Section 106 legal agreement, which was the main cause for the delay in the redevelopment, was finally signed on 4 January 2008, but more delays were encountered when on 30 May 2008 Rovers admitted that their preferred student accommodation providers had pulled out of the project, leaving the club to find an alternative company. This caused the redevelopment to be put back another year, to 2009. More delays, mostly attributed to the ongoing financial crisis, meant that by mid-2011 the stadium redevelopment had yet to begin. In June 2011, Bristol Rovers announced its intentions to relocate the club to the newly proposed UWE Stadium instead of redeveloping the Memorial Stadium. In order to fund the new stadium, the Memorial Stadium was to be sold to supermarket chain Sainsbury's with Rovers paying a peppercorn rent with work to redevelop the site not beginning until Rovers completed their move to the new stadium. Planning permission was granted for the UWE Stadium site in July 2012 and the Sainsbury's plans for the Memorial Stadium in January 2013. Work was expected to begin on the UWE Stadium shortly after but multiple delays caused by legal challenges held the project up. In 2014, Sainsbury's pulled out of the project and were subsequently taken to court by Rovers. Sainsbury's won the court case and appeal that followed leaving the entire project again in doubt. In August 2017 following the takeover of the club by the Al-Qadi family, and extensive negotiations with the UWE, the club announced that it was no longer looking to build a new stadium in collaboration with the UWE but would once again explore redeveloping the Memorial Stadium instead. Before the 2019/20 League One campaign, Rovers redeveloped the bar under the Poplar Insulation stand and subsequently reopened it as a "club superstore". The new club bar was opened in the place of the former club shop. Average attendances References External links Bristol Rovers — Official website The Memorial Ground, Flickr Group Photographic record of the Memorial Stadium Bristol Football Club (RFU), Dave Fox and Mark Hoskins, 2 vols., Tempus Publishing Bristol Rovers: The Definitive History 1883–2003, Stephen Byrne and Mike Jay, Tempus Publishing Football venues in Bristol Rugby union stadiums in England Bristol Rovers F.C. Bristol Bears Rugby League World Cup stadiums Sports venues completed in 1921 English Football League venues