7.45pm 29 September 2020
West Midlands Regional League, Premier Division
Worcester Raiders 4 Wolverhampton Sporting Community 0 (att 230)
I used to live in Worcester. Back then the local rugby union club played recreational rugby at an archetypal amateur ground at Sixways. Now they're one of the country's top sides and have a 12,000 capacity stadium.
This season the Sixways Stadium has a soccer-playing tenant. Not Worcester City, the city's top club which has been homeless in recent years, but Worcester Raiders. Raiders have come under the ownership umbrella of the people behind Worcester Warriors rugby, and they have big plans for the round ball side.
Worcester City have just returned to a ground in Worcester, the one Raiders vacated to move into Sixways, but Raiders are now just one tier below City. This convincing win - the first competitive fixture in their new home - suggests their upward trajectory isn't slowing, and they might yet usurp their local rivals.
They may lack the deep-rooted support of Worcester City, but even without the many groundhoppers attracted to this match it was still a decent crowd for the level. Covid restrictions meant the capacity was capped at 300.
All were seated in the two central blocks of the East Stand, the largest of the four seated stands that surround the artificial pitch. It was a lively and entertaining game. Wolverhampton played some neat football but were no match for the home side.
Clinical finishing helped give Worcester Raiders a healthy 3-0 lead by half time, and they added a fourth in a second half they were comfortably in control of.
It's easy to scoff at the ambitious plans for Worcester Raiders, and recent history suggests non-League clubs sharing large rugby stadiums rarely works out well beyond a season or two. But the success of Worcester Warriors shows what can be achieved with determination, vision, and more than a little cash.
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