Hospitality

Worcestershire to open ‘moveable’ café at New Road

Featured image credit: Worcestershire CCC

Worcestershire County Cricket Club has unveiled a new bar and café experience at its New Road stadium.

The 22Yard Bar & Café will be open to members and general admission visitors on non-Vitality Blast match days.

Worcestershire noted that the café can be moved off-site within an hour should New Road be placed on flood alert.

The space has opened following the closure of Foleys Café at the end of the 2023 season. Fans and guests expressed a desire for a dedicated on-site coffee spot, and the new experience will offer a range of food and drink options.

The café will feature a full bar, a barbecue package, and an upstairs balcony providing views of the pitch. The new concept builds on the success of last year’s Beard Terrace experience, which sold out.

22Yard Bar & Café will also be open for corporate conferences, meetings and seminars, team-building sessions, private dining experiences, off-site rental, and large gatherings.

To celebrate the launch of the café, Worcestershire is offering a special discount on Vitality Blast match tickets. Twenty-two tickets will be available at a discounted rate for each of the seven Vitality Blast fixtures. The tickets will have 22% of the price knocked off and will be available on a first come, first served basis.

Joe Tromans, Worcestershire’s commercial director, said: “The 22Yard Bar & Café is going to be a fantastic new addition that underscores our commitment to delivering a first-class visitor experience at Visit Worcestershire New Road. 

“While we do face severe constraints due to the increased amount of flooding, we are very excited to have developed an innovative, moveable solution that can be relocated within an hour if needed.”

The club announced last year that it was considering a move to a new stadium amid ongoing flooding problems at New Road.

Worcestershire said the recent “unprecedented” record volume of flooding at New Road, coupled with the increasing regularity of flooding, led to its board considering the club’s long-term future at the stadium.

New Road has hosted Worcestershire matches since the late 19th century. The ground has regularly been impacted by flooding, most notably in 2007 when several matches had to be cancelled.