Bid to bring Warriors back from the brink

Article posted by Coliseum, October 18^th, 2024

Image: Sixways Stadium, Luke239, CC BY-SA 4.0

Ambitious plans have been revealed to revamp the Sixways Stadium in Worcester, England (UK) by the former professional rugby union club Worcester Warriors Owners who hope to “avoid past mistakes” as they attempt to resurrect the club.

‘Worcester News’ stated that the plans to demolish and rebuild two stands as well as to build a hotel at Sixways are, according to the bosses, to remove any chance of failure in the future for the Warriors as the club looks to rejoin the elite-level rugby.

The 12,067-capacity Sixways Stadium is a stadium in Worcester, England. It is currently used for rugby union and association football matches. It was the home of the Worcester Warriors till the year 2022 but is no longer the home of the Worcester Warriors as the rugby club went into administration in September 2022 and is currently suspended from Premiership Rugby (the top division of the English rugby union system).

The Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club was a professional rugby union club founded in 1871 that played in the top division of the sport in England, the Premiership Rugby. In May 2023, it was announced that the Atlas Group had completed the purchase of the Worcester Warriors. Even though the rugby club and its assets have been acquired it is not known whether the team would play again in a Championship. The club was disbanded on February 9th, 2023.

The Atlas Group was a consortium that purchased the Worcester Warriors rugby club in May 2023 but has since entered insolvency.

‘Worcester News’ further stated that a planning application, submitted to the Wychavon District Council in Worcestershire, England, also includes sports rehabilitation accommodation, a multistory car park, a golf driving range, a solar farm, and a sports pitch.

Planning documents reveal that the Junction 6 Limited, the new Owners of the Warriors, feels the stadium and its current amenities are falling way short of its potential as a community asset.

The Junction 6 Limited is a consortium owned by Loxwood Holdings, which is owned by Chris Holland. Holland is the sole Director of Junction 6.

Oxfordshire (UK)-based the Loxwood Holdings Limited brings together a number of specialist companies that all operate in the Strategic Risk Management and Security areas providing complete solutions for Personal and Physical Security. Although each company has specialist skills and operate independently, the architecture of risk is such that the companies support each other and are able to provide complimentary disciplines that allow for total integrated solutions from the design and build through to the application, procurement, installation, maintenance, and training.

The papers also reveal that the goal is to restore elite rugby to the Worcester Warriors whilst creating a destination venue for sport, entertainment, health, and wellbeing.

As per the plans, the North and South Stands would be demolished and rebuilt while the mooted new 120-bed hotel would be three-stories high.

If given the green light, it is expected construction will take place between two and five years.

It has been five months since the Junction 6 Limited, led by the Wasps RFC (a professional rugby union team which has since entered administration) Owner Chris Holland, took over the club and announced its plan to return elite-level rugby to Sixways.

The club has effectively applied to join the RFU’s mooted new Tier 2 competition and is waiting to find out if it will be able to join for the 2025-2026 seasons.

A spokesperson on behalf of Sixways stated, “Junction 6 is aware of the application on the Wychavon District Council planning portal that relates to a screening opinion that is required to determine whether it is necessary to undertake a full environmental impact assessment (EIA) for any planning application. It is no secret that Junction 6 is committed to returning Worcester Warriors to professional rugby and to ensuring that Sixways is the center of excellence for sport, conferences and events in the area. To ensure that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past we are reviewing the enabling of development options around the stadium to remove any single point of failure in the future.”

The environmental impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action.

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