Dire 'will not survive' warning issued on Worcester
A parliamentary committee has been told Worcester will not survive under any ownership without retaining its P share.
The Sixways club were relegated from the Gallagher Premiership on October 6 after the partial liquidation of their holding company WRFC Players Ltd a day earlier, owing to unpaid tax in the region of £6million being pursued by HM Revenue and Customs.
While a consortium led by former Worcester chief executive Jim O’Toole was chosen last month as the preferred bidder to rescue the club by administrator Begbies Traynor, the debate over what happens with their P share continues.
The P share entitles clubs to a slice of Premiership Rugby’s central revenue and relegated teams from English rugby’s top flight are able to hold onto it for a season but Worcester’s collapse into administration has left them liable to losing a potentially key revenue stream under a pre-emption right.
Carol Hart, head of Worcester Warriors community foundation, appeared in front of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee on Thursday in an evidence session and highlighted the importance of the P share.
Hart said: “(Former Worcester chairman) Cecil Duckworth spent 20 years building financial value into our P share and if we lose the P share, the club will probably not survive under any ownership.
“That is my personal opinion. I think we owe it to Cecil’s legacy and the legacy of the Allen family to make sure the P share is protected.”
Robin Walker, an MP for Worcester, echoed Hart’s calls and showed a letter to DCMS chair Julian Knight that had been written to Premiership Rugby and Rugby Football Union asking them take into account the “very strong moral case” the Sixways club have to retain their P share.
“What has happened here is no fault of the rugby club, or the people at the rugby club and only of the directors who were there but are no longer there,” Walker told the committee.
“I have here a copy of a letter that I am happy to give to the committee that has gone to Premiership Rugby Limited and the Rugby Football Union signed by all six Worcester MPs, the five current or former mayors of Worcester, all heads of departments and a number of the players which is urging them to allow the club to keep its P share.
“We recognise that PRL has a pre-emption right and a team that is relegated as a result of administration, they have the legal right to pre-empt but in this case there is a very strong moral case to say the people at Warriors have done everything they possible can to meet their rugby obligations.”
Premiership Rugby chief executive Simon Massie-Taylor also faced the parliamentary committee later in the day at Portcullis House and insisted letting Worcester and fellow financially stricken club Wasps hold onto their P shares would send out a bad example to its current teams.
Massie-Taylor insisted: “P shares are not a perpetual right.
“When you get relegated and fail to come up after a second year, those P shares can be acquired off you, so all clubs as part of their shareholder agreement sign up to pre-emption rights where if a club goes into administration, the P shares can be acquired off them by the other clubs.
“Wasps and Worcester have knowingly signed up to this. While I completely understand the emphasis that some potential bidders wanted to retain that asset within the administration process while getting rid of as many liabilities as possible in terms of debt, I don’t think that is a particularly strong message to send to the rest of our clubs that essentially you can go into administration and retain assets while getting rid of liabilities.”
MP Walker did conclude that his talks with the O’Toole’s consortium, the preferred buyer for Worcester, indicated they could get the club running again without its P share.
“Having spoken to some of the potential investors, they are clear they will try and make this work with or without the P share,” he said.
“They will make sure there is a team playing in the Championship aspiring to get it back up into the Premiership through performance but obviously that is a much more difficult task if we lose the income that comes with the P share.”
Meanwhile, DCMS chair Julian Knight concluded the evidence session by revealing he would write to the Serious Fraud Office concerning the activities of former Worcester owner Colin Goldring.
Comments on RugbyPass
The rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
76 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
9 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
9 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
9 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
9 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
9 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
2 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to comments