Cheltenham Tigers are hoping to train on the new artificial grass pitch at The Newlands for the first time on Thursday.

That will be a big moment for club chairman Steve Ratcliffe and so many people connected with the club after so many years of hard work, although training on the new pitch on Thursday is subject to World Rugby Accreditation.

“Yes, it will be special,” said Ratcliffe. “I think David Evans and myself had a vision when we bought The Newlands in 2007.

“We got planning permission for the artificial grass pitch in 2010 and we’ve spent a lot of time getting to where we are today. I’m delighted.”

The Western Counties North club, under the new management team of Ross Nelmes (first-team manager), Leroy Hughes (head coach) and Jack Petelo (coach), will obviously play all their home games on the AGP but they will only train on it on Thursdays. On Tuesdays they will train on one of the adjacent grass pitches at The Newlands.

“There are two reasons for that,” added Ratcliffe. “One is this that we will still be playing all our away games on grass pitches and secondly it is part of the agreement with the RFU that we allow other clubs to train on the AGP.

“This pitch isn’t just for Cheltenham, it’s for all rugby clubs in the area.”

And Ratcliffe is certainly hoping as many organisations as possible – schools, rugby clubs or whoever – make use of the new facility.

“We hope everyone embraces it,” he said. “It should mean more games, more training, more participation and there should be fewer postponed fixtures.

“Other clubs can use the pitch rather than face a backlog of fixtures at the end of the season when there are also cup games to consider as well.”

The first pre-season friendly on the new pitch is on Saturday 11th August against Cornish side Liskeard and Looe, where former Cheltenham prop Neil Bayliss is head coach and Evesham in a triangular fixture.

A week later Oxford Harlequins play at The Newlands and the club’s pre-season programme is completed when Worcester Wanderers are the visitors on Thursday 23rd August.

So does Ratcliffe think the new artificial grass pitch will give Cheltenham an advantage this season?

“I don’t know to be honest,” he said. “Five or 10 years ago I’d have said ‘yes’ but most players these days know all about artificial pitches, especially the younger ones.

“And when we go away we’ll still be playing on grass pitches which in the middle of winter will be very muddy so we’ll have to adapt to a different scenario.”