UWE Stadium was a proposed 21,700 all-seater stadium to be built in Cheswick,

South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Kingswood, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke. The southern p ...

, as a new home for

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

. The stadium was to replace their current home, the Memorial Stadium.

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...

agreed to buy the Memorial Stadium in 2011 and lease it to the club while the new stadium was built to the north of the city. However, in 2014 the future of the stadium was put in doubt due to a court battle with Sainsbury's over the contract for the Memorial Stadium site. In July 2015 Sainsbury's won its High Court battle with Bristol Rovers over the termination of the £30m deal to buy the Memorial Stadium. The future of the stadium became uncertain, with the club describing the ruling as a "kick in the teeth". Shortly after, the club were granted leave to appeal the decision which was completed in January 2016 and rejected in March 2016. The following month, Bristol Rovers were sold to the

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

ian Al-Qadi family with outgoing chairman Nick Higgs confirming the outcome of the court case is "no longer relevant". The club's new president Wael al-Qadi confirmed a new stadium is a "key requirement" for the new owners. In August 2017, the club announced the project had been cancelled as both parties were unable to agree acceptable terms.

History

Having left their long-term home at

Eastville Stadium Eastville Stadium, also known as Bristol Stadium and Bristol Stadium – Eastville, was a stadium in Eastville, a northern suburb of the English city of Bristol. Constructed in 1897, it was the home of Bristol Rovers F.C., the Bristol Bulld ...

in 1986, Bristol Rovers spent ten years in exile at

Twerton Park Twerton Park is a association football, football stadium in the Twerton suburb of Bath, Somerset, Bath, England. It has a physical capacity of 8,840, containing 1,006 seats. It is currently the home of Bath City F.C., who have played there si ...

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

. They finally moved back to

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

in 1996, becoming joint owners of the Memorial Stadium with

Bristol Rugby Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

. They then went on to buy the rugby club's share in the ground in 1998. In 2007, Rovers were granted permission for a complete rebuild of the stadium but, following numerous delays, began seeking alternatives to redeveloping their current home. On 9 June 2011,

chairman Nick Higgs announced plans to build a 21,700 all-seater stadium in Cheswick in partnership with UWE. The application to build the stadium was submitted to

South Gloucestershire Council South Gloucestershire Council is the local authority of South Gloucestershire, a local government district in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England, covering an area to the north of the city of Bristol. The council is a unitary auth ...

on 9 March 2012. On 19 July 2012, planning permission was granted for the stadium with councillors voting 12 to 1 in favour. The planning meeting for Sainsbury's Memorial Stadium application was initially expected to follow shortly after this, but was delayed and took place on 16 January 2013. Councillors granted permission for the plans, voting 6 to 3 in favour. This was followed by approval by the

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government The secretary of state for housing, communities and local government is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom and is the Cabinet minister responsible for the overall leadership and strategic direction of the Ministry of Ho ...

Eric Pickles Eric Jack Pickles, Baron Pickles, (born 20 April 1952) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Brentwood and Ongar from 1992 United ...

in March. However, the project was put in doubt in September 2013 when a group named TRASHorfield filed an application for a

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which a government's executive, legislative, or administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. In a judicial review, a court may invalidate laws, acts, or governmental actions that are in ...

against Sainsbury's plans which was granted in November. The review was held on 13 March 2014 and rejected by Mr Justice Hickinbottom a week later. TRASHorfield appealed this decision on 26 March 2014, which was dismissed by Mr Justice Hickinbottom the same day. Doubts were raised about the stadium again in August 2014 after it emerged that Rovers had issued a

writ In common law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrant (legal), Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, and ''certiorari'' are commo ...

against Sainsbury's, alleging that the supermarket chain was attempting to terminate its contract to buy the Memorial Stadium site. At a six-day High Court hearing in May 2015, Sainsbury's argued it had "lawfully terminated" the contract when planning conditions were not met before the "cut-off date" in the agreement. On 13 July 2015, Mrs Justice Proudman ruled in favour of Sainsbury's saying the way the deal was structured was an "insuperable barrier to the club". Rovers chairman Nick Higgs described it as a "huge disappointment" and stated "We will be asking them WEto hang in there with us as it’s not over yet. We have looked at a number of other options to still bring this new stadium to fruition, even without the help of Sainsbury’s, and we will continue to do that. We have an obligation to explore options and it would be remiss of us not to do so for the sake of the fans, and for this club". The club were granted leave to appeal later the same month and confirmed Sainsbury's had made an out of court cash offer to end the litigation, which was rejected being described as 'derisory'. The appeal, held in January 2016, saw the club's lawyers claim Mrs Justice Proudman made a "fundamental error" in agreeing with the supermarket chain. The verdict from the two-day appeal came on 17 March 2016 and upheld the high court decision. A further twist to the tale came in February 2016 when Bristol Rovers were purchased by the wealthy Al-Qadi family of

, rending the outcome of the court case "no longer relevant" as described by former chairman Nick Higgs.

Location

Proposed to be situated in the University of the West of England's Frenchay campus, it would have become the only 20,000+ seater stadium within a university campus in the UK. Though not within the city council boundary of Bristol, the stadium would have been located in the area sometimes known as

Greater Bristol Greater Bristol is a term used for the conurbation which contains and surrounds the city of Bristol in the South West England, South West of England. There is no official "Greater Bristol" authority, but the term is sometimes used by local, regi ...

. The stadium will be located around 1.5 miles from Bristol Rovers current Memorial Stadium home and around 1.8 miles from their former ground at Eastville. The UWE Stadium would have been just off the

A4174 The A4174 is a major ring road in England which runs around the northern and eastern edge of Bristol, mainly in South Gloucestershire, and through the southern suburbs of the city. When it was first conceived it was planned to circle the whole ...

and a short drive from junction 1 of the M32. There would have been space for 1,000 cars and coaches with a further 1,500 spaces on campus if needed. It would have also additionally be close to both Filton Abbey Wood and

Parkway A parkway is a landscaped thoroughfare. The term is particularly used for a roadway in a park or connecting to a park from which trucks and other heavy vehicles are excluded. Over the years, many different types of roads have been labeled p ...

train stations.

Design

The bowl-shaped stadium would have been all-seated with an initial capacity of 21,700. The stadium has been designed to adhere to international standards for both football and rugby. However, following

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

majority shareholder Stephen Lansdown's takeover of

, they have instead moved to play at Bristol City's

Ashton Gate Stadium Ashton Gate is a multi-use stadium in Ashton Gate, Bristol, England, and is the home of Bristol City F.C. and the Bristol Bears rugby union team. Located in the south-west of the city, just south of the River Avon, it currently has an all-se ...

. The stadium was designed to minimise the impact on the local environment, including using the topography of the site to effectively enclose the stadium and minimise noise and light disruption, as well as being designed to allow the capacity to be increased to 26,000 without making any external changes and up to 35,000 should it be needed. Proposed facilities *Supporters club bar *Club shop *1000 seat conference centre and banqueting suite *28

executive boxes The luxury box (or skybox) and club seating constitute the most expensive class of seating in arenas and stadiums, and generate much higher revenues than regular seating. Club ticketholders often receive exclusive access to an indoor part of th ...

*Convenience store *Gym and jogging track *Crèche *19,000sq ft of teaching space for UWE

Criticism

UWE Students' Union website acknowledged that they had received student criticism but do not share such criticism.

References

External links

UWE Stadium website

Sainsbury's Horfield websiteBristol Rovers websiteUWE website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uwe Stadium Bristol Rovers F.C. Unbuilt football venues in England Sports venues in Bristol