Sport / Football
Rovers ready for second stadium court battle
Bristol Rovers will get another chance to challenge Sainsbury’s on Tuesday over the collapsed deal to buy the Memorial Stadium which would have paved the way for the club’s move to Stoke Gifford.
Sainsbury’s won a High Court judgement which ruled the company was not obliged to go through with the agreement to purchase the old Horfield ground and build a new supermarket in its place.
But Rovers have been given leave to have their arguments heard again by a Court of Appeal judge at a hearing which begins on Tuesday and is expected to last several weeks.
Rovers must sell the current ground to raise the funds for the new £40 million stadium in Stoke Gifford. The club has already admitted over £1 million has been lost in delays and legal costs since the original deal was struck with Sainsbury’s in 2012.
Sainsbury’s are rumoured to have pulled out of the deal amid concern over profits at their large-scale outlets.
Rovers promised to fight to reignite the deal which would see them move to an 18,000-capacity, £40 million venue shared with the University of the West of England.
Chairman Nick Higgs said: “We would like to thank everyone for their continued support during this process. All of the directors, at one time or another, have been stopped by supporters wishing to pass on their good luck to the club.
“We can assure you we will continue to fight to secure the long term future and sustainability of our club.”
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