Anger as new owners close down Warriors

WORCESTER Warriors will rebrand as Sixways Rugby next season and merge with National Two West side Stourbridge after their owners Atlas withdrew their proposal to play in the Championship.

Warriors had been given until February 14 to meet RFU criteria to play in the second tier but Jim O’Toole, who led the Atlas takeover alongside James Sandford, said they have pulled out of talks.

A statement from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said: “This is devastating news for rugby fans across the Midlands. The government has done everything it can to protect Worcester Warriors, including through financial support during the pandemic.

“Despite repeated assurances from the Atlas consortium, we are deeply disappointed that fans will no longer be able to support their club in the Championship – either next season or beyond.”

Former Warriors chief executive O’Toole, whose consortium took over Worcester only last week, said that their decision was a result of “a number of key clauses in the contract that we and the investors couldn’t accept”.

He added: “It would have given the RFU control over decisions that we as a business will have to take.

“This decision will clearly upset and annoy a number of people. The fact of life is that the Worcester Warriors brand is gone. We didn’t want to go down to the 10th tier as Worcester Warriors, so the name sadly will disappear. We are rebranding as Sixways Rugby. We’re starting afresh. We believe it’s time for a new start. The church has closed down.”

The RFU would need to approve any name change, as well as confirming that O’Toole and Sandford have passed the owners’ test.

Stourbridge came into this weekend bottom of National Two West, with one win in 18 games.

“We will invest the maximum we can within the RFU regulations to get the club through the leagues to get to the Championship by 2026,” added O’Toole.

“They’ll in effect become our first team in our to returning to top level rugby. They will play at Sixways from the start of next season. The ultimate goal is to get back to the Premiership but the gut feeling is that it will be ring-fenced.”

Stourbridge confirmed the Sixways tie-up in a letter to members, saying: “Atlas Group is proposing a long-term investment into our playing infrastructure to grow our club to becoming a Championship level club (and beyond) in the men’s and women’s game.”

The RFU will now consult with the local rugby community over the Worcester/Stourbridge tie-up.

Rival Worcester bidder Steve Diamond says the club would have played in the Championship this

September, under their existing name, if their offer had been accepted.

“What would I have done? I’d be playing in the Championship in September,” he said.

The family of ex-Worcester chairman Cecil Duckworth say owners Atlas are “trying to destroy his legacy”. Duckworth was involved with the club until 2015 and died in 2020.

“The Duckworth family are devastated to learn of the rebranding,” they said.

“We feel Atlas are trying to destroy the legacy that Cecil and many others had worked so hard in succeeding in bringing Premiership Rugby to Sixways and Worcester. We would urge Atlas to renegotiate with the Rugby Football Union.”