The two Championship clubs who weren’t given IMG scores with reasons explained

Championship clubs Batley Bulldogs and Whitehaven were shown as ‘score not yet complete’ in IMG’s gradings reveal on Wednesday.

Both clubs were displayed with the description ‘data capture return incomplete – score not yet complete’ in IMG‘s table reveal which officially went public on Wednesday morning after they missed the data submission deadline for the process.

And speaking at the Rugby Football League HQ in Manchester on Wednesday morning shortly after the gradings went live, RFL chief executive Tony Sutton says both clubs will get their scores in due course.

“A couple of clubs have faced issues and we will continue to work with them,” Sutton said.

“The scoring in tiers two and three also drives the financial distribution for next year. This is not an end point, they will get a score, they just haven’t been able to meet the timescale.”

Whitehaven release statement on IMG gradings

Whitehaven have endured a tough 2024 on and off the field. On it, they were relegated back to League 1 after finishing 13th in the Championship.

But off it, they faced a threat to their very existence after a well-documented financial crisis that led to clubs around the game rallying together and showing their support for Haven.

The gradings, in effect, matter little to the club at this time – as they will be able to secure a return to the Championship in 2025 through on-field matters alone, given how conventional promotion and relegation remains between the second and third tiers.

But they were shown as having no gradings on Wednesday when IMG and RL Commercial published the full list of rankings for all 35 professional clubs, which can be read below.

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That is due to the fact that Whitehaven missed the initial deadline for submitting data – however, they will be given a revised, later score in the weeks ahead.

“As we confirmed yesterday the club’s IMG Grading has been marked as grading incomplete,” a statement from Whitehaven read on Wednesday.

“This is because of data being submitted by the club late. The club will receive a grading in the coming weeks once the information we have submitted is reviewed.”

Haven are in the process of rebuilding for 2025 in League 1, and recently confirmed former North Wales Crusaders coach Anthony Murray would take charge of the squad for next year.

Batley Bulldogs statement on IMG gradings

As for Batley, they finished 10th in the Championship this season, having won 11 from their 26 matches, retaining their spot in the second tier for next season.

The Bulldogs released a statement via their Facebook page following the public release of every club’s IMG scores.

“It has been confirmed today that whilst IMG Grading scores are announced our score is incomplete,” a Batley statement read. “This is because our data was submitted two days late and our audit has not been finalised.

“We have no issue with this as we gave the RFL two reasons for this by way of mitigation and we have been assured that as soon as our audit is complete we will be given our score.

“We know our score will not be in the top 12 to qualify for Super League so it is not urgent. The score will affect our funding for 2025 which is it’s only relevance to us and we will know that in due course anyway.

“Well done to the 12 clubs that have an IMG score to qualify for Super League but very well done to Wakefield Trinity for their success at playing our great sport on a rugby field with their triumph in our Grand Final which previously would have qualified them for Super League anyway.

“Our focus at present over the next few weeks is stabilising our finances, ensuring we have a competitive team for 2025 and making steps to try to improve our floodlights going forward. The IMG score will take care of itself and we thank the RFL for their understanding in all the circumstances.”

Elsewhere, Goole Vikings, understandably, weren’t given a score for 2024: but they will compete in League 1 for their inaugural season in 2025.

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