Cornish Pirates look at Mennaye Field improvements

The Mennaye Field does not meet the Premiership's minimum standards

Cornish Pirates say they will begin talks about upgrading their Mennaye Field home.

The Championship club, who play at the home of Penzance and Newlyn RFC, were taken over by a consortium of four local businessmen on Thursday.

The club has long been looking for a home that would meet the Premiership's minimum standards.

Plans for a new stadium capable of hosting rugby and football in Truro were shelved in 2022.

Truro City Football Club opted to build their own ground on the outskirts of the city which opened last summer.

The club's new owners are setting up a development committee with Penzance and Newlyn RFC to look at ways of making the Mennaye - which has a capacity of 4,000 - better for fans.

"The Mennaye is our home and our heartland," chief executive Sally Pettifer told BBC Sport.

"We are here and we want to be a really competitive Championship club here, possibly a Premiership club.

"We've got some quite grand plans this year to improve what's here and then we're going to sit and look at a masterplan for the future.

"This will be a step change, as we have in leadership, so it'll be on the ground."

The new ownership group is led by current board member Martin Hudson, who is associated with the horticulture business founded by previous owner Sir Richard Evans.

He will be joined in the consortium by Philip Champ, Anthony Whyte and Lee Miles, who all run successful Cornish businesses.

Whyte says improving the matchday experience is key for increasing the club's revenue.

"The Mennaye is the Mennaye, it's been the same for many years," he told BBC Radio Cornwall.

"There's been many options of looking at moving and stuff like that.

"We've got a fantastic pitch, it's very well-maintained. The stand needs some work, there's no two ways about it - we need to make this ground a really strong visitors' experience.

"People love Penzance, they come down, the excitement of being on the coast and staying here, especially when the weather's good, and we're going to make it a great visitor experience.

"We want a better facility for the whole community, as well as fans on matchday."