Immediate future remains at Titans’ spiritual Clifton Lane home

Rotherham Titans will continue to play at Clifton Lane next season, but accept their long-term future may still lay away from their spiritual home.
Rotherham Titans are staying at Clifton Lane, for another year at least.Rotherham Titans are staying at Clifton Lane, for another year at least.
Rotherham Titans are staying at Clifton Lane, for another year at least.

A second successive play-off campaign for the South Yorkshire club unfolded under a cloud of uncertainty regarding where they would be playing next season.

Rotherham Athletic Company, the leaseholders of Clifton Lane, had issued new terms for the Titans to sign by September that the club feared would mean the end of professional rugby on a ground that is also used for the town’s cricket club.

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The club began searching for a new home, primarily outside of the town, but talks with the Athletic Company have resulted in a continuation of the existing lease that will not only keep the Titans in Rotherham for another season, but also gives them longer to search for a new permanent base.

“We have arrived at this conclusion through constructive dialogue,” said chairman Nick Cragg.

“Those negotiations are continuing but us staying at Clifton Lane for next season is as definite as it can be.

“Next season may still be our last year though. We need to grow. But it is good to be staying at our spiritual home.”

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Cragg and fellow director Martin Jenkinson announced last month that they were putting the club up for sale and report that “expressions of interest” have been registered by a number of parties.

They have also begun interviewing for a new head coach following Lee Blackett’s departure with Cragg insisting they will not be rushed, nor compromise on anything in their search for the ideal candidate.