Worcester Warriors: the inside story of a rugby club’s demise

With all employees out of work and the club’s future hanging by a thread, administrators are set to pore over the club’s finances. What will they find? There is a lot to unravel…

GAME OVER: Worcester Warriors players at Sixways Stadium.

Another wall in the edifice of the Worcester Warriors has crumbled. The company responsible for paying the squad, WRFC Players Ltd, has been wound up. All employees are now officially out of work, while administrators, governing bodies and potential buyers pore over the state of the club’s main operating company, WRFC Trading Ltd, which has been placed into administration, and the constellation of companies that surround it.

What will the administrators find? There is a lot to unravel. Over the past 18 months, the Guardian has looked into the club’s management and financial arrangements since it was bought from the Allen family by a consortium in September 2018. The tale that emerges around the erection of a bewildering network of companies and microcompanies helps to illustrate the mess the club finds itself in.