Sixways is rocking
- Jul 20
- 7 min read
Updated: Jul 23
It's been a few weeks since our last update and with a Lions tour featuring uppermost in most rugby fans' agendas we have had our fair share of distractions. That said there has been an enormous amount happening from a Warriors' perspective and the same can be said for WWST.
Club News
Fixtures
The long-awaited fixture list for Champ Rugby was released on July 10th with the league kicking off on October 4th. Warriors have a mouthwatering tie against Coventry first up; this will be played at Sixways 1106 days since our last competitive match - let's hope we can make it two home wins in a row!
Given that we will have been deprived of watching our team play league rugby for over 3 years, all these fixtures look attractive but a few particularly stand out:
A home Christmas fixture is always a good shout and with the big day falling on a Thursday this year most supporters will have at least 4 days off over the festive period. Being on the 27th, the Chinnor home game shouldn't be a clash with family obligations so we're hoping for a Santa-fuelled Sell-out.
Penzance is on my Bucket & Spade list of places to visit. The furthest south I've been on the UK mainland is Newquay and I'm very keen to explore the Penwith peninsula. Hopefully we'll be blessed with decent spring weather at the end of March for Cornish Pirates away. I feel an extended break coming on!
Look at our run-in after the Cornish game - historic Richmond away, Big-hitting Bedford at home and two huge fixtures to finish; reigning champions Ealing at Sixways and then, to book-end the season, Coventry away - we couldn't have asked for two bigger tests.
The confirmation that our home pre-season friendly will be against treble-winning Bath on the weekend 19th/20th September also came on July 10th. It seems extremely unlikely that Ollie Lawrence will be amongst the Bath line-up having ruptured his Achilles tendon on England duty, heart-breakingly close to a certain Lions call-up. Ted Hill on the other hand has been treated disrespectfully by Borthwick on the current England tour and played so little that it would be a surprise not to see him in the Bath squad. He would probably have been better rested if he'd stayed at home. It's a small tragedy that such a brilliant all-round player has been so badly neglected by the England coaching set-up.
Pre-season Training
The other big story at Sixways in the last week or so has been the arrival of the majority of the Warriors playing squad for the start of pre-season training. Getting 30-odd players and coaches to gel into a team is perhaps the biggest task facing Head Coach Matt Everard.
You can imagine that many of the squad would be feeling more than a little nervous faced with their first training session last Monday morning. Instead they were unexpectedly treated to a Barbecue and a few beers. I don't remember ever being treated with such care and attention on my first day at a new job! We are assured that the players are now working doubly hard to shed the few pounds of summer excess.
Lions Breakfasts
Many hundreds of people visited the club yesterday for the first Lions Breakfast event, swiftly followed by crowds for the Sixways Summer Bash - a day of activities, music, food & drink and an opportunity to meet some of the playing staff. Much fun was had by all and even an unscheduled heavy downpour or two couldn't dampen the mood - even if it did dampen a few festival outfits.
The first test match breakfast was a sell-out so if you were disappointed not to be able to attend make sure you sign up for one (or both!) of the remaining events. Tom Cruse & Rory Taylor will be special guests at the second test screening with Fraser Balmain & Tim Anstee joining the audience for the final match of the tour. Also on the agenda for the coming fortnight is the first Open Training session next Thursday and a chance to grill the coaches at the Fans Forum on Tuesday 29th July. The latter two events are free but require registration. Get your tickets for all Warriors Events here.
WWST News
WWST / WWRFC partnership
The Supporters' Trust board of directors met with management at Sixways a couple of weeks ago to discuss our role within the future of Worcester Warriors Mk2. We aim to continue working closely with the club for the good of the business, the team and the supporters. We feel it is important to remain as an independent organisation enhancing supporter engagement without negatively impacting the ability of the club to pursue a sustainable business path. Although we are keen to voice any concerns that supporters may have, we are not a "Customer Service" department for the club and do not intend to act as such.
Key outcomes form our discussions with the club are as follows:
WWST board member will attend and have input at the quarterly operational management meetings at Sixways. Regular informal contact will continue as necessary.
WWST to have a presence at Sixways Stadium in the form of a portable cabin/office (to be acquired by WWST) sited appropriately close to the East Stand & Fan-zone. Our match-day presence is primarily to engage with home and away supporters but also to promote fund raising activities and sell nominal WWST merchandise and membership packages.
WWST will provide “Away Day” travel services to WWST members and all supporters for the Warriors fixtures in the coming season. We will liaise closely with the club about each trip.
We also discussed several ways in which we could use raised funds to support the club including player sponsorship, contributing to player accommodation costs and a future Warriors Academy.
WWST Events
The Supporters' Trust will once again have a presence at the annual Worcester Show, which will take place on Pitchcroft on Sunday 10th August between 10am and 5pm. The Show is a celebration of local produce, horticulture, crafts and community, bringing in residents and visitors alike from across the region. Held every year in mid-August it attracts in excess of 20,000 people. The Worcester Show encapsulates the feeling of a summer fete, county show, funfair, and music festival, with entertainment for a wide range of individuals, kids and groups, encouraging families to come and spend the day together. A key part of the show is the Sports & Activity zone where we will be accompanied by members of Worcester City FC Supporters Trust, Worcester RFC Mixed Ability team and Worcestershire Cricket Foundation, amongst many others.
Our first experience at the show in 2024 was a resounding success and we would strongly encourage you to attend if able to do so. Once again Adult Tickets are a comically low price of only £2.50 with children under 16 getting in free. Click on the picture above to learn more about the show and buy your tickets.
Away Travel
WWST will be arranging coach travel to all away fixtures for the coming season provided there is enough demand. If the Ampthill pre-season friendly is anything to go by then demand will not be a problem. We are not far off filling 3 coaches for this fixture so, if you are intending on joining us don't leave it much longer or you may end up disappointed. Our events page is here.
We are aware that match tickets for Hartpury Away on 11th October have already been advertised. We will be advertising coach tickets for this fixture shortly, following a meet-up with our usual provider Commandery Coaches later in the week. Our plan is to advertise coach travel tickets to each away fixture at least 4 weeks prior to the match. The London fixtures (ie Richmond, London Scottish & Ealing) are likely to need special attention due to the potential for traffic congestion etc. The Pirates game, as alluded to above, will also require extra thought as it's not a journey that should reasonably attempted in a single day.
WWST Grant scheme
Three months ago we invited all member clubs of the Worcestershire and Herefordshire RFU to apply for grants to put towards small projects. We had intended to particularly target clubs which would otherwise struggle to fulfil those projects. The application process was far from onerous with a handful of simple questions and a lengthy period in which to apply. We are pleased to say that two clubs have been successful in their applications and have both been awarded a grant of £1000 to put towards their schemes. The successful applicants were:
Upton-upon-Severn RFC who will put the money towards the hire of all-weather pitches during such time as their pitches are water-logged (unfortunately an increasingly common occurrence).
Bromyard RFC who have had to prioritise the purchase of a new tractor for pitch maintenance over modifications to their club-house social area as their previous equipment is no longer fit for purpose. The grant will go a small way to helping cover costs.
Somewhat disappointingly these were the only two clubs to apply for grants. We can only imagine that the other clubs in Worcestershire & Herefordshire RFU have comfortable enough finances to pass up the opportunity. We intend to revisit the idea of our grant scheme in the coming months to establish whether our members' money might be better used for projects more directly linked to the Worcester Warriors community.
And that's a wrap for this post. We should be able to fit another one in prior to the pre-season friendlies. We hope to have our new base ready and in-situ come the Bath game so drop in and say hello. Enjoy the rest of the summer.
Just to say you are getting this totally right. Well done.