"In the age of summer tours and crowded fixture lists it was inevitable that something would give. Unfortunately it appears that it is the Middlesex Sevens." John Chambers asks whether the event has a viable future.

When rugby union turned professional in 1995 it was feared that some of the amateur era's most endearing institutions would become anachronisms - the British and Irish Lions, for example, and the Barbarians.

However in the intervening decade the Lions have gone from strength to strength. Tens of thousands of fans will travel to South Africa next summer injecting hundreds of millions of pounds into the country's economy. New Zealand could barely cope with the travelling numbers in 2005 and it would be reasonable to argue that the series against the Wallabies in 2001 changed the Australians' approach to international rugby for ever - the sea of red in Brisbane provoked the ARU into plastering Melbourne and Sydney in a sea of gold, a practice that continues today.

Meanwhile the importance of the Barbarians may have slipped down the pecking order in some ways. The Easter tour has gone and the Mobbs Memorial Match is not what it was but the club still attracts the big names and contributes towards some big occasions such as the first rugby union match at the new Wembley Stadium later this year against Australia.

Other fixtures like the Varsity Match have also maintained their place in the calendar and continue to feature top class players like Wallaby World Cup winner Joe Roff and, should he be picked this year, former All Black Anton Oliver.

But in the age of summer tours and crowded fixture lists it was inevitable that something would give. Unfortunately it appears that it is the Middlesex Sevens, which will slip under the radar next Saturday afternoon.

A full day of coverage on Sky Sports and the presence of the 12 Guinness Premiership clubs cannot disguise that the Middlesex Sevens is not what is used to be with reduced attendances and media interest.

The Sevens used to be an end of season romp. Invitation teams and qualifiers would compete in front of tens of thousands of increasingly drunk but good natured fans, all letting their hair down in the summer sunshine at the end of a long campaign.

However in 2001 a lack of available stadium dates and players meant that the tournament was moved from May to August and has since lost some of its lustre.

In the ten years before the tournament became focussed on the Premiership clubs only one - Northampton Saints in 2003 - had won. The other honours had been split between invited scratch teams like the Barbarians and Penguins, Sevens specialists the British Army (invariably featuring a squad packed with Fijians) and rugby league clubs Wigan Warriors and Bradford Bulls.

The Warriors won in 1996 with a squad full of household names such as Shaun Edwards, Henry Paul, Jason Robinson, Inga Tuigamala, Martin Offiah, Andy Farrell and Scott Quinnell. Bradford followed suit in 2002 with the likes of Robbie Paul, but the interest that accompanied such invitations to rugby league clubs evaporated when the competing sides were limited to the Premiership in 2006.

The tournament's organisers have tried to rekindle this by bringing the Ospreys, Dragons, Leeds Carnegie and the Army into the fray as well as insisting that the Premiership clubs include Sevens internationals and regular first teamers in their squads.

The Middlesex qualifiers have also gone: the local teams who would earn their place at the day, receive automatic underdog status and win plenty of hearts and friends as well as providing some light relief in the Plate tournament.

But there is another reason why the Middlesex Sevens matters less - the pre-season friendly. With the Premiership being as competitive as ever it is imperative that teams get off to a good start, and directors of rugby will inevitably want to gel their outfits together rather than concentrate on an entertaining but arguably less productive day out at Twickenham.

Furthermore the showpiece occasion will be played out in front of swathes of empty seats, despite the two-for-one deals offered to season ticket holders from the Premiership clubs.

There is another practical reason for lower attendances. At the end of May it is relatively straightforward for schools to organise trips to events such as the Sevens; in mid-August schools are on holiday, making such trips impossible, likewise with junior rugby clubs and other such organisations. Even so, the 40,000 crowds that used to flock to Twickenham would barely half-fill the redeveloped stadium.

But it is difficult to know where the Middlesex Sevens can head next. The England versus Barbarians match and the London leg of the IRB World Sevens series have taken the weekends the Middlesex tournament would normally have occupied in years past. And while the aforementioned friendlies take precedence for the clubs fans are unlikely to see the likes of Topsy Ojo, Shontayne Hape and Carlos Spencer strut their stuff in the shortened version of the game.

The tournament certainly deserves to survive in some form. After all it has been around for 75 years and is one of the oldest in the world. But there has to be a serious assessment of the future.

Here is my suggestion. Move the tournament back to May and hold it at a more suitable venue for the size of crowd, such as the Stoop. Re-introduce the qualification process and vary the invitation sides so that they are not focussed on the Premiership. Forge links with local schools and run tag rugby tournaments in tandem to make it an all-round day. Then perhaps the Middlesex Sevens might not become a high-profile casualty of the professional era. It might also recover its soul.