Truro City sale by Cornish Pirates prompted by rugby union uncertainty

Cornish Pirates bought Truro City in March 2019 with the aim of coming together to build a stadium in Truro for both clubs

Cornish Pirates chief executive Rebecca Thomas says the uncertainty surrounding the future of professional club rugby union in England was a major factor in the decision to sell Truro City.

A consortium that owns Cornwall's rugby league side has bought the National League South club from the Pirates.

It means hopes of a new stadium for Pirates in Truro are over.

Championship clubs, including Pirates, rejected plans for a new franchise-based second tier earlier this month.

The 11 second-tier sides have been in talks with the Rugby Football Union (RFU) over the future of the club game after the demise of Jersey Reds, Wasps, Worcester and London Irish.

"At the moment there's a lot going on in the world of rugby as to what the structure and minimum standards look like," Thomas told BBC Sport.

"You could keep going and going, and as we have done, you're planning for things which often you have no control over and it's quite difficult.

• Listen: BBC Radio Cornwall - Truro City FC under new ownership

"So to be in a position where we can plan for known factors and what we can control is the right thing to do given the current climate and the challenges professional rugby faces."

Having had plans for a new stadium in Truro for around 15 years in a bid to meet the minimum standards needed to gain promotion to the Premiership, the move to sell Truro City ends any hopes of a new ground for the rugby union team in the county's capital.

Work is well under way on the site that will be Truro City's new stadium

Truro City have begun work on a new stadium at Langarth which will be their home from next season.

It had been hoped that Pirates could join them at the 3,000 capacity arena which would have the scope to be extended should the Pirates reach the top of the Championship as Cornish Pirates' current home at the Mennaye Field in Penzance does not meet top-flight criteria.

"You do have to get to a point where you draw the line because you could keep going and going and more and more money go towards that and still not be able to realise that dream," Thomas said.

"It did get to a point where we thought 'we have to draw a line under something and actually be able to plan for the future', even if that's short to medium term."

"We're not ruling out that there'll never be a move, but for now it's on the back burner.

"We've got a great ground here in Penzance, we have a great fanbase that come down there.

"The Mennaye is never somewhere opponents enjoy coming to, so for us it has become a little fortress and to be able to say with certainty 'this is where we're going to be for our next phase' and look at how we take the ground and facilities forward there is an exciting time really."