Leaked email claims Worcester won't get paid this month - report

Beleaguered Worcester are set to be plunged into a fresh stage of its financial crisis as a leaked email has reportedly revealed that players and staff won’t be paid their end-of-August wages due to HMRC having allegedly frozen the Gallagher Premiership club’s accounts.

The Warriors were issued with a winding-up petition a fortnight ago over an unpaid tax bill and despite statements since then that everything was being done to find a solution, it appears that it won’t come soon enough to ensure that Steve Diamond’s squad and the Worcester club staff will be paid on August 31.

A letter has been published in the Worcester News that is believed to have been sent by co-owner Colin Goldring and what it contains will cause further anxiety ahead of a new Premiership season that is set to start with a September 10 away date at London Irish.

The letter in the leaked Worcester email read: "We are conscious of the short window now available for us to solve the end-of-month payroll situation, no doubt you are all anxiously awaiting an update on payroll and we wanted to keep you as informed as we possibly can.

"As you will all no doubt know, the club's bank accounts were frozen shortly after the HMRC petition was issued meaning we are not able to access those funds to help met payroll. Therefore we do not have the money at this moment to fulfil payroll tomorrow [Wednesday].

"Jason (Whittingham, co-owner) and I value everything you have done and continue to do for the club, we have never given up on doing everything in our power to pay salaries tomorrow, the last day of the month. We have made some progress on this and had hoped by today [Tuesday] we would be able to confirm the funding is secured, but there are no guarantees until contracts are signed and until that happens I'm sorry to say the outcome tomorrow remains uncertain.

"It will be small comfort in the face of the present situation but I can promise we will not give up and will continue pushing the finance raise today and tomorrow, we are giving this everything we have got."