It was Boy’s Own stuff. Twelve years earlier, Worcester had been a modest rugby club minding its own business in the backwaters of Midlands Two West. But now here they were, standing on the brink of a rags-to-riches rise into the top-flight of English rugby union. Would-be Premiership ring-fencers were about to have their noses well and truly bloodied.
When local entrepreneur Cecil Duckworth was asked in 1992 to become involved in Worcester’s bid for Lottery funding to build a new indoor training centre, clubhouse and car park, not only did he respond positively, he spotted a niche in the sporting market and offered to take over the club lock-stock and barrel and transport it to a different level.
Some scoffed, but Duckworth acquired the Warriors and over the next 10 years funded the development of facilities and a team capable of challenging for a Premiership place. Thrice Worcester failed to take that final step, losing out narrowly in consecutive years to Leeds (2001) and Rotherham (2002 & 2003). This time there were no slip-ups.
Once-mighty Bristol were the visitors, but they proved no match for a rampant Worcester outfit that dominated from start to finish, racking up 10 tries to clinch a stunning bonus-point victory that put them beyond the reach of second-placed Orrell. It’s a day Duckworth will never forget; the day when Worcester earned a long-awaited place in the big time.
“I’d seen the potential in the early Nineties and wondered if we could make Worcester into a rugby city,” Duckworth explained. “It started with my offer to take over the trading rights and the club had supported that ambition. The aim then was to build a stadium, crowd and team and work our way through the divisions into the Premiership.
“We’d been bridesmaids for a few years in National One before finally cracking it, so the realisation that we’d finally done it was the cue for great celebrations. I remember someone from Bristol telling me before the game that we should put our celebration plans on hold because they were going to beat us, but I told him, ‘we’ll see about that!’
“We wanted to win every game that season but had nearly lost at Otley on the opening day after being a couple scores down with five minutes left. But we came through that, beat our nearest rivals Orrell home and away and never looked back after that. I just remember the sheer joy for everyone involved – players, supporters and staff.”
Star performers on the day were Gary Trueman, Chris Garrard and Duncan Roke, who weighed-in with two tries apiece, while fly-half Tommy Hayes notched 23 points of his own, including a try and nine conversions. For lockforward Craig Gillies, the only playing survivor from that day, the memories of previous promotion failures were erased.
“We’d missed out to Rotherham by two points the previous season, so the determination to make amends was massive,” said Gillies. “It was a huge day for the club and a lot of hard work had gone in to winning promotion over a number of seasons.
“There have been a number of significant games over the years at Worcester, but to run out convincing winners over Bristol that day meant so much for the club. Everyone was ecstatic, but we still remembered that there were two games to go.”
Worcester needed to beat Coventry away and Pertemps Bees at home to complete the season with a 100 per cent league record and, under the guidance of their director of rugby, the late John Brain, that is exactly what happened. It’s a fitting epitaph.
Gillies added: “We wanted to go out and finish the job. We wanted to win all 26 games and make it something truly special, which is what we did.”
WHERE ARE THEY NOW: THE CLASS OF 2004
1. Tony Windo: Retired in 2008 and joined Worcester’s coaching team as scrum and skills coach. Left in 2011 to become director of rugby at Bromsgrove School.
2. Ben Daly: Joined Viadana in 2005, then had two years with Newport before returning to Australia, where he is now an investment specialist with RARE Infrastructure in Sydney.
3. Neil Lyman: Retired in 2005 and is now in the building business in Kidderminster.
4. Mark Gabey: Joined Exeter in 2005 before spending two years at Birmingham between 2006 and 2008. Has since coached at Yatton, St Mary’s Old Boys and St Bernardettes.
5. Craig Gillies: Still going strong in the Warriors’ second row.
6. Christian Evans: Retired in 2004 to take care of the family business.
7. Gavin Pfister: Left Worcester in 2005 and briefly played for Ulster and Pertemps Bees before returning home to Cape Town, where he now runs extremescene.co.za.
8. Drew Hickey: Left Worcester in 2008 and spent three years playing for Kubota Spears in Japan. Now coaching second grade rugby at Sydney University RFC.
9. Matt Powell: Retired in 2010 and is now business development manager at Bath Rugby.
10. Tommy Hayes: Joined Bristol in 2005 and had spells at Glasgow, Parma, and Moseley before becoming player-coach at Coventry in 2009. Left in 2010 and is now believed to be a golf greenkeeper in Droitwich.
11. Jonny Hylton: Joined Cornish Pirates in 2006, then had two years at Newbury before joining Esher in 2009, where he still plays. Works for Orbana Healthy Drinks.
12. Gary Trueman: Joined London Scottish in 2008 but retired last December to concentrate on his career as a management consultant with Stonewood Partners Ltd.
13. Ben Hinshelwood: Retired from rugby through injury in 2005 and is now a director at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in London.
14. Chris Garrard: Left Worcester that summer and is believed to be back in Australia.
15. Daren O’Leary: Released in 2005 and played for Moseley before becoming a coach/player representative with Top Marque Sports.
Replacements:
Duncan Roke (for Hylton, 36): Spent two years at Cornish Pirates between 2005 and 2007 before joining Bromsgrove, where he is now backs coach.
Lee Fortey (for Lyman, 42): Left Worcester in 2007 to coach Old Patesians. Became forwards coach at Cinderford in 2009 and combines that with working for a building company.
James Brown (for Trueman, 50): Enjoyed four seasons with Worcester in the Premiership before moving to London Scottish in 2008. Retired recently and now works for Betfair.
Neil Cole (for Powell, 54): Joined Leicester for a brief spell in 2005 and is now believed to be back in South Africa where he is involved with sarugbylegends.com
Richard Bates (for Pfister, 54): Left Worcester that summer and returned to South Africa, where is now director of the Fordoun Spa in Pietermaritzburg.
Dan Zaltzman (for Gabey, 62): Became head of marketing at Worcester that summer and played on for a year. Now works for Logan Sports Marketing, whom he joined in 2008.
Chris Hall (for Daly, 62): Released in 2005 and joined Cinderford. Left there in 2011 and is now player-coach at Coney Hill – their general manager.
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