Bristol Rovers owner Hussain AlSaeed says proposed stadium move is off
- Published
Work will be undertaken on three stands of Bristol Rovers' Memorial Stadium
Bristol Rovers co-owner Hussain AlSaeed says the club's proposed move to a new ground at the city's Fruit Market site is off.
The area, closer to Bristol city centre, had been mooted as a place to build a modern stadium.
Instead they will look to redevelop three sides of the ground at their current Memorial Stadium home.
The club are 13th in League One and without a manager after Joey Barton left in midweek.
Bristol Rovers have been at the Memorial Stadium since 1996, initially sharing it with Bristol Bears before the rugby union club moved to Ashton Gate - home of Rovers' rivals Bristol City, in 2014.
For the 10 years before moving to the Memorial Stadium, Rovers had been at Twerton Park in Bath after leaving their beloved Eastville ground.
The Fruit Market site, just outside Bristol city centre and near to Temple Meads railway station, has been mentioned as a possible new home for the club for a number of years.
But AlSaaed exclusively told BBC Radio Bristol that any ground move has been ruled out.
Pirates going nowhere
"It has changed," said AlSaaed. "It was on the table, but it wasn't really completely on the table. That's what we thought when we took over.
"After a meeting or two, we thought that a deal wasn't really close.
"We tried to work with the developer, we tried to accommodate what they required.
"But we thought that was going nowhere so now we are going to concentrate on developing the Memorial Stadium, so we don't have to leave it."
The first plan is to complete work on the ground's new 3,425 capacity South Stand, scheduled for next month, before undertaking work on both the East and North Stands.
Once finished, the idea is that the ground's capacity would be between 16-17,000, according to the owner.
"The South Stand is taking a lot of our time, but hopefully we're getting towards the end," said AlSaaed.
"I'd like to thank the supporters for their understanding with us over this and with the council in order to speed up the approval for us.
"We're getting closer and closer to finishing that. That'll be the first target for us. Then we are going to continue to develop the Memorial Stadium.
"I would like the capacity to be 18,000 but it may be very difficult to go to that number. To be realistic, it will be somewhere be between 16-17,000."
Bristol Rovers were 16th in League One when Barton lost his job as manager
Fresh approach needed
Kuwaiti businessman AlSaaed, who became the Pirates' co-owner this summer, has also spoken about the decision to part company with Barton.
He left the club after two and a half years following a 1-1 draw at home to Stevenage, which left them 16th in the table.
Barton had presided over the club's famous final-day promotion from League Two in 2022 and led them to 17th last season.
But AlSaaed believes a "fresh approach" is required to get the most out of an underachieving squad.
"When we came this summer, we invested, and we invested in players - 13 signings," he said in an interview conducted before Rovers' 2-1 win over Northampton.
"For that budget, comparing to the other budgets in the league, we should be around the top eight, if not better.
"Basically the results did not reflect what we've spent.
"We thought for our plans, our ideas, our vision, perhaps we could go to someone else, that with a fresh approach can actually take this team further.
"But we have deep respect for Joey. We've worked with him for the last few months and he's a top, top man.
"He will always have a place in our hearts, in this stadium and with these fans."