Exeter Chiefs stadium bars renamed in cultural rebrand

The bars at Sandy Park have been renamed after some of the "magnificent castles" within the region

Exeter Chiefs rugby club have renamed the bars at their stadium as part of a rebrand.

The club had been criticised for continued use of Native American imagery and as part of the rebrand, a new logo will be used from next season.

The bars at the Sandy Park stadium have now been named after castles in Devon.

The former Wigwam Bar is now called the Woodbury Castle Bar, and the Pow Wow Bar is the Powderham Castle Bar.

The supporter group Exeter Chiefs for Change have led the calls for the club to get rid of their Native American branding.

It was their petition in 2020 which brought the issue to a wider audience and led the club to drop their mascot 'Big Chief'.

Exeter's new logo is based on the Celtic helmets known to be worn in and around 300 BC

A number of clubs asked visiting Exeter fans not to wear Native American-themed headdresses to their away matches after criticism of the club's branding by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI).

Dante Desiderio, the NCAI's chief executive, previously said: "Native 'themed' mascot imagery and the dehumanising stereotypes it perpetuates must go."

The new logo reflects the region's connection with the Celtic Iron Age Dumnonii Tribe, which the club say was based in Devon, Cornwall and parts of Somerset for "many hundreds of years before the Roman occupation from AD43".

'History, grandeur and pride'

Other bar changes include the Tomahawk Bar becoming the Dartmouth Castle, and the Buffalo and Bison changing to the Castle Drogo and the Haldon Belvedere.

The Cheyenne Bar is now the Compton Castle and the Campfire Grill is now the Totnes Castle.

In a statement the club said: "With our roots deeply entrenched here in Devon, we are using our new Exeter Chiefs rebrand as the perfect opportunity to rename our bars and catering outlets here at Sandy Park after some of the magnificent castles within the region.

"Castles represent the history, grandeur, and pride we feel about Devon, and we wanted to transmit this on our award-winning match days."

The next match to be played at Sandy Park sees England's Women's rugby team, the Red Roses, take on the USA on 3 September.

The first game for the newly branded Chiefs will see them take on champions Leicester Tigers in the opening match of the Premiership season, on 10 September.