Leeds Carnegie Shirt

Leeds Carnegie will begin immediate plans for next season and life in the Championship following relegation from the Aviva Premiership with defeat at Northampton.

Leeds came within a try of surviving on the final day of the season but finished bottom of the table via points difference from Newcastle Falcons. Carnegie could receive a reprieve if Cornish Pirates were to win the two-legged Championship play off final against Worcester however the Yorkshire club will not wait for the outcome of that result to begin planning for next season.

Chief Executive Gary Hetherington commented, “I will be meeting with Neil Back on Wednesday, as we would do at the end of any other season, to review the campaign and the areas where we have fallen short. The Board will then approve the budget for next season and we will be planning for life in the Championship regardless of the Play Off Final result.

“Compared with our previous two relegations, we are in a much stronger position with over twenty players contracted for next season, a dozen players out of contract and only three players who have release causes in the event of relegation.

“We have a debt of £2million that we need to begin repaying that has been amassed over the past two years. However, we continue to produce exciting young players through our academy, we have a community programme that is the envy of many of our rivals and, planning permission dependent, we will begin work on renovating the South Stand this Autumn. We will go into the Championship aiming to bounce back at the first opportunity but realise the challenge that is in front of us,” added Hetherington.