Wasps and resurrected Worcester Warriors eye Sixways Stadium

A resurrected Worcester Warriors and former top-flight rivals Wasps could share Sixways Stadium from next season.

Both clubs were suspended by England’s Rugby Football Union last year and expelled from the top-flight Premiership Rugby division.

Wasps, which has since been taken over and exited administration, is looking for a home stadium after it was confirmed the club will play in the second-tier Championship from the start of next season. The Daily Telegraph reports that Wasps’ new owners are on the brink of finalising a deal to play at Sixways, while also weighing up the option of a groundshare with football club Solihull Moors.

Warriors’ takeover by the administrators’ preferred buyer, Atlas, was announced earlier this month but could still be vetoed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Atlas has now outlined plans for the merging of the defunct club with local side, Stourbridge RFC, to form Sixways Rugby. The team would play home game at Sixways Stadium – the home of Warriors since 1998 – and assume Stourbridge’s place in the lower league of English rugby’s pyramid next season with a plan to reach the Championship by 2026.

As well as requiring the backing of the DCMS and RFU, the merger would also need to win the support of Stourbridge’s members. Stourbridge held a meeting amongst members on Friday having issued a statement claiming the merger could be the best way to ensure the club’s future. It has been suggested the club’s second team will become the primary tenant at its existing Stourton Park home, with the first team, as Sixways Rugby, switching to Warriors’ former home.