Worcester Warriors: Physio says friends competing for jobs

Soft tissue therapist Izzy Greaves worked for Worcester Warriors for nine months after spending five years at Wasps

A physio who worked for Worcester Warriors and Wasps says ex-employees from both are competing for jobs after the rugby clubs entered administration.

The clubs have made players and staff redundant after Wasps on Monday shared Worcester's fate of weeks before.

Izzy Greaves, a soft tissue therapist for Warriors' first team, said it was a "massive shock" to lose her post.

She said it was "hard" to know friends would be pitted against each other in the job market.

Before joining Warriors, Ms Greaves spent five years with Coventry-based Wasps but the Worcester resident and Warriors fan said her nine months at Sixways was her "dream job".

"I loved it... growing up I'd always said I want to be a physiotherapist, to work in rugby at Worcester Warriors," she explained.

Despite the club's suspension from the Premiership last month, it came as a "massive shock" for her to learn she would lose her job.

The news of Worcester's demise was first leaked on Twitter, she said, then confirmed officially with a group WhatsApp message.

"I was so upset to find out, because it's obviously the stress of losing your job and your income overnight, but it felt like so much more than that," she told the BBC.

"This dream job... all of these people that I'm so close with... Now it felt like we were losing all of that together as well."

The physio said working in Premiership rugby clubs created a "family bond"

She added Wasps, where she started her career, was like a "family", so it came as a double blow to hear that 167 players and staff there were to lose their jobs.

"It was really sad to know that all my friends and people I've worked with there are now having to go through what's just happened to us at Worcester," she said.

"Now, there's two clubs with staff that are all going to be going to the same jobs, and what makes that hard is, because I was at Wasps, they are my friends as well."

Finding rugby jobs mid-season was particularly difficult, said Ms Greaves, adding that like other Warriors staff, she received just 35% of her August salary and no income for September.

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Ms Greaves would like to return to Worcester Warriors if a buyer is found

She said former Wasps and Warriors employees were linking up on social media to share support and opportunities.

"Rugby is such a small world, everyone knows each other in some way, or has worked with someone that's worked with someone," she said.

"It's weird because you're always rooting for each other, and you want to see your friends and your colleagues get the step up or get the job they want.

"It would be amazing to think that Warriors is going to get a buyer, and it'll be back with a team for next season. I would quite like... an opportunity to go back."

Ms Greaves has taken up part-time lecturing in sports therapy at University College, Birmingham, but is hoping to return to elite sport.

"I'm fortunate I run a private practice," she said. "I do sports massage and injury assessments, treatments in Worcester, so I've thrown myself into that really."