Essential:

The Club must provide either:

(a) a current local authority Safety Certificate as required by the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975; or

(b) written confirmation from the relevant Local Authority that the LL.A. will:

i) inspect the Principal Home Ground to at least the standard required as if it were a Designated Ground;

ii) use all available powers to enforce the provisions of such Safety Certificate to the extent appropriate; and

iii) submit to an appropriate independent assurance process of such inspection regime if required by the RFU

The Club must provide evidence of a legally binding agreement to occupy the Principal Home Ground from an effective date no later than 1 July 2025.

The minimum term of such agreement shall be:

(a) Essential – until the end of the 2025/26 Season; and

(b) Phased Essential– until the end of the 2027/28 Season.

Essential:

With regard to the scheduling of Home Matches the Club must demonstrate that it can comply with the following:

(a) the requirements of any Broadcaster within a reasonable period following notice of those requirements; and

(b) play its Home Match (if applicable) in the final round of the Tier 2 League matches at any kick-off time on the afternoons of both Saturday and Sunday of the last weekend of each Season in order to ensure simultaneous kick off times for all final round matches.

[TBC] shall be entitled to grant an exemption to the requirements in (b) of this Primacy of Tenure MOS to a maximum of four Clubs in each season

The minimum Total Licensed Capacity requirements for a Club’s Principal Home Ground are as follows:

(a) Essential: 2,000

i) A minimum of 200 seats;

ii) A minimum of 500 covered places (including seated and/or standing).

(b) Phased Essential: 2,999

i) A minimum of 400 covered seats;

ii) A minimum of 800 covered places (including seated and/or standing)

(c) Aspirational: 5,000

i) A minimum of 600 covered seats;

ii) A minimum of 1200 covered places (including seated and/or standing)

Essential:

The Club must carry out, and provide a copy of, a Ground Risk Assessment which shall include, amongst other criteria, the minimum distances between the pitch perimeter barrier and the playing area to address safety issues, including reference to any objects which lie within 5m of the playing area and shall assume all responsibility with complying with such Ground Risk Assessment.

In addition to the Ground Risk Assessment, the RFU shall be entitled to commission an independent risk assessment of the Club’s Principal Home Ground, (and if applicable, any Temporary Ground) and the Club shall be responsible for the implementation and costs of implementing the reasonable recommendations of such independent risk assessment

Essential:

The Club shall ensure and must provide evidence that its Principal Home Ground (and if applicable, any Temporary Ground) is equipped with sufficient provision of the following by reference to the Club’s match day demographic:

• public toilets;

• accessibility modifications;

• refreshment provision;

• control room;

• scoreboards;

• public address system;

• media facilities;

• first aid room

Essential:

The Club must provide the following by way of changing facilities at the Principal Home Ground:

• Two changing rooms, within the stadium structure;

• Each changing area to be equipped with:

o 2 x toilets;

o 2 x basins;

o 6 x showers;

• Separate changing room for officials of not less than 6m² to accommodate a minimum of five match officials served by at least one toilet, one wash hand basin and a minimum of two shower fittings within the changing area;

• Separate anti-doping room separate comprising a desk, chairs, hand basin and WC. The WC can be adjacent but must have direct access to the doping control room;

• Separate changing room for U18 players;

• Separate changing room for female officials

Essential:

The Club must provide a dedicated press area that is under cover, reserved exclusively for use by written and radio media representatives to accommodate a minimum of 4 representatives.

On request, the Club must ensure such area can accommodate up to 10 representatives. The press area must be located between the 22m lines.

Essential:

The Club must demonstrate it can accommodate, on a temporary basis, an additional 10 written and radio media representatives within the ground for larger games.

This provision must be between the 22m lines

Essential:

The Club must provide a separate media room for use by 10 members of the media before and after the match. This is where post-match press conferences will be staged

Essential:

In addition to standard provision to accommodate a minimum of 10 media representatives in the media room, the Club must demonstrate that it can accommodate an additional 10 media representatives in a media room before and after major matches as designated by the RFU and/or the Tier 2 Board.

In respect of broadcast of matches the Club must make sufficient provision as follows:

(a) Essential: OTT broadcast gantry requirements as follows:

• All filming platforms/gantries must meet all local council relevant health and safety requirements;

• Minimum gantry height 25ft with an unrestricted view of the playing area and down the touchline;

• If requested, the gantry must be rain and weather covered as a minimum from behind and above;

• Positioning of gantry must be in line with the halfway line;

• Accessible to a minimum of four people;

• Power point within two metres; and

• Safe access to and from the filming position.

If scaffolding is used as a semi-permanent structure, the camera view must not be obstructed by the frame or other supporting components.

(b) Phased Essential: (to be achieved within a timescale advised by the RFU): the reasonable requirements of any Broadcaster.

Essential: The Club must provide or procure car parking provision for VIPs, sponsors, media, match officials and the disabled

Phased Essential: The Club should have floodlights to ensure flexibility in game scheduling and to attract new audiences and potential broadcast partners.

Specific requirements in relation to the provision of such floodlights (including lux levels) will be determined by the T2B, and should be achieved within a timescale set by the T2B at club cost.

Essential: The Club shall ensure that its Principal Home Ground (and if applicable, any Temporary Ground) features static perimeter boards (and/or LED perimeter boards) down one side (facing main camera views) and at both ends.

Essential: When requested by the RFU and/or any Broadcaster, the Club shall ensure that its Principal Home Ground (and if applicable, any Temporary Ground) features no fewer than one big screen, to be used for

(a) match-related information and

(b) commercial purposes

The Club shall transfer its ticketing operations to the tournament’s central ticketing hub, within the following timescales:

(a) Essential: where the Club has no binding agreement with a third party in respect of ticketing;

(b) Phased Essential: where the Club has a binding agreement with a third party in respect of ticketing, forthwith upon the expiry or termination of such agreement.

Essential: The Club shall operate the following communications channels for the dissemination of Club- related information, and Club- and tournament-related commercial activity:

• an official club website;

• a presence across major social media platforms (for example X, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook); and

• A Club App

Essential: The Club shall ensure that all members of its playing and coaching staff shall

(a) make themselves available for personal appearances and

(b) permit their image to be used for the tournament’s central commercial and broadcast programme.

This permission shall take the form of a standard appearance and image rights clause to be included in all player and staff agreements and appearances will take into account any restrictions on the availability of part-time players

Essential:

(a) The Club must provide evidence of the individuals it has engaged on a full-time basis to fulfil each of the following roles:

• Head Coach;

• Physical Performance Lead; and

• Rugby Operations Manager.

(b) The Club must provide evidence of the individuals it has engaged to fulfil each of the following roles:

• Assistant Coach;

• Additional Coaching Support;

• Club Analyst;

• Team Manager; and

• Sport and Exercise Nutritionist, which can be covered by a Strength and Conditioning coach.

Phased Essential:

• Physical Preparation Intern.

The full-time appointment of such positions/persons set out in (b) above shall be an Aspirational Minimum Standard.

(c) The Club must, demonstrate that it can, when reasonably necessary to do so, have access to individuals providing the following services:

• Sports psychologist; and

• Performance Lifestyle Practitioner.

The Club must provide evidence that the individuals above are suitably qualified for the role they are covering

Essential: The Club must provide evidence that it has regular access to a training facility featuring, as a minimum, the following:

• Changing rooms;

• Player work/study environment;

• Team meeting room;

• Training equipment; and

• Analysis facility.

The Club is required to have a suitably qualified individual performing the following roles (with such roles being in addition to those mandated by the Championship Medical Minimum Standards Criteria currently applicable to Championship clubs referenced at 1.2.5 above):

Essential:

• Immediate Care Doctor;

• Mental Health Lead (role may overlap);

• For matches in the Premiership Rugby Cup only, an Independent Match Day Doctor (subject to the installation of Hawkeye in accordance with criterion 5.3)

• Pitch-side video reviewer (subject to the installation of Hawkeye in accordance with criterion 5.3)

Essential:

At all training sessions the Club is required to have a suitably qualified individual performing the following roles:

• 1 x Physio pitchside; and

• 1 x Physio to provide treatment in physio room.

Essential:

All clubs must use the Hawkeye Real Time Video Review system for matches in the Tier 2 League to provide video replay pitch-side at the team bench location and in the medical room.

There will not be an independent Match Day Doctor (“iMDD”) role in place (save in respect of matches in the Premiership Rugby Cup), but this footage will be reviewed by a designated Video Reviewer (“VR”) provided by the home team, to serve both teams.

Team Doctors will fulfil the role of the MDD and undertake HIA assessments for their own teams. The VR and Team Doctors will be supported remotely by the Hawkeye support team.

The following individuals are required to support a Club’s community programme in additional to Essential personnel set out at 1.4 above:

Phased: The Club must provide evidence of an individual(s) engaged part time to fulfil each of the following roles:

• Community schools’ officer;

• Community clubs’ officer;

• Community inclusion officer; and

• Community coaches.

Aspirational: The Club must provide evidence of an individual(s) engaged full time to fulfil each of the following roles:

• Community schools’ officer;

• Community clubs’ officer; and

• Community inclusion officer

Essential: All players to have a minimum requirement to support community and commercial activities within their contracts.

Where players are full time there must be a minimum of 5hrs/week to support community/commercial activities.

As part of the assessment of these Minimum Operating Standards each Club’s CEO (or equivalent role holder or Chairperson, as applicable) will be required to sign a declaration confirming the following matters:

A) Safety Certificate That the Club complies at all times and will continue to comply throughout the 2025/26 season with the terms of their local authority safety certificate, or the requirements of its Local Authority pertaining to that Club’s Principal Home Ground (to the extent the Club’s Principal Home Ground does not require a Safety Certificate).

B) Playing Commitments That their Club will participate in all Tier 2 League matches in Season 2025/26.

C) Contractual Commitments That their Club will comply with the following: 1.2.1. RFU Regulations (including ongoing financial monitoring regulations); 1.2.2. Tier 2 League Regulations; 1.2.3. Annual Audit Requirements of these Minimum Operating Standards; and 1.2.4. Tier 2 League Participation Agreement.

D) Representations The information provided to the RFU and the confirmations in this declaration are to their knowledge accurate, complete and up to date.

They are authorised by the Club to provide the information and make any representations in respect of the Minimum Operating Standards on behalf of the Club (such authority to be evidenced by a minute from the board of directors of the Club (certified to be true by the Club’s company secretary) that clearly confirms the same).

They know of no other information relevant to the process that has not been provided.