Worcester Warriors owners 'agree terms of sale of club' to interested party
- Published
Worcester Warriors are scheduled to host their first home game of the season against 2020 double winners Exeter this Sunday
Worcester Warriors' owners say they have agreed the terms of the sale of the troubled Premiership club.
Players, staff and fans have endured a month of worry that Warriors might fold after a winding-up petition from HMRC over an unpaid £6m tax bill.
But co-owners Jason Whittingham and Colin Goldring say they are now happy that the sale can go through.
They are also working with the potential buyer on the "immediate deposit of significant funds".
The cash injection would mean their first home Premiership game of the season against Exeter Chiefs can go ahead on Sunday.
"The heads of terms are now with the legal representatives of the respective parties who are going through the detail of the agreement," a club statement said.
"As of 17:00 BST on Tuesday, 13 September the heads of terms have yet to be signed.
"We will provide a further update both on the sale of the club and this weekend's matches on Wednesday."
After fears that they might not even start the season, Warriors began the new campaign with a 45-14 defeat at London Irish on Saturday.
They were wearing last season's strip, as although this season's has been ordered and is ready, it has not yet been paid for.
They used a coach to travel to the game, the bill for which was footed by one of the club's main sponsors, Adam Hewitt.
Warriors, whose winding-up court appearance to face HMRC has reportedly been set for 6 October, also have to pay back £14m worth of Sports Survival Package money, as sanctioned by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport during the Covid pandemic.
Warriors co-owner Jason Whittingham (right) took over the running of Worcester Warriors in December 2018
In total, their debts are reported to total £25m. But the deal with the as yet unnamed "interested party" would, subject to Rugby Football Union approval, secure their status both in the short term - enabling debts to catering staff, stewards and suppliers to be paid - and long term.
Co-owners Whittingham and Goldring have been under pressure to put the club into administration - both from a group of local MPs and a consortium led by former Warriors chief executive Jim O'Toole, who made that a key stipulation of any sale.
But, in an exclusive interview with BBC Hereford & Worcester last week, Whittingham referred to people "jumping up and down making a lot of noise", while making the point that, if the club do go into administration, creditors - including many local ones - would end up not getting paid.
Whittingham also said one of the reasons the money transfer to staff for their August wage payments had taken so long was the automated bank security procedures that have become commonplace for both private and business account holders in recent years.
How Warriors have changed hands
Worcester began their journey to try to become a force in English club rugby when local millionaire boiler manufacturer Cecil Duckworth got involved in 1997.
He injected the funds which led to a first promotion to the Premiership under coach John Brain in 2004.
But Warriors have never really kicked on from there, have twice been relegated, and have never finished higher than eighth in their 16 years in the top flight.
In that time, Exeter, a club of a similar stature, have won the Premiership twice and conquered Europe.
Long-time benefactor Duckworth reduced his involvement in 2013, when Sixways Holdings Limited took over, under Greg Allen.
Duckworth remained part of the new board as club president, until his death in 2020.
By then, the club had been sold again, to a four-man consortium fronted by Jed McCrory in October 2018, but he left in June 2019, leaving Whittingham and Goldring at the helm.