The owner of Worcester City FC has said a deal to make Sixways Stadium its home for the next five years will help to ‘transform’ the football club.
Simon Lancaster, owner of the Northern Premier League Midlands Division side, has praised Knights’ real estate team for acting with agility to complete a complex negotiation to a tight deadline in order to get the deal over the line.
The five-year ground share deal will see Worcester City FC call Sixways Stadium their new home from July this year. Sixways stadium is a 12,000-capacity arena located five minutes from the M5 with conferencing and hospitality facilities for up to 500 people.
Featuring a state-of-the-art playing surface, the ground share deal will provide the club with a greater platform for growth on and off the pitch as they look to climb the football pyramid.
All the legal work on the deal was completed by Worcester-based Knights - drawing on a team of experts from across the country, led by real estate lawyers James Menzies and Tony Gibb, alongside property litigation specialist Michael Clark.
Speaking about the significance of the move for Worcester City FC, Owner, Simon Lancaster said: “We were excited to get the deal over the line and everyone around the club has been buzzing, the players, the fans and the management, and I think it’s going to really transform the football club.
“The feedback has been 100% positive and everyone is just really excited to get in now. Attendances and the whole matchday experience will improve, providing the club with more opportunities for growth on and off the pitch.
“Knights were fantastic and James in particular was great. It was quite a complex negotiation that also had to move quite fast as we had a deadline we had to meet, which was some achievement from the team.
“Knights are big supporters of the club and we really appreciate all their hard work to make this deal happen. The team did a fantastic job and I’d fully recommend them.”
James Menzies, Senior Associate at Knights, added: “It was an absolute privilege to work with the club and to help them secure their new home for the next five years. I’m delighted with the result, we had to work to significant time pressure to get the deal over the line before Christmas.
“I see this as a big step towards strengthening our sports law offering, we are now instructed to deliver premium legal services by a number of sports clubs and sporting bodies up and down the country, and that is a growing side of the business that we are delighted to be able to offer.”