Bristol 'moves' to Rodney Parade
Fri, 02 May 2008 15:26
Bristol Rugby CEO David White confirmed that the club will be playing their home fixtures at Rodney Parade, the home of the Newport Gwent Dragons, for the 2008/09 and 2009/10 seasons - subject to final approval from the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and European authorities.
The Memorial Stadium, Bristol Rugby's home since 1921, is set to undergo a major redevelopment which will transform the stadium into an 18,500 state of the art stadium in time for the 2010-11 season.
With Bristol Rovers soccer club, the current owners of the Memorial Stadium, confirming that the work will commence later this year - they, in turn, will be moving to Whaddon Road to play their home fixtures - Bristol Rugby are now in a position to confirm their own arrangements.
Having investigated various options in and around Bristol, the Bristol Rugby board decided that playing at Rodney Parade represented the best available solution for the next two seasons.
"We did, of course, explore every possible opportunity to remain in Bristol. We made this commitment to our supporters and we left no stone unturned," David explained.
"However, we had to eliminate each venue for a variety of reasons and that meant that we had to widen our search.
"Newport Rugby Limited, however, been a pleasure to deal with and we have been able to agree a mutually beneficial deal. Our thanks go out to them.
"Rodney Parade is within reasonable travelling distance of the Memorial Stadium and is a traditional rugby ground which we hope to establish as a fortress for the next two seasons.
"Our time away from Bristol will be a challenge but we really hope that as many of our supporters back us during this period and travel to support us in Newport."
