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Worcester winding up order
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Camquin View Drop Down
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Points: 12002 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Camquin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Dec 2022 at 17:31
Raider,
That is a good summary of what the regulations say.
However, Worcester (and Wasps) are playing the "It's not fair" card.
And Wasps Legends are playing the "Don't you know who we are" card.
And Bill Sweeney is in charge. Until the vote of no confidence.

Sweeney Delenda Est
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WEvans View Drop Down
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Points: 1456 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote WEvans Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Dec 2022 at 12:09
Originally posted by Camquin Camquin wrote:

Raider,
That is a good summary of what the regulations say.
However, Worcester (and Wasps) are playing the "It's not fair" card.
And Wasps Legends are playing the "Don't you know who we are" card.
And Bill Sweeney is in charge. Until the vote of no confidence.


To be fair to Worcester (difficult) and Wasps (extremely difficult) I suppose most in their situations would try this on. It just needs the RFU to show some integrity and some leadership and to tell them no chance.

So it seems likely both will be in the Championship next season and those that have been left out of pocket by the shysters previously running the clubs will remain out of pocket. 
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Steve@Mose View Drop Down
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Points: 3042 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Steve@Mose Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Dec 2022 at 20:35
RFU rejects clubs' appeals over Premiership relegation

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Worcester Warriors and Wasps have both had their appeals against relegation from the Premiership dismissed by the Rugby Football Union.

Under RFU regulation 5, both clubs made 'no fault insolvency' applications citing the Covid pandemic as the main reason for going into administration and being suspended from the top tier.

But the RFU's club financial viability group rejected both applications.

Those decisions have been further ratified by the RFU board.

Both clubs now have the right of appeal to an independent panel, but have also been reminded that the timeline to agree sales of the clubs is 12 December, to allow the Premiership and its 11 remaining member clubs sufficient time to plan for the 2023-24 season.

The RFU has confirmed that if the expected sales of Wasps and Worcester take place within the timeline, and rugby creditors are paid, then both clubs will begin the 2023-24 season in the Championship.

...

Worcester 'perpetually funded by debt'

In Worcester's case, it was their failure to respond to His Majesty's Revenue and Customs over their ongoing tax bill that was the key factor.

"It is acknowledged that Covid did have a substantial financial effect on both WRFC Trading Limited and WRFC Players Limited," the RFU report said.

"The insolvency event in relation to WRFC Players Limited was a direct result, and the insolvency event of WRFC Trading Limited was at least indirectly a result of, winding up petitions filed by HMRC.

"These petitions resulted from a failure of the club to meet its 'time to pay' arrangements with HMRC.

"Despite several requests, the RFU has not been provided with any correspondence between the club and HMRC in relation to this. Therefore, the RFU cannot be satisfied there is no fault by the club.

"More broadly, the evidence that has been provided demonstrates a business model which did appear to be perpetually funded by debt, with no apparent attempt (except anecdotally in the last months) to execute the wider business plan and develop the land around Sixways which would have ultimately improved the chances of creating a self-sustaining model.

"While there may be a possibility that the insolvency events may not have happened were it not for the Covid pandemic, that is not the same as to say there was no fault by the club.

"The directors of the club had allowed the club to be in such a precarious position that a shock such as Covid, the challenging debt markets or another external event would have created a real and increased likelihood of an insolvency event happening."
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Steve@Mose View Drop Down
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Points: 3042 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Steve@Mose Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Dec 2022 at 20:39
Administrators rule out second appeal against relegation to focus on sale

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Worcester Warriors' administrators will not appeal against a decision to uphold their relegation from the Premiership.

The Rugby Football Union dismissed initial appeals by Worcester and Wasps, who are also in administration.

And although Begbies Traynor believes it may have grounds for a second challenge, it wants to focus on completing a deal to sell the club.

"We've now just got to accept that decision so we can press on with the sale," said administrator Julie Palmer.

"We put in an appeal against relegation, we thought we made a really strong case, but we weren't surprised at the outcome. We felt in a sense that the decision had probably already been made regardless of what case we made.

...

Atlas Worcester Warriors Rugby Club Ltd, led by former chief executive Jim O'Toole and business partner James Sandford, are preferred bidders, and the RFU has set a 12 December deadline to agree the sale, which would enable the club to start next season in the Championship.

"The purchaser has built a very solid plan based on [Worcester being] a Championship club with a view to being ambitious and getting back in the Premiership in very short order," Palmer told BBC Radio Hereford & Worcester's Worcester Warriors podcast.

"We have strong grounds [to appeal again] but the time that would take would mean we couldn't get a deal done in time for next season.

"We're drawing a line under that in the interests of commerciality so we can try and get rugby played next season."

'The sooner we can move forward the better'

If the Atlas deal is given the go-ahead, the club would then face the challenge of trying to build a competitive playing squad from scratch.

Palmer said that it was not easy to put a squad together quickly, and although the standard of Championship rugby was a bit lower, the "physicality is even greater".

She continued: "I think that's why everybody now wants to get on with this and what we're asking for now is the RFU make a quick and sensible decision on the fit and proper person, suitability test, because the sooner we can move this forward the better."

Begbies Traynor does not expect that the RFU will rigidly adhere to the 12 December deadline if sufficient progress is made before that date.

"Initially in our meetings with the RFU they said that 12 December was a deadline they would like to work to and should be communicated as a hard deadline to get everybody on the same page as quickly as possible," Palmer explained.

"The RFU qualified their own deadline by saying what they didn't really want was everybody rushing around on Christmas Eve trying to get a deal done.

"They wanted to try and get it done earlier on the basis that if there was some slippage, the deal was moving progressively forward at that point in time and although it was a hard deadline, there would be flexibility if the deal was moving in the right direction."
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Camquin View Drop Down
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Points: 12002 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Camquin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Dec 2022 at 21:45
It was what our colonial friends refer to as a "Hail Mary". 
They had nothing to lose - and a huge upside.
Retaining Premiership status means £10 P.A. in funding and a therefore presumably in the sale price.

But if it does not come off, not worth throwing more money at
Sweeney Delenda Est
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Steve@Mose View Drop Down
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Points: 3042 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Steve@Mose Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Dec 2022 at 17:15
Atlas claim RFU conditions for deal 'unreasonable'

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The prospective buyers of Worcester Warriors have accused the Rugby Football Union of trying to impose unreasonable conditions on any deal.

Former Warriors chief executive Jim O'Toole leads the Atlas consortium seeking to buy the club and ground.

The RFU has said it expects to make a decision on the deal "ahead of Christmas" after due diligence checks.

But in a statement, Atlas claim the governing body was trying to impose "onerous operational conditions".

As a result, they say plans for Warriors to play in the second-tier Championship next season may not be able to go ahead.

...

Atlas are negotiating with administrators Begbies Traynor and in the statement said they did not see any "any major commercial or legal issues arising" to hold up the deal.

But the statement continued: "Since entering into exclusivity with the administrators, we have sought to work collaboratively with the RFU with a view to Worcester Warriors re-entering the Championship for the 2023-24 season.

"Unfortunately, it has not been possible to reach a market or institutionally acceptable, commercially viable proposition with the RFU.

"The position being taken by the RFU gives, in our view, too much control and oversight to the RFU and such control and oversight is over and above what we consider is reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances."

O'Toole and business partner James Sandford, who are backed by US investment, were given exclusivity ahead of several rival bids, one spearheaded by ex-Warriors boss Steve Diamond.

However, they say they cannot accept terms which "hinder any commercial business that is needed to support elite men's and women's' rugby".

The statement adds: "As a result, should the RFU not find the flexibility to remove the over-onerous terms they are seeking to impose on Atlas, we will have no alternative but to conclude the deal with Begbies without the approval of the RFU and without returning elite level rugby to Worcester.
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islander View Drop Down
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Points: 7870 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote islander Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Dec 2022 at 13:42
RFU update - just out. Have posted on 'Wasps/Worcester' Champ thread
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