"If you want to be The Champ, you've got to beat The Champ"

As our squad grows, so does the anticipation for the new season. At the time of writing we're up to 28 named players announced as part of the Blue & Gold army competing in the inaugural season of The Champ come October. Sports-followers love young and exciting players; we also love a few gnarly old pros. Thus far, the balance of this squad looks to be absolutely nailed onto that brief. This is a completely unique situation in English sport - there has never been a squad of professional players brought together in this way before. Imagine the excitement to be part of this project; usually when new players join there is inevitably some nervousness about how easy it will be to gel with established team-mates. This time every player is in the same boat, all starting from scratch with new coaches, back-room staff and medical teams. We must cherish these early days in the re-birth of Worcester Warriors. Never again will we reproduce these heady times.

Title Sponsor

There aren't too many iconic brands to come out of Worcestershire. Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce is arguably the UK's most widely distributed branded food export reaching over 130 markets worldwide. Harris paintbrushes and domestic appliance giants Vax and Gtech all hail from the county. However, undoubtedly the coolest brand to emanate from three pear country is the Morgan Motor Company. Morgan has 115 years of history at its Malvern Headquarters and continues to build all its cars by hand.

It was extremely exciting to hear the news that Morgan will be Worcester Warriors main sponsor for the 2025/26 season. To read more about the partnership follow this link to the club's website.

Christopher Holland, Chairman of Worcester Warriors with Matthew Hole, Managing Director of Morgan Motor Company

With sponsor announcements, kit launch, staff recruitment and summer events there is a wall of news coming out of Sixways day by day. But it's all working up towards the season itself. It's a decade since Warriors were last in rugby's second tier and the make -up of the league has changed significantly in that time. Only six of the fourteen clubs in The Champ had a place in that epic season of 2014/15 when Ryan Lamb coolly slotted his 81st minute conversion. So now is a good time to gen up on our opponents for 2025/26:

AMPTHILL RUGBY CLUB

Ampthill is a small town in Bedfordshire located roughly halfway between Bedford to the north and Luton to the south. Although originally founded in the late 19th century, the club reformed as its current entity in 1950. They first gained a place in The Championship on 2019, having been crowned National League One champions in 2018/19. The club has performed solidly in that league since their promotion with respectable mid-table finishes and a highest position of 5th in the covid-abbreviated 2019/20 season. Ampthill play their home games at Dillingham Park with a capacity of 3000. Their nickname is "The Mob" - taken from the Ant Hill Mob of Wacky Races fame. Ex-Warrior James Johnston is amongst their squad.

Postcode: MK45 2HX

BEDFORD BLUES RFC

Bedford Rugby Club was formed in 1886. They have played at Goldington Road in almost uninterrupted fashion ever since. When the game turned professional in 1996 they were placed in the second tier of the RFU leagues. Apart from a brief dalliance with Premiership rugby between 1998 & 2000 they have been an ever-present at that level since. With a strong finish to the end of last season, Bedford were runners-up to Ealing, reaching their highest league position since 2012. Goldington Road has one of the largest capacities in The Champ at 5000. New Warrior's signing Alfie Garside was part of Bedford's playing squad in 2024/25

Postcode: MK40 3NF

CALDY RUGBY CLUB

Caldy Rugby Club is situated on the Wirral near Thurstaton. They play at Paton Field stadium on ground donated to the National Trust in 1926 by Sir Alfred Paton, a wealthy cotton merchant, on condition that at least one pitch be used for playing rugby in perpetuity. Caldy Sports club is also home to hockey and cricket clubs. The rugby club was promoted to The Championship in 2022 as National League One champions; their best season to date was 2022/23 when they finished 10th with 7 league wins. Caldy RFC are known as "The Ravers", a recently acquired nickname originating from the First XV's penchant for partying. Paton Field has a capacity of 4000. Former famously "homeless" Warrior Ollie Wynn is amongst their first team squad.

Postcode: CH48 1NZ

CAMBRIDGE RUGBY CLUB

Cambridge RUFC are another relative newcomer to this level of rugby having been promoted from National League One in 2023. Thus far they have struggled to make an impact, finishing bottom of the pile for the last two seasons. Last season they had good home wins against Ampthill and Cornish Pirates at Granchester Road and also snuck past Caldy 21-26 away from home. The club revels in the nickname "The Blood and Sand" referencing their kit colours. Grantchester Road is one of the smaller grounds in The Champ with just 200 seats in a capacity of 2200. New Worcester recruit Archie Vanes played 5 games for the club last season whilst on loan from Leicester Tigers, scoring the deciding and bonus point try in the victory over Cornish Pirates.

Postcode: CB3 9ED

CHINNOR RUGBY CLUB

Chinnor Rugby club is actually located just outside the Oxfordshire town of Thame, 4 miles from Chinnor itself. The club began life in 1962, formed at The Bird in Hand public house by three regulars, initially playing their games on Whites Field across the road. The club crest is based on the original pub sign which now hangs behind the Members' Bar in their new club-house. Sadly the pub itself closed in 2000 but lives on as the name of the rugby club's marquee. In a nod to their village roots the team is known locally as "The Villagers". Chinnor RFC moved to their current ground Kingsey Road in 1973 and now boasts a capacity of 2500. They were the most recent addition to The Championship in 2024 and had a season to be proud of, finishing a very respectable 10th with 7 wins. After a brief stint as forwards and defence coach at Sixways in 2022, Nick Easter joined Chinnor as their Director of Rugby, guiding the team to promotion from National League One.

Postcode: OX9 3JL

CORNISH PIRATES

Cornish Pirates are the First Team of Penzance and Newlyn RFC. Locally they are known as "An Vorladron Gernewek" to those who speak the Cornish language. Mennaye Field in Penzance has been the club's home since the 1940s although there were short sojourns in Truro and then Camborne between 2005 and 2010. Pirates have been one of the most consistent teams in rugby's second tier, finishing in the top 5 in each of the last 8 seasons, securing runners-up position in 2023/24. They won the inaugural Britsh & Irish Cup in 2009/10. The Mennaye has a capacity of 4000 with 2200 seats. Sir Richard "Dicky" Evans has been a long-term benefactor of the club but in 2022 announced his intention to stand down in 2024; the club has been taken over by a consortium of local businessmen. Pirates players to have moved to Worcester include Sam Betty, Jay Tyack and newly-signed Full-Back Will Trewin.

Postcode TR18 4LY

COVENTRY RFC

Coventry Rugby Club is arguably one of the most famous and respected clubs in English rugby. In the 1960s and 1970s the club was blessed with many internationals including Geoff Evans, Fran Cotton and David Duckham; they won the RFU knockout cup in consecutive seasons 1972 & 1973 and forged a fierce rivalry with neighbours Moseley RFC. With history on their side Coventry was one of the founder members of the RFU's League Division One in 1987 but only managed to keep their place in the top tier for one season. After financial difficulties in the late 1990s, the club had a prolonged spell in Tier 3 before finally gaining promotion back to the Championship in 2017. After a strong start to last season they eventually finished 5th having been 3rd in the two previous seasons. Home for the "Blue and Whites" since 2004 is the Butts Park Arena with a capacity of 5200. Famous ex-Warriors to pull on the Coventry jersey include Matt Kvesic, Andy Goode and Shaun Perry. A large contingent of former Coventry players will be playing at Sixways next season including Kev, Will Biggs, Will Lane, Obinna Nkwocha and James Tyas.

Postcode: CV1 3GE

... well that took a lot longer than I'd imagined! I'll do a Part 2 of The Champ clubs rundown in the next couple of weeks. If you haven't yet seen the format of the new league please do take a look at our Video Library at the foot of our home page and click on the green "Proving Ground" link.

Until next time....