By BrianC
August 3 2006

One of the common arguments used by those who support automatic promotion and relegation from the premiership is that its end would give ambitious clubs nothing to aim at.

If such people need an example of an ambitious club who have not only made it into the Premiership but who have survived and now appear to be thriving in the top flight they need look no further than Worcester.

The first time I saw Worcester play was at Henley in the 99/00 season. It was perhaps the biggest match of the season for the then newly promoted home team. The Worcester supporters came by the (two I think) coach load. The home team put a pig roast on, something that only happened on big days. The crowd must have been almost a thousand. That the same team are now regularly filling their newly expanded ground is a testament to what can be done if you have the mind, the vision and the resources to do it.

What impresses me particularly about Worcester's development is that it has been a steady, measured one. The club I saw at Henley knew at that stage they were not ready for the Premiership. They did however have it as their goal. Very little in the way of silly money was, or is, thrown at star players, coaches, etc as has been the case at some other clubs. The foundations appear secure.

Further development at their Sixways home is on the cards. This summer they plan to push the capacity up to 10.4k. The most recent announcement states that within six seasons the capacity will be close to 14k. If anything, given the demand for tickets there currently appears to be, this strikes me as being a tad cautious.

At one stage the longer term plans were very ambitious. Worcester were hoping to have a 'village', not dissimilar to the Madejski complex, completed at their site. This would have taken the stadium to 20k capacity and probably placed them second only to Leicester in terms of an owned stadium. Could they fill such a stadium? I think they could. For whatever reason, most likely planning permission or (lack of) money, the idea now seems to be on the back burner.

Given their excellent track record of building for, getting into and then sustaining life in the Premiership I am in no position to question Worcester's decision making. There is an old joke, "Q. How do you make a small fortune out of rugby? - A. Start off with a large one." In the case of Worcester the large fortune is in the hands of their sugar daddy, Cecil Duckworth. Like all such people in our sport he has made his money in other lines of business. Whilst I could be proven wrong it strikes me that he may eventually end up with an even larger fortune such is Worcester's success.