Coventry to play in Rugby on the historic Webb Ellis Road

Coventry Bears are to move four home games to Rugby, where the sport was founded by William Webb Ellis way back in the 19th century.

The Bears current home at Butts Park Arena is to be unavailable until the end of the season due to the decision of Coventry RFC to lay a full artificial grass pitch.

The game with Doncaster on Saturday June 29th will move to Broadstreet RFC, with the games against Hunslet (July 14th), Keighley (August 4th), Oldham (September 1st) and Whitehaven (September 8th) all being moved to The Rugby Football Club on Webb Ellis Road (CV22 7AU).

In a statement, owner Alan Robinson said: “We understand that this has been a difficult time for supporters, and I would like to apologise for the inconvenience, but we must focus on the positives that can often come from adversity like this.

“We hope to negotiate a new tenure at the BPA later this year on a new AGP pitch with Coventry RFC.

“We have another opportunity to take the club on the road and showcase rugby league at a well-known and famous facility.

“We hope to work with supporters and our supporters club to ensure fans have as little disruption as possible to travel to Rugby.”

Webb Ellis is regarded as the inventor of rugby football while a pupil at Rugby School, and the William Webb Ellis Cup is presented to the winners of the Rugby (Union) World Cup.

Born in Salford, Webb Ellis was said to have picked up the ball during a game of football in 1823, leading to the creation of rugby.

Webb Ellis Road is the home of Rugby Lions, who play in the sixth tier of the English rugby union system, and has a capacity of 1,000.

Coventry Bears were formed in 1998 and have been playing at Butts Park Arena since 2004, when the stadium was built.

They have played in League 1 since 2015.