Worcester Warriors to appeal against Premiership suspension and relegation
- Published
Worcester Warriors first won promotion to the Premiership in 2004 and had been in the top flight since 2014
Administrators for Worcester Warriors say they will appeal against the Rugby Football Union's decision to suspend the Premiership club for the season and relegate them to the Championship.
Julie Palmer, from Begbies Traynor Group, told the BBC they will contest the punishments on a "no fault insolvency" basis.
Warriors went into administration on 26 September, triggering their suspension.
Their season-long ban and relegation were confirmed 10 days later.
Fellow Premiership side Wasps said on Wednesday that they too are "likely" to go into administration "within days".
Under the RFU's insolvency regulations, any punishments for entering administration could be "reduced" or "waived" if the club can satisfy the governing body that the reasons for doing so "would not have occurred but for an event or circumstance which was beyond the control and without the fault or negligence of the affected club".
Warriors will hope to prove their financial issues were down to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which severely affected sport clubs across the country.
Club's debts 'a moving target'
Worcester were given a £15m loan from Sport England as part of the government's sports survival package during the pandemic, with the total debt across the Premiership thought to be £500m.
Warriors' overall debt is believed to about £25m, including £6m owed to HMRC in unpaid tax, but Palmer told BBC Hereford and Worcester the total amount outstanding is "a moving target" - adding that they were "close to establishing rugby creditors subject to anything else found".
She also confirmed the ownership of the stadium, surrounding land and training pitches was still placed in different companies of former owners Jason Whittingham and Colin Goldring, but "within our appointment over all entities".
The part of the club that was responsible for paying the players and staff - WRFC Players Ltd - was wound up in the High Court on 5 October with several players since signing for new clubs, following the termination of their contracts at Sixways.
Administrators also confirmed non-league football club Worcester Raiders, who played their home games at Sixways, are to resume matches at the stadium from Saturday.