sport news A 41-year-old and the owner of a pizza company forced into emergency duty for ... trends now
The sorry, sorry state that is Worcester Warriors rolled into Kingsholm on Wednesday night with a 41-year-old and the owner of a pizza company forced into emergency substitute duty.
The cash-strapped Premiership side did manage to find some dough from somewhere.
Needs must. That the club is in this frankly ridiculous, not to mention immensely sad position, is down to owners Colin Goldring and Jason Whittingham.
The pair have dragged a proud club into the gutter and no-one at Worcester wants them around any longer. Rugby, as a collective, wants them gone, too.
Because of their actions, Worcester has become a soapbox of a club and the good people who make up its playing and backroom team – not to mention their supporters – are the ones paying the price.
Wednesday was another remarkable day in the never-ending Worcester story.
Worcester Warriors suffered a 49-21 defeat to Gloucester at Kingsholm on Wednesday night
Sportsmail revealed Goldring and Whittingham took a £500,000 loan from Warriors icon and true hero Cecil Duckworth in his dying days. Duckworth passed away in 2020 after suffering with cancer and the loan has not been repaid.
The Rugby Football Union has also stepped up moves to prepare to suspend the stricken Warriors from all competitions unless they can provide assurances by noon on Thursday about their ability to stage Saturday's Premiership game against Newcastle at Sixways.
In addition, they must provide – by 5pm on Monday – proof of suitable insurance and payment of all outstanding August wages to staff and players. As things stand, that looks unlikely.
The Worcester squad included 41-year-old former Gloucester man Jonny Goodridge (pictured)
On a busy day of yet more turmoil in the English domestic game, Wasps were trying to reassure worried players and staff the club is not about to go bust after serving notice of their intention to enter into administration.
The Coventry-based side were forced to take drastic action to stave off the threat of a winding-up order from HMRC.
Worcester’s game with Newcastle remains on, for now.Amidst all this background noise, Worcester – somehow – are still running a rugby operation.
That it remains ongoing is something of a miracle and is of the utmost credit to players and staff.
On Wednesday evening, they scrambled together a team to start the defence of the Premiership Rugby Cup title they won last year.
Their matchday squad included 41-year-old former Gloucester man Jonny Goodridge who had not played competitive rugby in nine years.
Former England Deaf international and pizza company owner Mat Gilbert was on the bench
Former England Deaf international Mat Gilbert, whose main occupation is selling pizzas, joined Goodridge on the bench.
Gilbert did make it on the field while Goodridge was unused, but the fact both were even needed to don jerseys showed how stretched Worcester’s resources are right now.
They were only just able to afford the £45 fees it costs to register new players for the Premiership Cup with the RFU and maximised the number of loan options they
