Worcester winding up order

Financially stricken Worcester Warriors have been suspended for the rest of the Premiership season and will be relegated from the top tier. The decision was taken by the Rugby Football Union's (RFU) club financial viability group to give time to find an investor and the "best chance for a long-term sustainable future". Worcester players and staff had their contracts terminated on Wednesday when part of the club was wound up. The club can appeal against the ruling. To be successful, the Warriors would need to show there was no fault for the insolvency event. ..... The RFU also said work is ongoing with an unnamed potential investor to ensure the University of Worcester Warriors women's team can continue competing in the Premier 15s for the remainder of the season. However, their Allianz Cup tie against DMP Sharks on 15 October will not go ahead. Conditions of takeover confirmed While WRFC Players Ltd - through which players and staff were paid - has been wound up, a winding-up petition against WRFC Trading Limited, which remains in administration, has been suspended. It has been confirmed that a condition of any takeover deal will require the payment of all rugby creditors, including any outstanding salaries owed to staff, players and coaches.

They might get away with that if they can persuade the two disreputable cowboys who owned the club to change their surnames to Covid.

I will be shocked if you are wrong Camquin. The Premiership as a competition is sitting in the departure lounge

I can understand wanting to keep the club going, it's only natural.

I agree with you on the other points but would stress it is only a small minority who seem to hold these views. 

The one that made me splutter out my coffee was the idea that they could just slot into the URC. There's hope then there's utter delusion and that definitely fits into the latter category. 

I am beginning to think Ealing and Doncaster dodged a bullet by not getting promoted .

The interest around WASPS and Worcester will depend on the sweating of the assets.

Whilst i understand and empathise with the argument that it is a short career (that can be cut shorter by injury) and therefore a player needs to maximise their earnings whilst they can, salaries for the top players of anywhere between £300k - £1mil p.a. simply aren't sustainable. This leads to clubs spending in excess of 80% of turnover on people costs. Any prudent finance director of any company will tell you that in the long term, that level of expenditure will lead to significant issues.

Whilst DoRs and owners say that PRL needs to do more to increase income, it's highly unlikely that the increase required to cover current outgoings will be achieved. Professional football, primarily the Premier League, eats up so much of the money people/companies/potential sponsors/TV and wider media have and are prepared to spend on sport that everyone else is fighting for scraps.

The reality is for professional rugby to remain a thing in England, the players are going to have to accept that the days of high wages are gone. They won't like it and pundits (ex-players) will bleat that it's not fair but that is the reality. A salary of say £100k per year for a top player is certainly not a badly paid job. They'd still be earning additional endorsement/personal sponsorship money outside the game as a result of their status.

Even with salaries as they are, pretty much every player has to find another job when they retire as they won't earn enough whilst playing to retire on. A reduction in salaries may just sharpen the focus of a few in this regard.

Some will argue that lower wages will lead to a player drain overseas but i ask the question - where would they go?

France? Due to the restrictions the FFR put in place around the minimum number of French qualified players required in a match day squad, French clubs have reined in their overseas recruitment significantly. Yes there are some contracts available (see Sam Simmonds) but not enough to see huge swathes of players crossing the channel. Plus, players who've done so in the past have found that the grass isn't always greener - Jonny Sexton admitted that he'd never had to work so hard when at Racing as the arrangements in place at home regarding limits on game time don't apply in France for overseas players.

Southern Hemisphere? Top salaries here are nowhere near the money in the northern hemisphere hence why so many have tried to move north. And those top salaries are paid to centrally contracted players which any English player trying their hand there wouldn't be. So they'd be no better off. Plus, the structure of southern hemisphere unions is such that the national team comes first therefore overseas players are actively discouraged as their participation is a detriment to the development of home grown talent.

Japan? Yes they are paying well but even they've started to reduce the number of overseas recruits as it was becoming detrimental to the national team. In addition, the change in culture (primarily the language) is massive and whilst for some it would be seen as an amazing experience, the majority i reckon would be wary, especially those with families.

And if some players do go overseas, is that such a bad thing? They experience different styles of playing, different coaching methods, different cultures (both rugby and socially) which should lead them to become more rounded players and people.

World Rugby rules state that players have to be made available by their clubs during sanctioned international windows so they'd still be available for England. If they have concerns about their international future as a result of a move then they have to make the choice of whether to risk it. But that is an existing dilemma so in that regard nothing changes.

It will be a bitter pill to swallow for some but if they want to remain professional athletes, it's one they'll have to take.

Owen Slot sums it up more succinctly than I ever could.....well perhaps not....The Premership is totally fu**ed would be my take.....

To be fair to Michael Reay he has hit on a brilliant idea there.....promotion/relegation....could it work?