Delivering a four-year strategy for the Rugby Football League
Last year a group of Midlands businesses came together to complete a detailed project for the Rugby Football League (RFL) including sport & leisure and architectural consultancy firm LK2 and sports consultancies 4 Global Consulting and Strategic Leisure Limited (SLL).
The project delivered the National Facility Strategy (NFS), the NFS supports the RFL’s plans to create a participation legacy and increase investment into community Rugby League facilities across prioritised areas in England.
The four-year strategy result will support in creating a sporting legacy both ahead of, and after, the 2021 Rugby World Cup, which will be hosted by the RFL.
The team of experts supported the RFL by undertaking a detailed supply and demand study of community Rugby League Facilities, clubs and teams across England which resulted in the creation of a national facility strategy that will prioritise investment into the community game and its facilities.
Commenting on the project, Dale Lui, managing director of LK2, said: “We were delighted to have worked with 4 Global and SLL to support RFL’s National Facilities Strategy. It was a perfect fit for us; our team of experts has extensive knowledge of the sector as well as fantastic working relationships with The Football Association, Football Foundation, Sport England and local authorities across the UK.
“Through the National Facilities Strategy, the RFL will be able to make the most of existing sports facilities in the UK and promote further usage and awareness within communities.”
The strategy aims to provide the RFL with a platform to grow the game nationally with the aim of increasing sports participation from 46,636 to 65,929 people by 2021.
LK2’s place within the National Facilities Strategy consortium was awarded thanks to the firm’s expertise and reputation within the leisure sector. At the heart of this is LK2’s approach to finding niche opportunities and combatting issues in communities through design, infrastructure, and geographical location.
Matthew Eames, head of the sports planning practice at 4 Global said: “We were delighted to lead on developing the facility strategy on behalf of the RFL in partnership with LK2, SLL and the RFL team. 4 Global is an international sports consultancy which has extensive knowledge and experience of the sport facility landscape having provided numerous facility strategies on behalf of local authorities and national governing bodies of sport within the UK.”
Currently, the RFL has over 200 sporting facilities and clubs in the UK, which will all be considered as part of the new strategy.
Speaking about the National Facilities Strategy, Rugby Football League Chief Executive, Ralph Rimmer said: “The Rugby Football League now has a clear strategy that will support the development of the game and enable the organisation to make strategic decisions around how and where to invest funding. With the launch of the RLWC2021 £10m legacy funding in October the organisation is in a strong position to ensure it maximises every opportunity it can.”