ERC's had nine major shareholders: the six tier 1 unions and three club associations, which were all represented on the board of directors: In 2012, Premiership Rugby and LNR, on behalf of the English and French clubs respectively, notified ERC that they would be withdrawing from the accord governing the competition, being dissatisfied with the organisation of the competition and the distribution of funding.

Reporting to and making recommendation the Board were a series of ERC Committees, focusing on the various roles of ERC as a Governing Body and Tournament Organiser and these drew on the experience and expertise of the clubs and Unions from each participation nation.

[3] Recognised as one of the most prestigious individual accolades in the game, the ERC European Player of the Year honourrd the best player of the European club rugby season from both the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup tournaments.

In 2010 ERC launched the ERC15 Awards, recognising the outstanding contributors to the first decade and a half of European competition.

[5][6] Winners:[7] Ronan O'Gara (Munster Rugby) – 2010 (Awarded for the previous 15 seasons) Seán O'Brien (Leinster Rugby) 2011 Rob Kearney (Leinster Rugby) 2012 Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon) 2013 Steffon Armitage (Toulon) 2014 Nick Abendanon (Clermont) 2015 To celebrate the 10th anniversary season of the Heineken Cup, the ERC Elite Awards scheme was introduced to recognise the most prominent teams and players of the competitions.