All Worcester Warriors players and staff are set to have their contracts terminated after part of the club was wound up in the High Court.
Judge Nicholas Briggs made an order winding up WRFC Players Ltd – the company through which wages are paid – at an Insolvency & Companies Court hearing on Wednesday.
The hearing lasted under a minute, with Worcester providing no representation after HMRC rejected a request for an adjournment yesterday.
It all-but confirms that Worcester Warriors, nor their women's team University of Worcester Warriors, will participate in English competition for the rest of the season, and will both face relegation.
‘Don't take the P'
Earlier, dozens of players and staff associated with Worcester had voiced their concern at Worcester's shares in Premiership Rugby Limited (PRL) being sold off amongst the existing Premiership clubs or to another seeking to buy them.
The Times reported this morning that PRL were weighing up the move, with the share valued at £9.8 million set to be put towards the £15 million debt owed by Warriors to the government.
It would end any hopes of a continuation of their academy and Premier 15s side, and though there are hopes similarly financially-stricken clubs would try to stop the move, there are also fears that the stronger clubs in the league could push it through without unanimous consent.
There are two consortiums interested in buying WRFC Trading Ltd, which manages the rugby club itself, but with the players contracts terminated and the land still be owned by separate companies operated by their owners, time and options are running out.
For exclusive stories and all the detailed rugby news you need, subscribe to The Rugby Paper website, digital edition, or newspaper from as little as 14p a day.
