Cornish Pirates: How the most remote team on the UK mainland keeps going

The Championship – English rugby union’s second tier – has had its fair share of financial disasters.

London Welsh disappeared altogether after going bust in 2017, Jersey had to sell off their ground last year while Nottingham and former Championship side Plymouth Albion have also had money problems.

So, how do you make ends meet when you are so far away from everywhere else?

“Most clubs, and I include Premiership clubs as well as many of the Championship clubs, rely on our investors, that’s just the way it is and we have to plan for that,” said chairman Paul Durkin.

“What we have tried to do, and we are doing, is looking forward and trying to turn this into a business through the Stadium for Cornwall where we’ll have the business side of operations which will then fund rugby.”

The plan is for the club to relocate around 25 miles up the A30 to Truro and share a stadium with the city’s football team and the local further education college.

It is hoped they can emulate their nearest Premiership club Exeter Chiefs, who have a thriving conferencing business at Sandy Park which has helped the club become the only one in the top flight to make a profit.

“You have to own your own ground, that’s absolutely key,” continued Durkin. “You need to attract supporters to pay through the gates and the third is that secondary income through other parts of the business.

“It’s putting that alongside the rugby and building a squad that will be successful and that’s not easy, it’s a juggling act.”