IN the midst of the gloom and despair around the theatre of dreams on Saturday came a show of emotion quite out of place at a rugby stadium, or so we have been led to believe.

As David Beckham's sublime free kick smacked the back of the net, Sixways shook with cheers as England football supporters celebrated their World Cup salvation.

The dying embers of the England and Greece clash, being screened in the bar, attracted a good crowd and the final result cheered a great many who had been so disillusioned by the main rugby event of the day.

And if rugby thought it could get through the day without a passing acknowledgement to the action unfolding at Old Trafford, it was to be disappointed as the match-day announcer gave regular updates of the score.

Worcester, in fairness, were well aware of the interest among genuine supporters who are happy to dip in and out of sports without fear of betraying some unspoken code. Indeed, the Sixways club had wanted to switch the game to either a Friday night or a Sunday to avoid the clash and lose vital revenue until the idea was rejected by Coventry.

It was estimated that Worcester lost a good thousand people on the gate because of the England match. A total of 2,211 turned up to watch a Midlands derby on the back of the morale boosting win over Rotherham. Conservative expectations would have put a normal crowd for that game at more than 3,000 at least. Of course, there is a hard core support which wouldn't even think of missing out on a Worcester game for a football match, that would be almost blasphemous. But many people today are willing to accept that rugby and football can quite realistically go hand in hand. The most obvious examples are in the Zurich Premiership where football clubs are happy to ground share with the rugby fraternity.

Mention it quietly around St George's Lane but a ground sharing option at Sixways is not unthinkable should they encounter problems with their move to Nunnery Way. It has been a topic of conversation between club officials and although City's supporters would detest the notion of losing their identity, a home for the city's two clubs could be beneficial to both. City's problems in moving to a new stadium have been well documented and with Worcester's chairman Cecil Duckworth open minded enough to discuss the ground share, the two could yet find a compromise.

The advantages are there for all to see. Increased corporate revenue and catering income, commercial use of the stadium, superb car parking facilities, conference opportunities and the option to expand the stadium should the two become partners.

The location is also a major benefit, especially if the club, in the wake of success, began to attract 3,000 plus crowds. Imagine the congestion around St George's Lane if Worcester hit the big time. There are cosmetic problems - wear and tear on the pitch and painting the lines on and off every week - but they have been easily overcome at Vicarage Road.

The main sticking point would be who gets priority and whether the two could become partners. In every existing ground sharing deal in the Zurich Premiership, it is the football clubs who own the stadium. At Sixways it would be the rugby men who held sway not the Football Association. And that, in essence, is the major problem. Sixways is a superb venue for rugby but it could easily become a centre for sporting excellence in Worcester. For that to happen, however, some hard decisions would have to be made.

Every City supporter wants to either stay at St George's Lane or move to a new stadium, there are few who would embrace the Sixways move. The thought of having a rugby man as their landlord would fill supporters with dread. But in a climate which drains the life out of lower league clubs, it makes increasing financial sense for the two parties to come together.

If Saturday's World Cup euphoria at Sixways proved anything, it is that the two sports can, at last, live hand in hand with one another. Within minutes of Worcester supporters feeling utterly depressed after a home defeat, they were on their feet cheering as football fever took hold.

It would be a major surprise to me if there was ever to be a ground share between the two but until the football club have a new home, there is always a lingering doubt over the future. Certainly the City chairman Dr Michael Sorensen was not ruling out the possibility this week during our conversation.

And who knows? With City losing money year on year at the Lane, supporters could yet be celebrating more free kicks hitting the back of the net at Sixways.