Financial trouble: The consequences for Worcester Warriors Women

Financial worries have publicly plagued Worcester Warriors since August this year, when news emerged that the club faced a winding up petition from HMRC over a £6 million unpaid tax bill. After a month of uncertainty which has seen wages delayed and non-playing staff paid only 65% of their salary, the club has released news that a potential buyer has been found.

Worcester have stated that they are working closely with the interested party on the immediate deposit of significant funds which will allow Sunday’s Gallagher Premiership match against Exeter Chiefs at Sixways and Saturday’s Allianz Cup match between University of Worcester Warriors and Harlequins to go ahead as scheduled.

At time of writing, Worcester have not paid their security or medical suppliers and Sunday’s game is on the brink of cancellation. Given this, it is hard to believe that the women’s game will go ahead as planned on Saturday. Even if the as-yet unidentified buyer steps in, immediate funds may only be a sticking plaster on the financial black hole.

The University of Worcester Warriors Women (a clunky new name coming out of a partnership with The University of Worcester) have played in various iterations of English top-flight women's rugby since the 2000s. Winning their first and only Premiership title in 2013, the club have had a mixed bag of results in what is now the Premier 15s, finishing the 2021/22 season in 8th place. Despite a disappointing end to last season, many Worcester players feature in the latest round of Test matches being played ahead of the delayed 2021 World Cup.

One such player is Lydia Thompson. The England winger and club stalwart has played for Worcester since 2010, amassing hundreds of games across her entire senior career. Thompson admits she was shaken by the news of Worcester’s financial instability, but insists that the team will remain “completely focused on the rugby.”

Thompson is a full-time contracted player with England and spent the summer training with the Red Roses as they prepare for October’s World Cup. “I went down to training (at Worcester), a few weeks ago and I know they're training hard and preparing for the Allianz Cup and hopefully beyond that into the Premier 15s,” said Thompson. “Jo Yapp (Director of Rugby) has amazing vision - I've never known anyone work so hard for women's rugby.”

Yapp will certainly be working hard at the moment given the current uncertainties, but on the surface at least, the club are putting on a united front with players social media covered in images of the women at training accompanied by the word 'together'.

Thompson tells RugbyPass “It's the men's and women's teams together. We all love playing for Worcester, and it's a family club, a proper rugby club…it means a lot to everyone and the whole community is behind us, from players and supporters to the backroom staff who make it possible to keep us on the pitch.”

As is true for many women's Premier 15s clubs, if the men's side go under the women's side will be unlikely to sustain themselves. Although the Warriors Women have remained in training, contact sessions were curtailed for a period as the club felt unable to guarantee medical coverage for players injured during training. This culminated in a cancelled training camp (intended to be against Saracens Women), which will have impacted preparations for the Allianz Cup competition which begins this weekend.

Worcester is not the first side to stumble at a financial hurdle going into this year’s Allianz Premier 15s season. DMP Durham Sharks have made headlines with their crowdfunding campaign to raise £50,000 to meet minimum Premier 15s requirements. DMP’s men’s side are a National 1 outfit and are not able to prop up their floundering women’s side, who finished bottom of the table in the 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons.

It's clear that reliance on a men’s side for financial stability is not a viable long-term solution for women’s rugby sides. Women’s rugby advocate Victoria Rush says the Worcester conundrum 'shows how important it is for teams to build a profitable product out of their women's game as quickly as possible…it's the smart way to reduce financial risk.  The women's game will take time to build, but clubs need to be looking at how their women's teams are marketed. Things like merchandise and visibility are massive in this. Clubs need to start monetising their women’s team rather than seeing it as a cost to the men’s team.’

Whatever the outcome for Worcester Warriors, as a rugby fan, you have to hope that sufficient funds are found and the knock-on impact on players, support staff and office staff is minimised. Let’s hope we continue to see matches played at Sixways in the future.