Pearce seeks City venture to restore Bristol's fortunes

Malcom Pearce, the increasingly restless owner of Bristol Rugby Club, is keen to establish a unique sporting partnership with Bristol City, the promotion-chasing Second Division football league side, in an effort to keep Premiership union alive in what was once a hotbed of the sport. Bristol have already decided to play their derby match with Bath on 4 May at City's Ashton Gate stadium, and if the fixture pulls in a five-figure crowd – Pearce believes it could attract as many as 20,000 with some imaginative marketing – a permanent ground-sharing arrangement may well follow.

But there will be rugby at Ashton Gate rather earlier than May if the cold weather continues. "We have a contingency plan in place for our Heineken Cup match against Leinster on Sunday week," Pearce said yesterday, "and that plan is for us to play the game at Bristol City's ground. The stadium is modern and offers supporters the kind of facilities they legitimately expect. I see this as a golden opportunity to make the best of ourselves, and take professional sport in this city to another level.

"Bristol City are a go-ahead club, but they are leaking money," he pointed out. They lost more than £3m last season, and £2.6m the season before. "They understand that Ashton Gate needs to be more fully occupied if it is to pay its way, and with pitch technology as it is, football and rugby can certainly be played there on alternate weeks. Now that the local councillors have finally fronted up and admitted they do not have the will to build a new stadium in a city of one million people, I see no sensible reason why, if things go well between us, the two clubs should not offer a joint membership for both codes and do business with each other across the board."

Joint ventures between rugby union and rugby league clubs are now part of the sporting fabric in this country: Leeds have made a success of their cross-code operation, and the arrangement between Wigan and Orrell is beginning to bear fruit. But Pearce's vision of a close working relationship with a football club – far closer than those between Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons in Sir John Hall's day, and Queen's Park Rangers and Wasps in more recent seasons – is something new. If it happens, Bristol could be restored as one of the sporting powerhouses of England.

Before Christmas, Pearce appealed for financial support from local companies, claiming he was £1m short of ensuring his club would reach the end of the campaign. He has long been uncomfortable with life at the Memorial Ground, which the rugby club owned for decades before selling out to Bristol Rovers, and is desperate to move on. "Frankly, I am embarrassed by the facilities we offer our supporters at our present venue," he said.

Ashton Gate has been used for rugby before – the 1999 World Cup match between New Zealand and Tonga was played there, and was one of the highlights of the tournament – and will certainly be used again if England win hosting rights for the 2007 competition. Pearce believes a significant proportion of the football club's 8,000 season ticket holders would watch Premiership rugby, thereby pushing his club towards an average gate of 10,000.

Llanelli look set to enjoy a virtual sell-out if their Heineken Cup game with Bourgoin goes ahead tonight. But half the playing surface at Stradey Park was frozen yesterday, despite hot air blowers and covers, and an inspection will be held this morning.

Gareth Jenkins, the Llanelli coach, has selected Dave Hodges, the venerable American loose forward, rather than Dafydd Jones, the new Welsh international, in the back row. Salesi Finau, the Scarlets' Tongan wing, is still troubled by a knee injury and will not play.

Brendan Venter, the London Irish player-coach, has withdrawn from tonight's must-win Heineken match against Edinburgh at Murrayfield because of a back problem, so Geoff Appleford joins Nick Burrows in a midfield further disrupted by the Exiles' decision to rest Barry Everitt, their primary source of points. Mark Mapletoft will play at outside-half.