Worcester Warriors’ owners say that wage payments to players, coaches and staff are now fully under way after resolving an electronic banking issue that caused a further delay.
Jason Whittingham and Colin Goldring say that all payments will now be settled “within a matter of days”.
In a statement issued to staff on Friday, they said: “This situation must be stressful for you all. We are sorry we are in this boat. We’ve done everything we can do avoid it. All we can do now is deal with what’s in front of us.
“Regarding the payroll situation, the bank have finally confirmed the issue has been resolved and we can process the rest of the player and staff salary payments.
“Some having already gone through. There are over 150 payments and each one takes around 10 minutes. The bank are having to constantly watch and approve each one to prevent the blocking IT issue that keeps recurring.
“Those payments have already started going through.
“The delay with that first payment has not impacted on the second payment to reach 100% of salary. We are now finalising contracts on that funding with the hope of signing in within a matter of days. Payment is made immediately after signing.
“Things are progressing well behind the scenes with one investor group in particular, to ensure everything is in place for us to safely attend the away game against London Irish and put on our home fixture on the 17th of this month.
“We have also been working with the RFU to make sure all insurances are in place for the stadium and players including the required medical cover for our Warriors men’s and women’s teams.”
This followed Whittingham and Goldring, who co-own Morecambe, stepping down from the board at the League One club, who were put up for sale earlier in the day.
‘I really hope the right decisions are made’
Earlier on Friday Warriors players, coaches and staff flooded social media with video messages.
Club captain Ted Hill, fellow England international Ollie Lawrence and highly-rated rookie fly-half Fin Smith all spoke out.
“I really hope the right decisions are made from the people above to allow this club to have a future,” said Lawrence.
Smith added: “We’re just really frustrated now. We haven’t been paid. We don’t feel like we’re getting what we deserve as a group so we need answers.”
Another player, young scrum-half Ollie Wynn, has revealed that he has been made homeless by the situation and is staying with another member of the squad.
“It shows how tight we are as a unit and hopefully we can come through this together,” he said.
On Thursday, director of rugby Steve Diamond told the BBC he was confident the club can take their place in the league this season and that the current owners could finance the club in the short term.
The club have yet to purchase kit for the new season and Hill had to attend Thursday’s Premiership launch in last season’s shirt.
It is understood the club have sought dispensation from Premiership Rugby to play without names on the back of their shirts, so the kit can be re-used.
