Eighth-tier football club move into former Rugby Premiership stadium with bigger capacity than Premier League side

AN eighth-tier club are set to move into a stadium with a bigger capacity than Premier League Bournemouth.

Worcester City reside in the Northern Premier League Midlands Division but soon they will have a stadium fit for the top flight.

That’s because they will move into Sixways Stadium at the end of the season.

It was previously the home of former Premiership Rugby club Worcester Warriors, who disbanded in February last year.

Worcester City have plans to build a stadium of their own but in the mean time they are seeking a move from current ground Chaines Lane.

Increasing attendances and a poor pitch at Chaines Lane means Sixways is a much more attractive option, and will be Worcester’s ground until the 2029/30 season.

Sixways has a seating capacity of 11,000 and hospitality for 500, making it bigger than Bournemouth‘s 11,379-seat Vitality Stadium.

It also has car parking and function rooms, with plans to upgrade the stadium in progress.

A new North Stand will be built to increase the capacity of the ground, as well as an events centre, six padel courts and a new corporate hospitality offering, including a 120-bed hotel.

Worcester City are set to take advantage of the facilities for the next five years, during which time their permanent home – Worcestershire Community Sports Park – will be built.

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Club owner Simon Lancaster spoke of the ground switch, saying: “We’re working hard on getting our own home and we will continue to do so, but while we are doing that we need to simultaneously look out for the short term and secure the best available option.”

He continued: “Claines is a good place to watch football on a good day and I think we all enjoy watching football there but, in the time that I’ve been involved with the club, the pitch has been a problem and it would be very costly to improve that.

“There were lots of costs involved in improving the ground following promotion to step four, and there would be even more costs if we were promoted to step three.

“If we were to get promoted, I think Claines would struggle to accommodate the sort of attendances we’d be looking for.”