Most Worcester Warriors fans are "just happy to have the club back" and are not concerned over an immediate Prem return says supporters trust chairman Marcus Mulcahy.
The majority of Worcester Warriors fans are "happy where we are" says supporters trust chairman Marcus Mulcahy after reports the former Premiership club had not submitted an application for promotion to the top flight for next season.
Warriors are back playing professionally this term in the revamped Champ Rugby following the club's financial collapse and administration in September 2022.
They are currently second in the division, six points behind leaders Ealing - one of only two clubs, with Doncaster - who are understood to have applied for a chance to reach the Prem in 2026-27.
Ahead of the start of the season, Warriors chief executive, Stephen Vaughan, said the club "needs to be in the top flight at some point" but added a note of caution saying it would be "crazy of us to start putting ridiculous targets in place" given the journey back from administration and near extinction.
Last week, the club reiterated their position saying the first season back was "a stabilising introduction to professional sport" but that they wanted to return to the Prem "in the near future".
Speaking to BBC Hereford and Worcester, Mulcahy said fans have no issue with the club taking that view.
"The club have said many times they were going to try to get promotion back to the Premiership at some point when the time is right," he said.
"There are plenty of supporters - particularly the long-term, hardened ones - who are very happy with Champ rugby and don't have any particular ambition to be back in the Prem straight away."
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As it stands, the top six in the new-look 14-team Champ at the end of the regular season will be involved in a play-off system where the eventual winners will play the bottom team in the Prem - currently Newcastle Red Bulls - over two legs to see who goes up or stays up.
But with Red Bull's high-profile takeover of Newcastle and the Rugby Football Union's (RFU) preference to move to a relegation-free franchise model as soon as 2026-27, the situation over promotion and relegation is unclear.
"I know they've [Worcester] been discussing with the RFU, PRL [Prem Rugby], the Champ and the tier-two board about promotion," Mulcahy said.
"It hasn't been sorted yet and none of the clubs really know what's going to happen."
Although the RFU's Minimum Standards Criteria (MSC) for promotion to the top flight has been softened, with sides having four years to get their ground capacity up to at least 10,000, in reality, few second-tier clubs can meet the financial requirements.
"There's been talk of expanding both the Champ and the Prem and we don't know what's going to happen next year," Mulcahy said.
"We're just happy to have the club back. I think promotion is a bit of a side issue. The time's got to be right to do it both from a business and playing perspective.
"We're just happy where we are - most fans think that."
Category: General Sports
