Rovers chairman reveals details of Memorial Stadium redevelopment

Rovers chairman and co-owner Hussain AlSaeed has revealed that the club will redevelop the Memorial Stadium rather than moving to the fruit market site in St Philip’s Marsh.

AlSaeed was at the Mem on Saturday to watch his side’s victory against Northampton Town just days after manager Joey Barton was sacked.

It was the biggest crowd of the season so far, with these fans now knowing that their matchdays will be in Ashley Down for the foreseeable future rather than a stone’s throw from south Bristol.

Bristol24/7 exclusively revealed in September that the original planning application for the South Stand had been scrapped, with the club now submitting a revised application but still building the structure without any planning permission yet granted by the council.

“The South Stand is taking a lot of our time but hopefully we’re getting towards the end and I’d like to thank the supporters for standing with us for this, with the council in order to speed up the approval for it,” AlSaeed said in an interview with BBC Radio Bristol.

“As you can see, we’re getting closer and closer to finishing. That will be the first target for us, to finish the South Stand and then we’re going to continue to develop the Memorial.”

AlSaeed said that the fruit market “wasn’t really completely on the table” despite the club saying in April that they were close to “finalise the plans unlocking the potential of the site for the city and the football club”, even producing a video announcing the proposed move.

“After a meeting or two, we thought we’re not really close to any deal,” said AlSaeed about the proposed move to the fruit market site.

“I cannot blame the developer for not really going ahead at the end of the day. They are profit-orientated and we don’t have control over the land, neither the finance, so we couldn’t really influence.

“We tried. We tried to work with them, tried to accommodate  what they requested but as close we get, as far they leave us, and we thought that is going nowhere and we couldn’t continue.

“So we’re going to concentrate now on developing the Memorial bit by bit so we don’t have to leave it.”

Once the South Stand is finished, AlSaeed said the plan is to turn attentions to develop both sides of the East Stand, followed by the Thatchers Stand.

“That would hopefully complete the Memorial Stadium that will do us for a number of years to come.”

So what about getting planning permission this time before building work starts?

“We have learned a lot from the South Stand. We have engaged now with the professional people, with all around, from the architect, from the residents, from the council, step by step, so this time we’re doing it according to the book and consulting with all concerned parties, so no surprises for anybody.”

AlSaeed said that he would love to see a capacity of up to 20,000 at the redeveloped Memorial Stadium but “to be realistic somewhere between 16 and 17,000”.

“It’s really important to get our stadium done well… We’ll try to be transparent with the local residents and we’ll try to keep them in the loop with everything we are doing. That is very important. They will not be surprised by anything. We’ll make sure this is happening from day one.”

Hussain AlSaeed became chairman of Bristol Rovers in August – photo: Bristol Rovers

AlSaeed called Barton a “top man” and said that “he will always have a place in our hearts”.

But the Kuwaiti businessman said that investment in players over the summer did not match the league position that Rovers currently find themselves in, which should be top-eight, “if not better”.

“The results did not reflect what we have spent so we thought for our plans, our idea, our vision, we thought perhaps, (we) could go to someone else with a fresh blood, fresh approach that can actually take this team further.”

The search for a new manager continues with AlSaeed saying that some conversations have already taken place with potential candidates.

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read next:

• ‘Big milestone’ for new Bristol Rovers stadium
• Joey Barton sacked as Bristol Rovers manager
• Hussain AlSaeed becomes new co-owner of Bristol Rovers

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