Bristol set to move to Rodney Parade

May 1 2008 by Our Correspondent, Western Mail

BRISTOL are set to announce they will play their home games in Wales for the next two seasons.

Confirmation could come today of a temporary switch across the Severn Bridge to the Dragons’ Rodney Parade home.

The move is due to a major redevelopment of Bristol’s current Memorial Stadium base, which is also used by Bristol Rovers Football Club.

Assuming there are no last-minute hitches, Bristol will head to Rodney Parade in a ground-share with the Dragons and Newport Rugby Club, who play in the Welsh Premiership.

It is anticipated that Bristol will continue to stage their home fixtures primarily on Sunday afternoons.

Bristol’s temporary move from the Memorial Stadium will follow a final home match of the current campaign against Guinness Premiership visitors Worcester on Saturday.

Potentially, it is a Memorial Stadium farewell for several Bristol players – a fact not lost on the West Country club’s head coach, Richard Hill.

Hill said: “There is not often a lot of room for sentimentality in professional sport.

“However, Saturday will be an emotional occasional as we bid farewell to the Mem in its current guise.

“A few of the boys who have been with us through thick and thin over the past few seasons are leaving us at the end of the current campaign and, of course, the likes of Dave Hilton are hanging up their boots at long last!

“I have been giving some of the younger players a run-out for the club in recent weeks, but I think on Saturday it will be appropriate to give some of the old, battle-hardened warriors a chance to finish on a high.

“They will be pumped up and determined to have one memorable occasion at the Mem, and I hope that we have as many Bristol supporters as possible at the ground to give them an appropriate farewell.”