Worcester Warriors: Sixways land key to any deal, says takeover figurehead Jim O'Toole
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Jim O'Toole has worked as a sports consultant since departing Sixways in 2017, prior to the current owners taking charge
Ex-Worcester Warriors chief executive Jim O'Toole, head of one of two bidding consortiums for the now suspended Premiership club, says the ownership of the land at Sixways is key to any deal.
The ground and the club are under WRFC Trading Limited, whose administration is expected to be confirmed on Tuesday.
But much of the land around the ground now belongs to other companies owned by Jason Whittingham and Colin Goldring.
"The land has to be part of it. Simple as that," O'Toole said.
He told BBC Hereford & Worcester: "It's all about who owns the land, and whether the administrator - in doing their due diligence and forensic accounting - finds out what exactly happens to the assets and the liabilities.
"That is going to be the absolute key. We can't run a rugby club without a pitch, a back car park and the fanzone."
Accusation of 'asset stripping' false, said owners
Whittingham and Goldring said in a previous club statement: "It's absolutely not true the stadium and land were recently taken out of the club. It has been separate for our entire ownership of the club.
"The accusation that we have been 'asset stripping' is completely false. Everything we have been doing is to make the group more stable."
The club, who have been owned by the pair since December 2018, still face a winding-up petition from His Majesty's Revenue and Customs, who are owed over £6m, plus a long list of other creditors.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport agreed to the request of the club's directors to place Worcester into administration on Monday, within two hours of their suspension being confirmed by the Rugby Football Union.
"We are now completely in the hands of the administrator," said O'Toole.
"Our job is to sell our vision and plan for the long-term stability to that administrator, and persuade them that we're the best option.
"But we needed to have an end to the quite shambolic situation where the staff were - in effect - putting matches on as a result of a mutiny.
"In 30 years in sport I've never seen anything like it," added the former London Irish chief executive, who has spent the past five years working as a sports consultant, still based in Worcester, since leaving Warriors in 2017.
Storm clouds have been gathering over Sixways since HMRC first issued their threat over an unpaid tax bill in mid-August
Worcester MP Robin Walker, who called for the club to be put in administration last week, remains concerned that it is just WRFC Trading Limited that is affected - and not any of the Warriors owners' other companies.
"What's vital now is that the administrators do their job," he told BBC Hereford & Worcester. "Work out exactly what has happened, where the money is and make sure as well that the assets of the club, including the land around it, can be kept together.
"The administrators can follow the money. If they feel there's a transaction which is to the detriment of the creditors, and the people who the club owes money to, they can undo that."
An administrator appointed to handle the Warriors administration, Julie Palmer, of Begbies Traynor, has previously overseen the sale of Bournemouth Football Club, as well as helping rugby union side Bristol out of administration.
She told BBC Hereford & Worcester that she hopes to move quickly.
"My focus is on the next home match," she said. "Beyond that I am realistically talking about certainly weeks rather than months.
"We have some degree of funds sitting in a frozen account and are looking to see how quickly they can be unlocked. But the priority is very clear. We are very keen that we engage with interested parties as quickly as possible."
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How quickly might Warriors come back?
Premiership chief executive Simon Massie-Taylor says sorting new owners as quickly as possible will be a key factor in whether Warriors are allowed to play out this season.
"They still have time to rescue the club through the administration process," he told BBC Radio 5 Live's Rugby Union Weekly podcast. "There is a credible buyer, or a couple of interested parties, who support the administration process. But that has to happen fairly soon."
Having won their final game before administration against Newcastle on Saturday, this weekend's Premiership trip to Gloucester has been called off - and their next scheduled match at Sixways after that is against Harlequins on 8 October.
They then have a scheduled bye week - and a more realistic date to target for any return to action might be the Premiership away game at Bristol on 22 October.
"There hasn't been a deadline set on how quickly they could re-enter the league," Massie-Taylor added. "But one thing to take into the account is the RFU's regulations.
"Once you move into administration, or have an insolvency, unless you can prove a no-fault situation due to Covid, then you would be relegated to the Championship.
"The best-case scenario is that they find a buyer, and are able to prove no-fault so would therefore play the remainder of the season.
"The worst-case scenario is they fail to find a buyer, go into insolvency and start again.
"Some things are quite clear in the regulations, then other things where judgment calls need to be made.
"If Worcester are out of the league for a certain period of time you start to really question the integrity of them re-entering the competition at a much later date. And if they were to exit we would like as much time as possible to reschedule fixtures.
"It gets more complicated the more weeks/bye-weeks you have."
"We hope the RFU will be supportive," added administrator Palmer. "Some of the statements suggest we possibly have not many weeks to play with.
"I'm not prepared to go into how many approaches we've had, but there is significant interest in this club. Even prior to our appointment we had expressions of interest. And, having come to the stadium, I'm not surprised. It really is a first class facility."
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