RUFC - Paul Douglas on the move

Rotherham United's Chief Operating Officer, Paul Douglas today spoke to RotherFM and said that the club would be playing at Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield, for years rather than months.

He said that talks between the new Chairman and the landlords of Millmoor had broken down and, although he hadn't been present at the meetings thought it was mainly because of the condition of the ground.

'We'd got to the stage where we couldn't delay a decision any longer,' Mr Douglas said, 'and we needed to know what we were doing next season. It is with regret that we have to move away from Millmoor and we will be playing at Don Valley.

'The new owner made every effort to stay at Millmoor and he tried to buy the ground on a free hold or long lease or to do a deal which saw us at Millmoor until we could move into the new Community Stadium. But, he couldn't reach an agreement that was financially viable and didn't want to get into deals that would leave the club financially ruined.

'We'd been in talks, if the deal at Millmoor didn't come off, about the training facilities and we will continue with those discussion and hope to get it sorted before the players return in July.

'We hope the fans will get behind us. We know there will be more travelling for most of them but we hope they stay loyal.'