Future uncertain: The fate of Worcester Warriors remains unclear after Championship bid rejected by RFU
(Picture: Getty Images)Worcester’s future hangs in the balance after the RFU rejected the Jim O’Toole-led consortium’s bid to enter next season’s Championship.
The RFU has granted Wasps provisional entry into next term’s second tier, but rejected Worcester’s application due to a lack of financial confidence.
English chiefs will now ask Worcester’s administrators to look again at other bidders for the Midlands club that failed in September and has been expelled from the Premiership along with Wasps.
Former Worcester rugby director Steve Diamond’s rival consortium could now come back into the running, with the RFU ready to extend deadlines to help the club reform.
O’Toole’s Atlas Worcester Warriors consortium is prepared to complete the purchase without RFU backing however, and the administrators could yet look to proceed on that basis. An Atlas takeover without RFU approval could spell the end of top-level rugby in Worcester.
“We are pleased to be able to proceed with the sale of Wasps and thank the bid team and the administrator for the open and collaborative approach working with us through the process,” said RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney.
“We understand that the decision will not be the news that Worcester Warriors’ former staff, players and fans will want to hear; the best long-term interests of the club and rugby in Worcester is our key priority.
“In the coming days we will be in touch with the administrator to discuss other bid options as our goal remains to support the continuation of the rugby club in Worcester.
“We are prepared to extend the deadlines to explore if an alternative bidder can be found who has the continuation of rugby in Worcester central to its business plan.”
The RFU issued a lengthy statement after a board meeting on Friday, where the decisions over Wasps and Worcester were taken.
The governing body’s statement confirmed its worries on Worcester, stating it was “concerned by the public statement from the bidders that they are prepared to acquire the site and develop it without a rugby offering”.
In urging the administrators not to complete a sale, the RFU statement continued: “The bidders for Worcester Warriors have not accepted the regulatory position and have not sufficiently engaged with the necessary conditions required and have therefore put themselves in a position where the RFU Board could not approve their bid.
“The RFU will now work with the administrator to enable alternative bids that would secure professional rugby at Sixways and to work together in a timetable to enable that to happen.
“The RFU urges the administrator not to progress any sale that does not guarantee a future for rugby within the local community.”
Wasps’ Championship approval will leave the Legends consortium working hard to meet a host of stringent conditions. The decorated club’s time at the Coventry Building Society Arena appears at an end.
One option considered for a new ground is a share arrangement with Solihull Moors football club. Birmingham and Solihull played Championship rugby at the National League club between 2010 and 2012, with the Damson Park ground seeing improvements since.
Wasps’ Henley-in-Arden training ground could even meet Championship criteria to host matches, with some alterations.
