Worcester Warriors: WRFC Players Ltd wound up in High Court

Worcester Warriors players and staff are to have their contracts terminated, following part of the club being wound up in the High Court.

HMRC had been pursuing Worcester, who are suspended from all competitions, for unpaid tax of around £6m.

Judge Nicholas Briggs instructed that WRFC Players Ltd, through which players and staff are paid, should be wound up.

A winding-up petition against WRFC Trading Limited, which remains in administration, has been suspended.

The four players who went out on loan to Bath on Monday and the rest of the squad are now free agents so can sign for any club.

Scotland and British & Irish Lions winger Duhan van der Merwe has become the first Worcester player to sign for a new side, after rejoining Edinburgh.

The Warriors had no representation in court.

The joint hearing for both companies, held at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, was relayed online as a result of the train strike.

The hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice was over within a minute

'Warriors have sunk like the Titanic'

"This is the darkest day for English rugby," said Warriors director of rugby Steve Diamond. "It's ended up like the Titanic, sadly. The ship has sunk, the captains are nowhere to be seen."

All debts at WRFC Players Ltd, including the sum owed to HMRC, believed to be over £6m, remain outstanding.

The club also owe a reported £15m, understood to be the largest share, as part of the combined £124m loaned out to Premiership clubs by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport during the height of the Covid pandemic as sports survival payments.

The ground and the club are controlled by WRFC Trading Ltd, which went into administration last Monday, becoming the first to suffer such a fate since Richmond in 1999.

Much of the land around the ground now belongs to other companies owned by co-owners Jason Whittingham and Colin Goldring.

Begbies Traynor, the administrators appointed to deal with the WRFC Trading Ltd wing of the club, will continue to deal with that part of the process.

But the contracts of all players, backroom staff, administrative staff, and the women's squad, who play under the University of Worcester Warriors banner, are all effectively terminated.

Some staff are still owed 35% of their August wages, while some did not get paid at all, and nobody was paid for September.

Players treated like 'pieces of meat' - Neild

Warriors summer signing Cameron Neild told BBC Sport that Warriors' financial problems cannot all be blamed on the Coronavirus pandemic.

"The pandemic has had a part to play," he said. "Right across all sports the numbers decreased dramatically, in terms of people having to borrow money like Worcester did.

"It's not an ideal situation for the club, or anyone to be in, but it's about how you fight back from that and the ownership of Worcester has done that terribly.

"I couldn't describe it as anything other than a shambles. The way the owners have treated players, staff as if they're pieces of meat.

"I'm glad I don't have to speak or hear from them again. My agent is out there at the moment looking for a club."

Cameron Neild has played in all three Premiership games for Worcester this season since joining from Sale in the summer

Fellow Worcester player Joe Batley said he "refuses to believe this is the end" for the club, but added that he "can't go another month without being paid".

"You sign a contract and you keep looking to the future - you never think you're going to outlive a club.

"You want to add to the legacy, not be a part of its end.

"I've had a tough phone call with my partner, explaining our worst fears have come true.

"The last few months have been very tough, I've had a couple of cries in the car on the way home thinking about how I'm going to explain this to my partner, who's with my one-year-old son."

What happens to Warriors' men and women this season?

It is understood Warriors could now have their suspension from the Premiership and other competitions extended until the end of the season - and suffer relegation to the Championship.

Begbies Traynor are still seeking a buyer for WRFC Trading Ltd - and are talking to two consortiums, one of is led by former Warriors chief executive Jim O'Toole. And, if a buyer is found by the middle of this month, they could still save their place in the league.

But, while Warriors women may yet be given the green light to continue this season, the Rugby Football Union may already be looking at next season as far as the men are concerned.

Worcester Warriors' two home games this season have been in front of crowds limited to 4,999

Chief executive Bill Sweeney said: "The RFU will continue to speak to the administrators, and potential buyers, during the course of the next 24 hours to understand the possibility of a buyer taking over the club in time for the men's team to participate in the Gallagher Premiership during season 2022-23.

"We are also liaising with the administrators in relation to discussions with potential funders, which may enable the University of Worcester Warriors women's team to continue in the Allianz Premier 15s even if the men's team cannot continue to participate this season."

In the short term, the RFU are yet to make points allocations for last Saturday's Premiership game against Gloucester, as well as this Saturday's scheduled home game against Harlequins, both of which have been cancelled.

Premiership chief executive Simon Massie-Taylor added: "The thoughts of everyone are with the players, staff and fans of the Warriors on another distressing day. They have been a huge part of the Premiership since Cecil Duckworth led them to their first promotion in 2004.

"We will continue to work with the RFU, DCMS and the administrators, to see if a long-term solution can be found."

Warriors' tale of woe

• 17 Aug - Worcester first 'in dialogue' with HMRC

• 22 Aug - Warriors owners hope to avoid administration

• 23 Aug - O'Toole announces bid to buy troubled club

• 30 Aug - Players and staff will not be paid on time

• 1 Sept - Players attempt to quit over unpaid wages

• 2 Sept - Morecambe put up for sale by Warriors owners

• 10 Sept - Diamond warns of 'dire position' as owners seek investment

• 13 Sept - Worcester co-owners 'agree terms of sale of club'

• 16 Sept - Warriors allowed to stage first home game with Exeter

• 21 Sept - Warriors given 26 September funding ultimatum

• 22 Sept - MP Robin Walker asks DCMS to sanction administration

• 23 Sept - Worcester plight 'like death of a dog' - Steve Diamond

• 24 Sept - Crisis club Warriors forget woes to crush Falcons

• 26 Sept - WRFC Trading Ltd put into administration

• 27 Sept - Warriors players have to consider future -Ted Hill

• 28 Sept - The current state of Premiership rugby

• 29 Sept - Exeter boss Baxter expects Warriors season is over

• 1 Oct - Owners claim players 'would not accept pay cut'

• 5 Oct - Worcester players to have contracts terminated

How did Warriors come to this?

Worcester began their journey to try to become a force in English club rugby when local millionaire boiler manufacturer Cecil Duckworth first 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.

• Duckworth family saddened by Warriors state

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, who were also directors of EFL club Morecambe, at the helm as joint owners.