Whaddon Road groundshare in doubt

Bristol Rovers had planned to share Cheltenham's Whaddon Road for 18 months

Bristol Rovers chairman Ron Craig says their planned ground-share with Cheltenham Town is not a done deal.

In a statement released on the club's website, he said: "The fact is that the board has, since last season, continually looked at our options.

"It is important that we look to do the best we can, in order to mitigate the disruption caused by moving away."

Rovers had planned to share Whaddon Road from January, but building work at the Memorial Stadium was delayed.

Interview: Cheltenham Town chairman Paul Baker

606: DEBATE Cheltenham would be my choice but then I will watch the gas where ever they will be! AH84

The club statement continued: "We need to be sure that the option chosen is the right one and delivers minimum disruption to our fans, and maximum opportunity for the club to stage the bigger matches that could be part of our division next season.

"We are not, as yet, in a position to contract with any club on ground sharing, and will not be able to do so until the new planning permission is obtained in April.

"In the meantime we will explore all possibilities to make our 18 months exile more palatable."

Earlier, Cheltenham Town chairman Paul Baker responded to speculation that Bristol Rovers could ground-share with Swindon.

Cheltenham chairman Paul Baker has had no formal discussions with Rovers since January

Baker told BBC Radio Gloucestershire that it is too soon to say whether or not Cheltenham's deal to share Whaddon Road with Rovers is dead in the water.

"There seemed no reason why it [the deal] wouldn't be resurrected for the coming season," Baker said.

"It would have been nice to have been kept in the loop if they have been having discussions with Swindon," he added.

"I'm disappointed if this is the case, and that on Saturday (when Cheltenham played Rovers) they weren't more up front and said that they had concerns and were looking elsewhere.

"Their own ground situation hasn't been resolved yet. There is a planning meeting in early April, and they've got to get past that hurdle first.

"There could be issues with Rovers sharing at Swindon - particularly from a police point of view - and it's public knowledge that Bristol City aren't willing to share.

"We're not saying a ground share at Cheltenham is not still available, but if they are going elsewhere, we're disappointed that they didn't tell us that was their view."