup in Jersey in what was essentially a winner takes all situation.
Jersey's narrow 19-13 win saw them leapfrog Ealing into first place and left them on the precipice of their first-ever Championship title, needing to beat Ampthill at home on the final day of the season to reach the top of the mountain.
For whatever pre-game nerves there may have been, those were quashed early on as Jersey flew out to an early lead against Ampthill and never looked back as they went on to win 43-15 in St Peter.
As the final whistle went to sign off on the season, it sent the Jersey faithful into complete pandemonium as they capped off their inaugural title-winning campaign.
Photo Credit - Jacquie Ranieri
Harvey Biljon has been at the heart of Jersey’s rise to success.
Having taken the reins almost a decade ago, Biljon has guided the Reds to establishing themselves in the Championship as they had recorded seven straight top-six finishes heading into this season.
The South African was thrown straight into the deep end at the start of his tenure, taking over midseason in 2014 with Jersey rooted to the bottom of the Championship as he faced the enormous task of keeping the club in England’s second tier.
And since winning the final game of the season to ensure survival against Bedford in May 2014, Jersey have been on a constant upwards trajectory with Biljon at the helm.
Coming into this season Jersey were tipped to be strong once again, but not many anticipated them winning the Championship.
“We’ve probably exceeded expectations,” said Biljon.
“This was supposed to be three years down the line while we get our infrastructure and facilities in place but we came off the back of a really good preseason where we played a couple of Premiership teams which meant we were ready to go from the outset.
“We went in with an attitude of let’s go and score five points not just win the game and we tried to encourage our players to be confident and play and I think the support team and our coaches were brilliant at that.”
Having immersed himself with all that the nine-by-five-mile island of Jersey has to offer, Biljon understands the importance of how such a contained environment can create an unparalleled sense of togetherness amongst the playing group, one that Jersey used to their advantage.
He said: “Being on the island is unique and what that gives us is an opportunity to come together in a different way and create different experiences.
“Don’t underestimate the positives about the guys spending all their time with each other, it really supports that togetherness.”
Photo Credit - Jacquie Ranieri
A key member of Jersey’s squad this season has been blindside flanker James Dun.
The former England Under 20s representative is under contract with Premiership club Bristol Bears but was loaned out for the season to Jersey in order to gain some valuable game time.
Coming across from the UK, Dun was sceptical about the type of environment he was stepping into as most of the players’ friends and families would be back in the UK, creating a unique situation where the squad was together all of the time.
However, Dun attributed Jersey’s success to the togetherness of the squad.
“It’s the closest squad I’ve ever been in and it’s the best club I’ve been at in terms of everyone having the same vision,” the 23-year-old said.
“We had a social the first weekend of preseason, which for most clubs is unheard of because that time is usually for knuckling down and getting fit but for us every single Friday we had a social for the first six weeks.”
Jersey’s ultimate goal coming into the season was to win the title, but Dun expressed that the belief peaked halfway through the season.
“We said we wanted to win the Championship but we probably only started believing it around Christmas,” he said.
Dun also added that Jersey’s ability to fly under the radar given the media hype surrounding Ealing Trailfinders was crucial, as they embraced the underdog tag.
He said: “We loved that, that helped us out a lot. That underdog status gave us freedom, nobody really expected us to win the league."
Photo Credit - Jacquie Ranieri
Despite the storied success of Jersey's season, there lies an overhanging dampener on their title.
For all the blood, sweat and tears poured into a Championship winning season, the knowledge that they won't be rewarded for their efforts by gaining promotion into the Premiership leaves a bitter taste.
Ealing Trailfinders suffered a similar fate last season but with Wasps and Worcester collapsing under financial trouble and being kicked out from the Premiership, many thought that the RFU would make an exception to ensure a club that is financially stable gets their deserved opportunity in England's top division.
Photo Credit - Sue Armes
The Rugby Football Union's Minimum Standards Criteria
Heading into the 2022/23 season, the RFU laid out the following two checkpoints that Championship clubs had to meet in order to be eligible for Premiership promotion:
An RFU statement said minimum standards criteria were in place to ensure clubs "have suitable facilities to protect player safety and welfare, provide financial sustainability and to deliver a good quality, safe environment for spectators".
Phil de Glanville, Chair of the Professional Game Board added: “It remains the view of the PGB that a minimum grounds capacity of 10,001 is important due to the rigour of the Local Authority issued safety certificate for stadia of this size in addition to its importance for fans, sponsors and broadcasters."
For Jersey, the Stade Santander International Stadium, their current ground, has a maximum capacity of 4,000 meaning they do not meet the minimum standards criteria and are not eligible for promotion.
Photo Credit - Jacquie Ranieri
"WE FEEL COMPLETELY NEGLECTED."
The frustration of not being rewarded for their title-winning efforts has been bubbling under the surface since the RFU’s clarification of the minimum standards criteria, and the decision leaves Jersey in a corridor of uncertainty.
The club is financially stable and pillared on a strong community, but they won’t get the opportunity to capitalise on the significant monetary gain playing in the Premiership provides with the lucrative television deal and the inevitable boost in ticket sales.
It leaves Jersey in limbo, having to re-evaluate whether increasing spending on squad, staff and facility improvements to prime themselves for another title charge next season is worth it if the result is going to be the same.
“There has to be promotion and relegation otherwise why are we playing?” Dun expressed.
“We worked so hard this year and basically our reward was a pat on the back. Not a single game in the Championship was on TV this year which is pretty disgraceful seeing as we’re effectively the 12th best team in the country.
“We feel completely neglected.
“The fact we won the league and they haven’t even sent a tweet out, they haven’t done anything to congratulate anyone is disgraceful.
“We’re a professional rugby team and everything is up in the air. There’s got to be space for people who are financially viable and Jersey are. Realistically we should be going up to the Premiership this year.”
Biljon also expressed that the quality of the Championship isn’t an issue, despite the minimal funding it is provided with.
“The amount of resilience in the Championship, when all your funding has been taken away from you, to continue to produce the standard of rugby that we’ve had this year is astonishing," the South African said.
“The excitement across the league with a title race at the top and a relegation fight at the bottom has been a fantastic league to be part of.”
The 45-year-old added that the feeling of neglect from the RFU doesn’t just apply to Jersey Reds but extends through the entirety of English rugby below the top division.
He said: “I wouldn’t just put Jersey into that equation, I’d put the Championship and rugby below the Premiership in that equation.”
With the demise of Wasps and Worcester Warriors this season, the debate has raged as to whether the Premiership should move to a ten-team league.
With English rugby still reeling from the catastrophic effects of the pandemic, the argument for moving to a ten-team league is strictly financial.
It would allow all league games to be played outside of international windows to stop English rugby’s biggest stars from missing domestic games and therefore attract more fans to attend, boosting ticket sales.
It would also mean that money from the Premiership’s fruitful television deal with BT Sport would be split amongst fewer teams, providing a significant injection of income for those ten teams that would remain.
However, Biljon believes that if that decision were to be made, there would have to be amendments made to the Championship structure as it could cause massive damage to players’ welfare.
He said: “Then why put 14 teams into the Championship?
"That’s not showing a duty of care to players.
“You’ve got a league that’s less-resourced, got less funding and more games so I’m trying to work out where the duty of care is.
However the RFU decides to shape the structure of English rugby in the future, Biljon conveyed that there needs to be an improved gateway of communication between the Union and the clubs and he hopes that they’re willing to listen to the views of the people who those decisions will affect the most.
He said: “I just hope they (The RFU) listen to the people that are in the trenches each week like myself and other Directors of Rugby to hear what we do week in and week out and how we feel we could be supported in the best way."
Now, the question for Jersey Reds going into next season is - What's next?
As is the case with all of the top Championship clubs, Jersey will lose some key squad members, including Dun, as they head back to the Premiership clubs they are under full-time contract with.
Whilst that was always the plan, it leaves Jersey with the task of revitalising their squad and building up the motivation to mount another title charge , even with the knowledge that there may once again be no light at the end of the tunnel.
Plans are in place for improvements to the stadium and training facilities, one's that require a significant injection of cash, but in all likelihood Jersey will be unable to reach the minimum standards criteria before the end of the new season.
However, even if Jersey are unable to chase their Premiership dream as soon as next season, the future is bright for the Channel Island community.
For all the frustration of not being promoted, Jersey Reds possess something that will ensure they bounce back from the disappointment and build and their historic year - a thriving community that pour all of their efforts into the club.
With the unflagging positivity that flows throughout the club and community, there's no doubt that the sour taste in Jersey's mouth won't linger and they will be raring to go a create even more history next season.
Photo Credit - Si Hall
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