The Rugby Football Union has overhauled its web infrastructure and content to increase revenue and encourage fans and players to become more involved in the sport.

The organisation was forced to embark on a major web redesign in 2001 after concerns about poor security of its previous site, which suffered a serious virus attack.

The RFU called in infrastructure provider Ultima Business Solutions, which is now hosting and managing a secure SQL Server-based infrastructure.

'We weren't happy with any part of the old site,' said RFU webmaster Keith Trigwell. 'The infrastructure was insufficient to say the least.'

The RFU is keen for more people to be involved with rugby, and wants to use its web site and related functions to encourage armchair supporters to actively participate.

The new infrastructure incorporates a portal that allows clubs all over the country to run their own sites with feeds into the central RFU site. They can also access scores of matches and see player profiles.

Trigwell says rugby clubs looking to select teams can obtain lists of every person that has played a certain position, and can choose which players it wants and send them a text message to see if they are available.

When the site first went live the RFU attracted 4,000 regular users, and has now increased to 40,000. The RFU does not sell match tickets online, but it is selling merchandise and has seen online revenue increase from £100,000 to £1m in 15 months.

'The key thing is the resilience of the system,' said Trigwell. 'The return on investment is going to continue to be generated through savings as well as through increased revenue.'