Wasps confirm they have finance and stadium in place to return

In a statement on their official website, Wasps confirmed they have secured 'core sustainable finance' and a 'stadium in which to play', which is said to be based in London and NOT Sixways Stadium, according to the BBC.

1/2 🏉 Update from @WaspsRugby following this morning… (thread)

A Wasps Spokespersons has told the BBC

“Wasps have never considered Sixways as a permenant home and were involved only to facilitate an option to play at the stadium on a temporary basis.” https://t.co/NLq9kZgUgf

— Felicity Kvesic (@FelicityKvesic) February 26, 2024

2/2 “Our intended permanent home is now in Kent where we are actively pursuing our new stadium.

In the meantime we have secured a temporary ground in the Greater London and South East England Area from where we will build our community and pathway programs.”

— Felicity Kvesic (@FelicityKvesic) February 26, 2024

Wasps have been in the cold since going into administration in October 2022 but say they are now "waiting for a competition to join that will allow us to compete at the highest level - and one that shares our values."

This news suggests that Sixways will be kept for a possible Warriors return. The stadium remains under the ownership of Wasps' owner Chris Holland, who took over at Sixways from Atlas Worcester Warriors Limited (AWW) after a notice of 'ceasing to be the person in control' was filed in September.

A statement from Wasps at the time, said: "As previously reported, Loxwood Holdings provided a loan to Atlas Worcester Warriors Limited (AWW) at the beginning of May 2023, solely for the purposes of securing an option to lease Sixways for a possible return of Wasps.

"That option gave the owners of AWW until May 25 2023 to repay the loan, which was secured as a debenture on the company.

"Regrettably AWW have not repaid that loan and therefore their 97 per cent shareholding now rests with Loxwood."

As for Warriors, there was some encouraging progress reported by the Worcester Warriors Supporters Trust earlier this month. 

Worcester Warriors Supporters Trust (WWST) revealed that two representatives met with current owner Holland to discuss future plans and potential roles for the Trust.

According to WWST society secretary David Verralls and chairman Marcus Mulcahy, there has been significant progress since late October 2023, when the last murmurings of the club's sale were heard.

They said: "It is our strong belief that the direction of travel is firmly back on course; we are hugely optimistic that we will be part of a packed crowd watching Worcester Warriors begin a new campaign at Sixways in September 2025."