Bristol Rovers have vowed to move on with their plans to build a new stadium at the University of the West of England site, regardless of whether Bristol Rugby club will join them there.
The football and rugby club currently share the Memorial Stadium, and it was thought that the rugby club would move with the Rovers to their new UWE Stadium. However, with the take-over of Bristol Rugby by Steve Lansdown this week, this has been thrown into doubt.
Steve Lansdown is already the majority shareholder of Bristol City, Rovers’ rivals, and has not ruled out bringing Bristol Rugby to Ashton Gate, or City’s proposed new stadium at Ashton Vale.
Bristol Rovers’ director of finance Toni Watola however stated that whether the rugby club joins the Rovers will not impact their move to the new stadium. Bristol Rugby is currently paying Rovers for the use of the Memorial Stadium, and both clubs share the catering proceeds, but Watola said that even though “there would be a financial impact if they no longer shared a ground with us, […] it would not be a material one.”
Rovers announced in July last year their intention to move to a new 20,000-seat stadium, and are currently holding consultation rounds with affected parties. The club hopes to move into their new stadium, which is planned at a site at the UWE University campus in the north of Bristol, at the middle of 2014.
Photo: © Arturus architects LLP