Raiders

Worcester Raiders   4   Wolverhampton Sporting Community   0

West Midlands Regional League – Premier Division

In a World where nothing should surprise us, I would have been surprised if someone had said to me back in July that I’d have watched two football matches by the end of September that have taken place at top class rugby venues.

That unexpected experience began of course back in August when I took in a Wakefield AFC game at their new home of Post Office Road in Featherstone, the home of Featherstone Rovers RLFC.

But, then without warning, it was suddenly announced via social media platforms that the relatively new kids on the block, Worcester Raiders, would be embarking on a new chapter of their history, by playing home games at the Sixways Stadium, the home of Worcester Warriors, a top flight Gallagher Premiership Rugby Union outfit.

Turns out that the owners of the Warriors are also owners of the Raiders, and that, to cut a long story short, is how they’ve ended up moving from what was their previous home at nearby Claines Lane, and in that is an irony.

Claines Lane is a ground I visited many years ago to watch Archdales 73, but it’s been turned into something of a football hub now, and with it the home of the Worcestershire FA. The City’s historic senior club, Worcester City, of course have been homeless for a while since leaving the magnificent St George’s Lane, and at one point they were talked about as being a fellow occupier of Sixways, but that never happened. However with Raiders now taking up residence, a vacancy for a team arose at Claines Lane, which City have duly filled.

Worcester Raiders, what’s that all about then?

The club joined the West Midlands Regional League in 2013-14 having previously been in the Worcester & District League, and in their first season they won promotion from Division Two. They were crowned champions of Division One in 2018-19 having lots just one game, and found themselves at Step 6 for the first time last season before the campaign was curtailed.

Obviously now though, the spotlight is firmly upon them, and with a very active social media presence, the arrival at Sixways came with something of a fanfare. Clearly a bold move like that creates interest, it also brings about a degree of scepticism and indeed jealousy.

Would they be a one season wonder, and would it come crashing down like others before, and also, did they really think that they could usurp Worcester City and become the biggest fish in the pond? I don’t know what the clubs and the owners vision is, but that vision will undoubtedly be to take Raiders to the highest level possible, what others choose to say or indeed do is not their concern. City have the tradition and the support base, but, I’ll be honest, Raiders have the facilities, so let’s talk about those for a minute.

Sixways is a superb venue, one I’ve driven past down the M5 on countless occasions and wondered to myself just how good it would be if a football club could set up home at it. Yes, common logic told me that maybe one day that would be City, but either way, it’s great that a football team is now using it.

The ample parking facilities are set behind the goal, where a large outdoor fan park sits. Once having acquired your pre-ordered match ticket from the ticket office, it was through the turnstiles and straight into the park for food and beverages and Gallagher Premiership prices! That said, it was very good so you won’t hear me complaining.

A short walk through a tunnel brings you out in the corner and here you can see Sixways in all it’s glory. To your immediate left is the main East Stand, with a rake of seats on the bottom tier, and a row of executive boxes stationed up above. The clubs smart offices are also set in the corner of this stand.

To your right is a seated stand behind the goal which looks to be a semi-permanent structure, while moving round to the side opposite the East Stand (known as the West Stand!) you have a further smaller seated stand. Built within this are what looks like a large banqueting / corporate suite, over two floors, along with the dressing room areas.

Moving down behind the opposite goal is what looks to be a smaller version of the main stand, with seats in the bottom tier and two more rows of corporate boxes above. Overall, it’s a very smart stadium indeed. I was hugely impressed.

The stark difference here between Worcester Warriors Rugby Union, and Featherstone Rovers Rugby League is plain to see, and it comes down to wealth. Sixways holds 12,000 seated spectators, I would imagine around 2,000 / 3,000 of those are corporate, and that kind of encapsulates the North / South divide that exists between the two oval ball codes. That’s not snobbery by the way, that’s just demographics and economics at work. With all due respect to ‘Fev’, the corporate facilities are probably a seat by the window in the bar!

The pitch was interesting as well, at first sight it was hard to tell whether it was grass or artificial. As the game wore on I was leaning towards artificial and it turned out I was right. Apparently it s made up of artificial grass, but with an organic infill as opposed to a rubber crumb, and that perhaps explains why it looked a bit muddy in parts!

The floodlights were excellent, with the bulbs themselves set up in a ‘W’ formation on the pylons, and as goals were scored, we got something of a light show as the lights were flicked on and off for us!

In terms of watching the game, well a crowd of 220 was declared, which was pretty healthy, and we were sat in two areas in the centre of the main stand. A good number of the travelling fraternity were in attendance, so the sight of pre-booked ticket collecting, track and trace, and then throw in some social distancing guidelines, all of which were causes of much befuddlement amongst some of the great unwashed!

On the field I though Raiders looked very good, by half time they had raced into a three goal lead, playing some very quick one touch football, and they looked particularly potent on the break. Two goals from the impressive Dylan Hart, with further strikes from Zaqib Hussain and Jordan Stoddart crowned a comfortable 4-0 victory, and the scoreline was a fair reflection of proceedings.

So, Sixways, something of a surprise, but a welcome one all the same. Worcester Raiders, well lets just sit back and enjoy the ride, and guess what, next season, it’s quite conceivable that we could have a local derby fixture between Raiders and City, that would be one worth keeping an eye on….