MPs urge government to place Worcester into administration
Four Worcestershire MPs have called for crisis-hit Gallagher Premiership club Worcester Warriors to be placed in administration.
HM Revenue & Customs have frozen Warriors’ finances in their pursuit of unpaid tax, although it is understood that Worcester players have now been paid following an initial delay.
Premiership Rugby, meanwhile, has cleared Worcester to begin their league campaign as scheduled against London Irish on Saturday.
Talks are ongoing with two possible buyers for the club, and despite large debts that have built up in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the prospect of gate receipts has assisted Worcester’s immediate financial outlook.
Worcestershire MPs Robin Walker, Harriett Baldwin, Rachel Maclean and Mark Garnier, though, have urged the Department for Culture Media and Sport to put Warriors in administration.
In a joint statement, the MPs said: “Over the last week, staff and players at the club have faced significant uncertainty with deadlines for payroll missed and repeated assurances broken.
“Mobile phones have stopped working and cars have been taken away from players. Events due to take place at Sixways have had to be cancelled as suppliers and caterers have not been paid on time.
“Whilst there does appear to be interest in new investors coming into the club, the interested parties have been clear that they see the best hope of securing its future being a purchase via an administrator.
“As the largest of the club’s debts is owed to the Government via Sport England, the MPs are calling for the DCMS to trigger an administration as swiftly as possible.
“The hope is that this can then result in a quick turnaround with new owners bringing capital into the club in time for the Premiership season.”
Walker, meanwhile, added: “Enough is enough. I have been determined to secure the future of the Warriors, who are a huge asset to our city and county.
“I wanted to give every opportunity for a solution to be found which would avoid the club going into administration, but it is now clear that this is not in sight.
“We have just a week before the start of the professional rugby season and the first Premiership fixtures. I believe the best solution for players, staff and the club itself is rapid action on the part of the DCMS.
“We are, together, calling on them to step in and to do everything they can to secure the club, the stadium and its property assets.
“I am hopeful that the proposals we have had for new investment and new owners can move forward rapidly, and we are calling on Premiership Rugby and the RFU (Rugby Football Union) to facilitate any option which allows the club to stay and play in the top flight.
“It is clear to us now, after all the chaos and worry of the last week, that the best route to that is now through administration.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Let’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to comments