Bristol decamp to Newport
Bristol have confirmed they will share Rodney Parade with the Dragons for the next two seasons while the Memorial Stadium is redeveloped.
Bristol have confirmed they will share Rodney Parade with the Dragons for the next two seasons while the Memorial Stadium is redeveloped.
Bristol's home since 1921 is set to undergo a £36m ($71.2m) redevelopment which will transform the arena into an 18,500-capacity stadium in time for the 2010/11 season.
Bristol Rovers, the current owners of the Memorial Stadium, have confirmed that will be moving to Whaddon Road to play their home fixtures, leaving Bristol Rugby to confirm their own arrangements.
Having investigated various options in and around Bristol, the board of Bristol Rugby 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,” said Bristol chief executive David White.
“We made that 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, have 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.”
Bristol will play home games at Rodney Parade on Sundays, and will offset the cost of crossing the Severn Bridge by cutting ticket prices by £5 per game.
Bristol's first game at Rodney Parade – pending final approval from the Rugby Football Union and England Rugby Ltd – will be a friendly against Newport RFC on 30 August, while Saturday's game with Worcester should be their last at the Memorial Stadium.
Bristol coach Richard Hill said that moving to Newport was the logical choice.
“I really thought that if there's any ground in Britain that resembles the Memorial Stadium in its current form, it's Rodney Parade,” he told BBC Sport.
“The Bristol supporters have been very good to us, even when we went into National One.
“There's some real fanatics there amongst them so it's up to us to promote our games and try to assist them in any way we can to get across to South Wales.”