Bristol Rugby switch to Rodney Parade
Newport Gwent Dragons Chief Executive Gethin Jenkins and Bristol Rugby CEO David White today confirmed that the club will be playing its home fixtures at Rodney Parade, the home of the Newport Gwent Dragons, for the 2008-9 and 2009-10 seasons subject to final approval from the RFU/ ERL.
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, the current owners of the Memorial Stadium, confirming that the work will commence this summer and 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 as David explained today:
"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."
"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 benefical 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."
In order to make it as easy as possible for Bristol supporters to follow their team, White confirmed that the club are reducing match and season ticket prices by the equivalent of £5 a match.
