Broncos to play on artificial pitch at Ealing
London Broncos have confirmed that they will be playing their home fixtures at the Trailfinders Sports Club in Ealing next season.
The whole club will move to the new venue, with the Broncos having signed a three-year deal to play there.
The new venue will also be the club’s main training base, with the Under-16s and Under-19s also playing at the same venue.
There are two modern pavilions, a club house and pitchside seating for 1,020, The stadium has an overall capacity of 3,020.
The site is located in 18 acres of ground, and features a 3G artificial pitch, which the Broncos will use for training as well as for matches.
“We feel very strongly that this move will enable us to plan a sustainable long term future for the club,” the club’s general manager Jason Loubser said.
“We made the decision to move to Trailfinders Sports Club as the facilities were the best suited for the London Broncos not only in the Championship but also in the future when we return to Super League.
“The venue has the ability to further develop to meet the standards of Super League which will involve increasing the current capacity.
“The management of Trailfinders are really excited about the plans we have to grow the London Broncos brand and also how we can potentially help them grow the venue both in terms of increasing business and improving facilities as we grow.
“Based on our 2015 league position we will receive a significantly reduced central distribution payment so to enable the club to maintain a full-time squad in 2016 we had to look at ways of both reducing our outgoings and increasing our revenue streams.
“One of the biggest costs the club has each season is the hosting of games so this was the major cost we needed to reduce, but we also had to continue to meet the RFL facility standards and Trailfinders Sports Club ticked both these boxes.
“The move will enable the club to take back control over part of the business that were relinquished in our deal with The Hive including our community programme, merchandise and revenue from the club shop.
“We appreciate that supporters may see this as a backward step in terms of seating capacity at the new venue but with the crowd numbers as they have been this season we feel that the ground will be adequate and a better atmosphere can be created.
“With the current seating capacity of 1,020 there is also the ability to have an additional 2,000 supporters standing.
“Importantly the venue has the space to increase the seating capacity should the need arise in the future and the venue owners are very supportive of the plans we have presented to bring in further seating.”
Broncos chairman David Hughes added: “We are really pleased as a club to have secured a training and playing venue at the Trailfinders Sports Club.
“The move to Ealing will bring the club together for the first time in our history and enable us to create a truly sustainable club for the future.
“I’m fully committed to ensuring the club is in a position to return to Super League at the earliest opportunity.
“We really appreciate all the work Mike Gooley and Sallieann Davis from Trailfinders have put in to house the London Broncos and we all look forward to a long and successful partnership for many years to come.”