Premiership: Worcester Warriors do not want pity over their financial crisis

Dylan Coetzee
Worcester Warriors director of rugby Steve Diamond looks on at a press conference for the Premiership launch

2JTPR37 Rugby Union - Premiership Rugby Season Launch - Twickenham Stadium, London, Britain - September 1, 2022 Worcester Warriors director of rugby Steve Diamond during the season launch Action Images/Matthew Childs

Worcester Warriors director of rugby Steve Diamond says he does not want anyone to pity the club as they push through a tricky financial situation.

The club is in financial turmoil with HM Revenue & Customs freezing Worcester’s accounts, resulting in difficulty paying wages as the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have ripped through the Premiership side.

The co-owners of Worcester, Colin Goldring and Jason Whittingham, claim they are in talks with prospective buyers for the club, whilst there have also been calls for the Warriors to be placed in administration.

No pity

“I don’t expect people to feel sorry for us. We are not victims here,” Diamond said.

“This is just an unfortunate situation that we have to battle our way out of.

“I don’t want anyone looking at us and going ‘Ooh, they’re plucky’. That’s not the way we are. We are not going to London Irish as victims, trust me. No chance.

“There has been a lot of noise outside – quite rightly so with the predicament the club has been in – but what we have managed to do is cocoon ourselves in the training facility which is all on one site, and we have got on with the job in hand.

“One of the biggest worries was getting paid by the owners, and that happened last Friday, which was a godsend.

“I would be telling lies if I told you people weren’t anxious behind the scenes.

“My job is to keep the pecker up, and that is what I intend on doing. The last training week we’ve had has been outstanding, and I am not just saying that.

“To get a team out (on Saturday) is pretty good, to perform well will be even better. If we win, we might stop at the first off-licence on the way home.”

Players still in

Flanker Kyle Hatherell said he would like to move clubs and is the only Worcester player unavailable outside of injury this weekend.

“If an offer comes in for a player, we will always look at it,” Diamond added. “In my career, I could name 10 or 15 that I’ve sold.

“At this moment, nothing has been agreed. If the right offer comes in and I think it is right and the owners think it is right, we will do a negotiation, but there is only one (player) who that has happened with.

“One player has asked to leave. That is what happens. I respect their views and their decision-making.”

Diamond has been informed that the club has an interested party looking to invest in Worcester.

“They (owners) have informed me today that they have an investor who has a very strong interest,” he added.

“They are in talks with them now. I don’t know who it is and I haven’t asked. That’s all I can tell you.

“I’ve decided that the most important thing that has to happen at Worcester is they have to get the rugby right. They have never got that right.

“Many people with better credentials than I have, have never managed to get them above 10th or 11th place. So my job, if we are allowed and financed, is to do that.”

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