Late June is often the time when rugby supporters struggle to find anything to talk about. The domestic season is long over, the transfer rumour-mill has wound down, the players are on holiday and pre-season friendlies are still a couple of months away. It always used to feel pretty dull, especially as Worcester rarely had many representatives on the international summer tours. What we would give now to have a normal off-season, safe in the knowledge that the season ticket renewal pack would be dropping through the letter box in a matter of weeks. Instead we continue to reside in a rugby-world of uncertainty; even the speculation has slowed to a near standstill.
Whatever happens, as supporters we will be in a stronger position when we have a fully incorporated trust in a couple of months time. One of our first actions will be to nominate Sixways Stadium and the surrounding land as an asset of community value with Wychavon District Council; this will go some way to further protecting the site from unsuitable development.
In the meantime the WWST working group has had reassuring dialogue with the RFU who have wished us well and encouraged us to keep them updated on progress. We are also continuing to liaise with all relevant parties in the expectation of ensuring a high profile for the supporters in the future management of the club. We will continue to endeavour to keep you all in the loop regarding any developments, although clearly there are certain things that we may be unable to share.
Amidst all of the doom and gloom there has been a positive news story with the Worcester Warriors Foundation announcing their move to the Royal Porcelain Works, owned by the Bransford Trust.
The excitement of new beginnings was all too clear in CEO Carol Hart's voice as she spoke with Andrew Easton and Trevor Owens on the recent Worcester Warriors Podcast:
Carol and her team are keen to maintain the strongest links with all Warriors supporters and we're very much looking forward to having a tour of the new facilities when they have properly settled in. As supporters we must not forget that we still have the Worcester Warriors Foundation and the Worcester Warriors Women's team. Both entities are absolutely key to the legacy of Cecil Duckworth and hence the potential re-birth of the Men's team and the Academy. Long-time chair of the Warriors Rugby Supporters Club, Bob Low, who has been part of our working group from the beginning, has kindly volunteered to take a position on our interim board, specifically to act as a link with the Women's team and the Warriors Foundation. With Bob's enthusiasm for fund-raising and his undoubted contacts and communication skills, this is very welcome news indeed.
This seems a good time to plug Worcester's only elite level rugby team who are special guests at a social networking event at Browns by the Quay this coming Wednesday. Grab your tickets here:
I would just like to add our public thanks to Andy Walsh, Head of Community Ownership at the Football Supporters Association for his continued guidance and assistance with our FCA application. The FSA have their AGM this afternoon at Manchester Metropolitan University so it is clearly a busy time for all involved.
Strong foundations being built for the future.