The much anticipated 2008/09 rugby season is now just a matter of weeks away and I’m sure you share my excitement for what will be another significant year in the history of Worcester Warriors.
This summer has seen a great deal of change, both on and off the field. The new road system and East Stand are another significant step in making Sixways Stadium one of the best rugby clubs in Europe.
This season we look forward to the continued success under the guidance of our Director of Rugby Mike Ruddock who helped us make such impressive strides during his first year, culminating in a place in the European Challenge Cup final.
The coaching team developed an exciting brand of rugby, which the players really revelled in, particularly during the second half of the season when we earned notable victories over a number of the top sides.
We have now assembled the most talented and exciting squad we have ever had at Warriors and although greats like Thinus Delport, Shane Drahm and Drew Hickey have departed we have strengthened and look forward to seeing new signings, Chris Latham, Hal Luscombe, Ben Jones and Matthew Jones, in action and the further development of our young players who we believe will make a significant impact this season. The players are training hard and are all very positive about the coming season.
As I am sure many of you have witnessed, it has been a busy summer at Sixways with the creation of our impressive new East Stand and the completion of the new road system. Driving around Sixways you can now fully appreciate the advantages that the new infrastructure provides.
Many of you may have followed the progress of the East Stand on our website and I can report that our contractors – Slick – are confident it will be ready for you to enjoy come our first home league game. Slick Systems have done a fantastic job throughout the summer and all the seats will be in place when we welcome Leicester Tigers on September 20.
The corporate and entertaining areas will be complete, on schedule, by mid-November and until then the existing bars on the Ground Floor will all still be available for Debenture and Season Ticket holders before and after games while the facilities in the West Stand will accommodate the East Stand diners. I have been up into the new East Stand and I can assure you won’t be disappointed.
Thank you for your patience while these stadium developments have been taking place, but when you visit us next time I’m sure you will agree it was worth the wait.
You will note that our fixture list this season is biased towards the second half of the season in terms of home games including all of our first three European games being away from Sixways Stadium. In terms of our development this is of real benefit as it means we will only have two Guinness Premiership games and two EDF Energy Cup matches before the scheduled handover of the East Stand at the end of November.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our fans for their support of the Warriors dream. Without your backing the progress in developing the team and the stadium, would not have been possible. Thank you for your commitment – it all makes what we are doing worthwhile.
I look forward to seeing you at Sixways during the season.
Cecil Duckworth OBE
NB: Debenture & Season tickets will be posted out w/c 25 August