Premiership: Ollie Lawrence hits out at Worcester Warriors’ co-owners over club’s demise

David Skippers
Ollie Lawrence warm-up Bath v Gloucester Premiership 2022 - PA.jpg

England centre Ollie Lawrence has opened up about his sadness at Worcester Warriors’ downfall and hit out at the suspended Premiership outfit’s co-owners, Colin Goldring and Jason Whittingham.

The Warriors were suspended and will be relegated from England’s top flight at the end of the season after their partial liquidation last week, with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) pursuing unpaid tax totalling £6million.

Administrators are still working to find a buyer for the beleaguered club, while several players have moved on to new teams.

Lawrence is one of them, as he has joined Bath on a long-term contract, but he acknowledged that he will probably never fully understand the events that unfolded at Worcester.

Worcester owners’ public statement

Goldring and Whittingham even criticised Worcester’s players and supporters, effectively blaming them for the club’s financial problems in a public statement that caused plenty of offence.

“Currently, I am still living in Worcester and commuting back and forth. Until I move here (Bath), I don’t think it will fully sink in. I don’t think it ever will, to be honest,” said Lawrence.

“We felt like we had been let down by our owners. I think if we had have known a bit more about their financial struggles, it would have given boys more time to look elsewhere.

“We seemed to be on the back foot a lot of the time, and we were the ones going out on the weekends trying to put in shifts for each other, knowing that within the next couple of weeks we might not even be a club.

“It is an element of frustration, feeling let down and just disappointed that they were allowed to do what they’ve done.

“With everything going on now, hopefully it will all unfold and it will all come out regarding what has gone on at the club.

“When that statement was released, it didn’t make sense or go down well with a lot of people.

“They needed to take accountability for what they’ve done, because at the end of the day they can’t blame players for the situation they were in.

“They gave us contracts, they agreed to the terms. If they couldn’t afford to keep the club, then they should have made that clear earlier.

“There was no communication, and then the one time we did get communication it was basically a slating.

“To blame fans, saying there should have been more at games, they were just trying to find excuses to make themselves look better when, in fact, they have just made themselves look worse.”

Former Worcester club-mates Ted Hill, Fergus Lee-Warner and Valery Morozov have joined Lawrence at Bath, while Duhan van der Merwe moved back to Edinburgh, Joe Batley rejoined Bristol and Tom Howe and Andrew Kitchener have joined Saracens on short-term deals.

While Lawrence’s main focus must now be on Bath, he will be determined to regain an England call-up and add to his tally of seven Test caps.

“Whatever is going on with the situation at the club (Worcester), we want to see them back in the Premiership and be part of the league for a long time,” he added.

Keen for Worcester Warriors to survive

“There is so much history with the club and there are a lot of boys there who need the club to survive.

“We all want the best for the club, and no-one in the rugby community would have wanted to see what has happened to them.

“I am concerned by what is happening and will always have my attention in the corner of my eye to make sure my friends and stuff are looked after.

“It doesn’t look great going forward, but hopefully, fingers crossed, they can get a new owner and build back up from the Championship.”

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