Chapter 13b

The Worcester Warriors Supporters' Trust

The Supporters Who Refused to Surrender

From the darkest days of administration to the continuing fight for Worcester's future

When the club needed a voice

When Worcester Warriors collapsed in September 2022, supporters were left confronting a situation that seemed almost impossible to comprehend. The club they had followed for years had entered administration. Players and staff were departing, the future of professional rugby at Sixways was uncertain, and the ownership, property and financial arrangements surrounding the stadium were becoming increasingly complicated.

There were administrators to answer questions, creditors seeking repayment, prospective purchasers putting forward proposals and competing interests surrounding the future of Sixways. Politicians, rugby authorities and the local community were becoming involved, while the supporters themselves faced a fundamental problem: who was speaking for them?

Individual supporters could write letters, contact journalists, attend meetings and express their anger or concern. But individual voices, however passionate, could easily become lost amid the legal, financial and political machinery surrounding the collapse.

What was missing was an organised body that could bring those voices together, represent a collective supporter interest and keep Worcester Warriors' future in the public eye.

It was against that background that the Worcester Warriors Supporters' Trust began to take shape.

The Trust's own history records that a small group of Warriors supporters started organising in April 2023, responding to what they regarded as the absence of a coherent voice speaking up for supporters while the rugby club was in administration. After months of preparation, it began accepting members in November 2023. Its website identifies May 2023 as its establishment date. [1]

It was a modest beginning, but the circumstances demanded something more than a traditional supporters' club concerned principally with tickets, travel and matchday activities.

At that stage, there was no professional Warriors team playing regular league rugby for members to follow. The immediate issue was whether there would be a professional Worcester Warriors team at all — and what would happen to the club's historic home if the answer was no.

The Trust's founding challenge was therefore unusual. It had to organise supporters at a time when the very institution around which they had gathered was fighting for its survival.

A supporters' trust with a bigger purpose

The name supporters' trust can suggest an organisation that arranges coach travel, organises social events, raises money for players or provides a place for fans to meet. Those activities are important, and they would become a significant part of the Worcester Trust's work.

But the wider purpose of a supporters' trust is to give fans a collective voice and a means of influencing the future of their club.

The Worcester organisation was established as a Community Benefit Society, registered with the Financial Conduct Authority under the formal name Worcester Warriors Supporters' Society Limited, registration number 9114. It is independent of the professional club, although it maintains a close affiliation with it. [2]

That legal structure matters. The Trust is not a charity, a division of the rugby club or a company owned by the club's directors. Its community-benefit status provides a framework through which it can represent its members and use its resources for the benefit of the wider rugby community.

Its democratic principles are also important. A Community Benefit Society operates on a one-member, one-vote basis, rather than allowing voting power to depend on how much an individual has invested. Profits cannot simply be distributed to members or external shareholders; they must be retained for the organisation's purposes or returned to the community in accordance with its rules. [2]

This gives the Trust a different role from that of a conventional commercial business. It does not exist to maximise a shareholder's return. Its purpose is to represent supporters, strengthen their relationship with Worcester Warriors and contribute to the future of rugby in the area.

The Trust describes itself as English rugby union's first supporters' trust. That is its own stated claim, rather than a historical distinction independently established for this chapter. What can be said with confidence is that its formation created a new, formally organised supporter voice at a critical moment in Worcester's history. [1]

And that voice was needed immediately.

The threat to Sixways — and the prospect of Wasps

In the spring of 2023, one of the most contentious questions surrounding Sixways was whether Wasps might play its Championship rugby at Worcester's stadium.

Wasps, like Worcester Warriors, had entered administration and lost its place in the Premiership. The club was looking for a home from which to rebuild. Sixways appeared to offer a possible solution, and the proposal was not simply speculation.

On 4 May 2023, BBC Sport reported that Chris Holland, then associated with Wasps, had made a loan to Atlas Worcester Warriors to help secure an agreement allowing Wasps to play at Sixways. The financial arrangement was connected to a proposed lease of the stadium. Wasps said it had no interest in the property beyond a lease to play rugby. [3]

For the people trying to restore Worcester Warriors, however, the proposal raised an obvious concern.

If another professional club occupied Sixways, what would that mean for Worcester's own return? Would the ground, facilities and local supporter base be committed to a rival club at a time when the future of Worcester remained unresolved? Could a new Warriors team find itself competing for attention and resources in its own city?

These were not trivial questions. The rugby business, the stadium and the land were separate legal interests, and the fact that one organisation had acquired or secured an interest in the rugby business did not mean that the wider property arrangements had been settled.

On 9 May 2023, the Worcester Warriors Supporters' Trust publicly urged the Rugby Football Union to block the proposed Wasps move. BBC Sport reported the Trust's concern that Wasps becoming tenants at Sixways would harm existing local rugby clubs and the prospects of a potential new Warriors team. [4]

The Trust's message was clear: Worcester's historic home should not become the base of another professional club while Worcester Warriors were still fighting for a future.

It was an important moment because the Trust was not merely commenting on events after they had happened. It was challenging a live proposal and attempting to influence the decisions of the governing authorities and those involved in the stadium arrangements.

The campaign also helped bring the issue to a wider audience. National media coverage meant that the potential Wasps move was discussed not only as a property or tenancy question but as an issue involving the identity of Worcester's rugby club and the wishes of its supporters.

The Trust says its highly publicised resistance helped ensure that Wasps did not ultimately take up residence at Sixways. [1]

That is a significant claim, but it needs to be expressed carefully. The Trust's opposition was one element of a much wider set of circumstances. The final outcome also depended on commercial arrangements, rugby authorities, the financial position of the parties and the changing ownership structure. The available evidence does not establish that the Trust alone prevented the move.

Nevertheless, its intervention demonstrated why an organised supporters' body mattered. It articulated a clear supporter interest at the moment when the future of the stadium was being negotiated.

The message was not that Worcester should be hostile to every other rugby club. It was that the recovery of Worcester Warriors should not be sacrificed while another club sought a temporary home.

Sixways was Worcester's rugby home, and supporters wanted the opportunity to bring their own club back.

Keeping Worcester Warriors in the public eye

The Wasps campaign was only one part of the Trust's early work.

The Trust also sought to keep the plight of Worcester Warriors in the public domain, using its website, blog, social media and contact with journalists to explain developments and maintain pressure for a credible future for the club.

Its published history lists coverage across local and national media, including the BBC, Sky Sports, The Guardian, The Times, Worcester News and The Rugby Paper. [1]

That coverage was important because the collapse of a professional rugby club is not a single event with a simple conclusion. It involves a succession of decisions: whether a buyer can complete a transaction, whether a proposed ownership structure is financially credible, whether the rugby authorities will approve a return, and whether the stadium can be made available on workable terms.

Each new development can attract attention briefly before being displaced by other news. The Trust's aim was to ensure that Worcester did not simply disappear from public discussion while those decisions were being made.

It also sought to provide supporters with updates. During the uncertainty, rumours and incomplete reports could add to the frustration. A supporter organisation able to communicate developments, explain its concerns and distinguish confirmed information from speculation could help members make sense of a complicated situation.

The Trust's own account says it challenged the Atlas consortium over what it regarded as a lack of financial backing and a credible plan for returning Warriors to Sixways. [1]

That is the Trust's assessment of the consortium, not a finding that should be treated as a formal legal determination. The wider history of Atlas, its funding and its eventual administration is examined in the earlier chapters of this series.

The significance of the Trust's intervention lies in its willingness to ask difficult questions. A supporters' organisation should not be expected to accept every promise at face value simply because it comes from someone claiming to be rescuing the club.

Equally, its criticisms must be judged against evidence, just as those of any other interested party should be. The Trust was a campaigning organisation representing supporters; it was not the administrator, regulator or court responsible for determining the legal and financial position.

Its contribution was to keep scrutiny alive and to insist that the future of Worcester Warriors should be considered from the perspective of the people whose club was at stake.

Protecting Sixways for rugby

The question of Sixways went beyond the immediate possibility of Wasps playing there.

Supporters were also concerned about the future use of the land, the relationship between commercial development and rugby, and whether the stadium would remain at the centre of Worcester's sporting identity.

The Trust sought to strengthen the argument that Sixways had community value. It nominated the stadium as an Asset of Community Value, using the mechanism provided by the Localism Act 2011. Its own history says the nomination helped make Atlas's plans less attractive to investors. [1]

The principle behind the nomination was that Sixways was more than a collection of buildings and a piece of commercially valuable land. It was a community sporting facility associated with local identity, participation and the history of Worcester rugby.

The Asset of Community Value mechanism is worth explaining because it is sometimes misunderstood.

Where a qualifying asset is listed, the legislation can provide eligible community groups with an opportunity to express an interest and trigger a moratorium if the owner decides to sell. It does not give a community group ownership of the property, a permanent right to buy it, or a general veto over a sale or redevelopment. Nor does making a nomination, by itself, establish that the property has been formally listed. The precise legal effect depends on the outcome of the process and the circumstances of any proposed disposal. [5]

That distinction is important in the Sixways story. The Trust's nomination was an attempt to protect the community interest in the stadium, not a means of taking control of the land.

The Trust's claim that the nomination affected investor appetite is its own account of the campaign's impact. The available evidence does not establish precisely which investors were influenced, by how much, or whether the nomination determined any particular transaction.

But the broader significance remains. By pursuing the community-value argument, the Trust put a clear proposition on the table: the future of Sixways should not be judged exclusively by the highest commercial return that might be extracted from the site.

It should also be judged by what the ground means to Worcester, by the role it plays in local sport and by the possibility of restoring a professional rugby club there.

The Trust could not guarantee that the stadium would remain a rugby home. It could, however, campaign for that outcome and insist that the community interest should not be overlooked.

A complaint and the demand for accountability

The Trust also sought scrutiny of the way the original administration had been handled.

Its published account says it made a complaint to the Insolvency Practitioners Association concerning the conduct of Begbies Traynor, the firm involved in the administration of WRFC Trading. The Trust says that complaint enabled a thorough investigation into the handling of the administration process. [1]

This is an important part of the Trust's history because supporters were not only concerned with what would happen next. They also wanted answers about how the club had reached such a desperate position, what had happened to its assets and whether the interests of creditors and supporters had been properly considered.

The complaint was one way of pursuing those concerns through a formal channel rather than relying solely on public criticism.

However, there is a necessary distinction between a complaint being made, an investigation being conducted and a finding of misconduct. The Trust's public statement describes the investigation it says followed its complaint, but the evidence cited here does not establish a final regulatory finding that the administrators acted improperly.

It would therefore be wrong to present the complaint as proof of wrongdoing.

Its significance lies instead in the fact that the Trust was prepared to pursue questions of accountability through an established professional body. That was consistent with its wider purpose: to ensure that the interests of Warriors supporters were not forgotten amid the legal and financial processes surrounding the collapse.

The Trust could not substitute itself for the authorities responsible for investigating the administration. But it could raise concerns, request scrutiny and keep asking for answers.

A new ownership — and a new relationship

The arrival of Junction 6 Limited as the new ownership vehicle in 2024 changed the circumstances in which the Trust operated.

The acquisition of the rugby business and the associated stadium interests, examined in Chapter 12, provided a route towards rebuilding professional rugby. But supporters still needed to understand the new arrangements, the plans for Sixways and the intentions of the people now responsible for the club's future.

The Trust says that, since Junction 6 took control of the running of Sixways, it has maintained regular contact with the new owners, provided updates to supporters where appropriate and developed a relationship with the club's ownership and management. [1]

That relationship matters, but it does not mean that the Trust has become part of the club's management or has a formal seat on the board.

The Trust's FAQs make its position clear: it is independent of Worcester Warriors, although closely affiliated, and it expects to maintain communication with the chief executive and chairman and have input into operational matters through management. It does not have a representative sitting on the stadium company's board of directors. [2]

This is an important balance. The Trust needs a relationship with the people running the club if it is to raise supporters' concerns constructively and obtain information that can be shared with members. At the same time, its independence allows it to speak for supporters without being simply another arm of the club's commercial operation.

The Trust says it aims to be a help rather than a hindrance, and that it supports the club through projects and activities both practically and financially. [1]

That approach recognises that the new Worcester Warriors need the backing of their supporters, particularly after the turmoil of the previous years. But it also recognises that a supporter organisation has a responsibility to its members to ask questions, provide honest information and represent their views.

A constructive relationship does not require automatic agreement on every issue. Indeed, the value of a supporters' trust is that it can maintain a distinct perspective while working towards the same broad objective: a successful and sustainable Worcester Warriors.

The club returns — and the Trust changes with it

When Worcester Warriors returned to professional league rugby in the autumn of 2025, the Trust faced a new challenge.

During the crisis, its priority had been to give supporters a voice and campaign for the survival of the club. With the team back on the field, it could once again help supporters enjoy the practical experiences that make following rugby special.

The Trust became the club's recognised official supporters' association, while remaining an independent organisation. The club's own community-partners page describes it as the official supporters' association and confirms that it has taken responsibility for organising travel to away fixtures since the Warriors rejoined the league in 2025. [6]

This was a significant development. The Trust had begun as an organisation responding to the absence of a coherent supporter voice. It had become a body with a continuing role in the daily life of the revived club.

Its work now includes matchday support, communication with members, travel, events, fundraising and practical assistance for the club's community and youth-development activities.

The Trust's role is not to replace the club's staff or manage the rugby operation. It is to strengthen the connection between the club and the people who follow it, and to make sure that supporters continue to have an organised voice as Worcester moves into its next chapter.

The return of professional rugby did not make that purpose redundant. It made it more relevant.

Looking after supporters — home and away

For many supporters, the away day is one of the most enjoyable parts of following a rugby club. It is also one of the most demanding.

Travelling to an unfamiliar ground can involve long journeys, fuel or rail costs, parking, traffic and the challenge of getting home after a match. For older supporters, families and those who do not drive, the practical difficulties can be enough to discourage attendance.

The Trust has worked to make away travel more accessible by organising coach trips and developing a partnership with Commandery Coaches.

During Worcester's first season back in professional rugby, the Trust says it organised travel to all but one of the Warriors' away fixtures. In 2026, it renewed its partnership with Commandery Coaches for the 2026–27 season. [1]

The importance of this work should not be underestimated. Coach travel gives supporters the chance to share the journey, meet fellow fans, avoid the stress of driving and arrive at the ground together. It helps preserve the camaraderie that is part of the experience of supporting a rugby club.

It can also help people who might otherwise struggle to attend away matches. The Trust's published membership information explains that coach travel is not restricted to members, although members may receive a price advantage. [2]

That makes travel one of the Trust's most visible ways of looking after supporters. It is practical, regular and directly connected with the experience of following the team.

The Trust has also organised visits to other rugby matches, social events, quizzes and auctions of rugby memorabilia. It has attended community events including the Worcester Show, where it has promoted the club, welcomed new members and organised activities for children and families. [1][7]

These activities help maintain a supporter community beyond the ninety minutes of a matchday. They give people a reason to stay connected during the off-season, bring supporters together and provide opportunities for those who may not be able to attend every fixture.

The Trust's independently purchased cabin at Sixways provides another focal point. Located near the club shop in the north-east corner of the ground, it serves as a base for home and away supporters on matchdays. [1]

It is a small but meaningful symbol of what the Trust has become: an organisation that has its own presence at Sixways, but whose purpose is to serve the people who come through the gates.

Supporting the next generation

The Trust's work has also extended beyond matchday travel and social activities to the future of the playing side.

In August 2025, it began supporting youth development at Worcester by helping individuals with monthly accommodation costs. It subsequently sponsored players Tom Golder and Finn Haynes. [1]

Those initiatives matter because developing young rugby players involves more than providing coaching. Players may need practical support to live, train and progress in a demanding sporting environment. Assistance with accommodation can make a meaningful difference to an individual trying to establish a professional career.

The Trust has also established a dedicated fundraising appeal for the new Worcester Warriors Academy, with the stated intention of directing donations towards young players and their development. Its published target is £5,000 by the end of 2026. The amount shown on its donation page is a snapshot of the fundraising position at the time of writing, not a final total. [8]

This is a different kind of contribution from the Trust's campaigning during the crisis, but the underlying principle is the same. It is investing in the future of Worcester rugby and seeking to make the club stronger beyond the immediate first-team results.

A successful academy can help develop future Warriors, strengthen the connection between the club and the local rugby community, and provide a pathway for talented young players. The Trust cannot create that pathway by itself, but it can help support the people who will travel it.

Its work with the Worcester Warriors Foundation and the MND Association also reflects a wider community role. The Trust says it has provided financial assistance to local causes and has organised fundraising and public-engagement activities. [1]

The Foundation and the Supporters' Trust are separate organisations, and their work should not be confused. But their activities can complement one another in the wider effort to keep rugby connected with the community.

Celebrating the players — and the supporters

One of the most visible ways the Trust has re-established its role in the revived club is through its Supporters' Player of the Season award.

In July 2026, the Trust presented its new trophy to Tim Anstee at the end-of-season awards event at Sixways. [1]

Supporter awards are more than an additional piece of silverware. They recognise the special relationship between players and the people who follow them. The supporters see the effort, resilience and commitment that go into a season, and the award gives them a direct way to express their appreciation.

It also reinforces the democratic character of the Trust. The award is a means of ensuring that the supporters' view is represented in the club's celebrations, rather than leaving every recognition of achievement to the club's own internal processes.

The Trust's matchday presence, player sponsorship, youth fundraising and supporter travel all contribute to the same relationship. They help make the club feel connected to its followers, and they give supporters opportunities to participate rather than simply observe.

For a club rebuilding its identity after administration, those connections are especially valuable. The players who joined the new Warriors in 2025 could not have experienced the collapse in the same way as the supporters who lived through it. The Trust helps bridge that gap, connecting a new generation of players with a community that refused to give up on the club.

What the Trust can — and cannot — do

It is important to be clear about the Trust's position in the wider Worcester Warriors story.

It does not own Sixways, control the stadium freehold, determine the club's commercial strategy or have a veto over planning applications. It cannot compel the owners to invest, dictate the terms of rugby competitions or settle the debts and legal questions inherited from the old professional companies.

Its role is different.

It can organise supporters, raise questions, keep issues in the public domain, campaign for the community interest, communicate with the club's management, provide practical services and direct funds towards projects that support Worcester rugby.

Its independence is central to that role. It can work with the club while retaining the ability to express supporters' concerns. It can welcome commercial development that strengthens the rugby operation while continuing to ask whether Sixways remains a home for Worcester Warriors. It can celebrate the team's achievements while expecting the organisation to remain accountable to its supporters.

That is the balance any effective supporters' trust must maintain.

Nor should the Trust be credited with single-handedly saving Worcester Warriors. The return of professional rugby depended on ownership decisions, financial backing, the work of club staff, the rugby authorities, local stakeholders and the supporters who remained committed to the club. The Trust was one part of a much larger recovery.

But that does not diminish its importance. Its contribution was to defend the supporter interest when the club's future was uncertain, to keep the issue alive and to help preserve the identity around which the new club could rebuild.

In that sense, the Trust helped create the conditions in which the recovery could be pursued. It did not complete the rescue on its own, but it helped ensure that the people most affected by the collapse were not silent spectators to their own club's fate.

The work is not finished

By October 2026, Worcester Warriors had returned to professional rugby, won the Championship in the 2025–26 season and begun a new phase of its history. Sixways had a professional team again, a growing commercial programme and substantial redevelopment proposals that could shape the site's future.

The Trust, meanwhile, had moved from crisis campaigning into the continuing work of supporting the club and its community.

Its current priorities include organising away travel, keeping supporters informed, supporting young players, raising funds for the academy, maintaining contact with the club's management and providing a collective voice for its members. Its website, member resources and events programme offer ways for supporters to remain connected throughout the season and beyond it. [1][2][8]

The challenges that lie ahead are different from those of 2023, but they are no less important.

The club must establish a sustainable business. The Sixways development proposals must move through the stages that separate outline permission from construction and operation. Supporters will want to know that the commercial ambitions for the site reinforce rather than weaken its rugby identity. And as the club grows, its relationship with the people who stood by it during the darkest period must remain strong.

The Trust cannot guarantee those outcomes. What it can do is ensure that supporters continue to have a collective voice and a practical way to participate in the club's future.

That is why its role did not end when the team returned to the field. If anything, the return made the Trust's continuing work more important. A club needs supporters who will celebrate its successes, but it also benefits from an organised body that understands their concerns, helps them stay involved and keeps the wider community connected to the rugby operation.

The Trust began because supporters feared that Worcester Warriors might disappear without anyone speaking clearly for them. It has since become an established part of the revived club's supporter community.

Its story is not one of ownership or control. It is a story of organisation, persistence and service.

The voice of the supporters must endure

There is a temptation, when looking back at the collapse and recovery of Worcester Warriors, to focus on the people who signed the agreements, controlled the companies, negotiated the transactions or made the decisions that determined the club's future.

Those things matter. They explain how the professional operation failed, how its assets and business changed hands, and how the new Warriors eventually returned.

But the story would be incomplete without the supporters.

They were the people who filled the stands before the collapse, who faced years of uncertainty afterwards, and who returned to Sixways when professional rugby resumed. They were the people whose attachment to the club survived the loss of the team, the upheaval of administration and the prospect that another club might occupy their home.

The Worcester Warriors Supporters' Trust gave those people a way to act together. It helped keep the club's plight in the public eye, challenged proposals that supporters feared would undermine Worcester's return, pursued the community-value argument for Sixways and sought accountability over the administration. It has since helped supporters travel, meet, contribute, celebrate players and support the next generation.

Its influence should neither be exaggerated nor overlooked. The Trust did not own the club and could not determine every outcome. But it helped defend the principle that Worcester Warriors belonged to a sporting community whose voice deserved to be heard.

That principle remains important as the club builds its future. Commercial success, a thriving events programme, redevelopment and victories on the field can all help secure Worcester Warriors, but the relationship with the supporters must remain at the centre of the enterprise.

The Trust's continued existence provides a means of protecting that relationship — not by standing apart from the club, nor by agreeing with everything it does, but by maintaining an independent, democratic voice for the people who care about its future.

In the darkest days, the question was whether Worcester Warriors would ever play again. That question has been answered.

The question now is whether the club can build a sustainable future without losing sight of the people who refused to let it disappear.

The Supporters' Trust cannot answer that question alone. But it can help ensure that supporters remain part of the answer.

And when the blue and gold take the field at Sixways, the Trust's purpose remains as simple and as important as it was in 2023:

To stand with the supporters, to protect their voice, and to help Worcester Warriors remain a club worthy of the loyalty that brought it back.

Sources and evidence

[1] Worcester Warriors Supporters' Trust — About and History. The Trust's own account of its formation, media work, opposition to the proposed Wasps move, Asset of Community Value nomination, complaint about the administration, relationship with Junction 6, community activity, youth support, player sponsorship, matchday cabin, away travel and Supporters' Player of the Season award. Claims about the Trust's influence are attributed to the Trust.
https://www.wwst.co.uk/about-contact

[2] Worcester Warriors Supporters' Trust — FAQs and membership information. Explains its Community Benefit Society status, democratic structure, independence from the club, membership arrangements, use of subscriptions, away travel and relationship with management.
https://www.wwst.co.uk/faqs
https://www.wwst.co.uk/pricing-plans/subscriptions

[3] BBC Sport — “Wasps owner Chris Holland makes loan to Worcester to secure Sixways lease”, 4 May 2023.Reporting on the loan to Atlas and the proposed lease arrangement for Wasps.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/65465381

[4] BBC Sport — “Worcester Warriors: Supporters' group urges RFU to block Wasps' bid to move to Sixways”, 9 May 2023. Independent reporting on the Trust's public opposition to the proposal and its concerns about Worcester's future.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/65533658

[5] Wychavon District Council — Community Right to Bid. Explains the local Asset of Community Value process and the rights that may arise when a listed asset is proposed for sale.
https://www.wychavon.gov.uk/community-and-living/community-right-to-bid

[6] Worcester Warriors — Community Partners. Official recognition of the Trust as the club's supporters' association and confirmation of its role in organising away travel.
https://warriors.co.uk/about/warriors-community-partners/

[7] Worcester Warriors Supporters' Trust — “WWST Celebrates Triumph at The Worcester Show 2025”, 11 August 2025. Evidence of the Trust's community presence, family activities and membership recruitment.
https://www.wwst.co.uk/post/wwst-celebrates-triumph-at-the-worcester-show-2025

[8] Worcester Warriors Supporters' Trust — Help Worcester Warriors New Academy. The Trust's published academy fundraising appeal and its stated intention to support young players.
https://www.wwst.co.uk/donate