Old Patesians Rugby Club have agonised but have come to the conclusion that they have little choice but to move a number of their home 1st team league fixtures away from Everest Road this season.

That is the belief of new chairman Matt Cape who said the two pitches at the ground had “deteriorated significantly” over the past few years.

The Pats will play eight of their 13 home games in South West Premier at the Prince of Wales Stadium and just five at Everest Road.

They play their second game at the Prince of Wales Stadium – which is also used by Gloucester One side Smiths – tomorrow when they host Brixham having lost 50-0 to Bournemouth at the ground on the opening day of the season.

“We no longer have two quality pitches,” said Cape of the facilities at Everest Road. “They have deteriorated significantly in recent years and certainly the 2nd team pitch has appreciably deteriorated.

“The 1st XV pitch takes a lot of wear and tear. The 2nd XV pitch has posts on it but the first sign of rain and the pitch is likely to be deemed unplayable by referees.”

Everest Road is owned by Cheltenham Borough Council and Cape said that the pitches required significant investment which is outside the club’s control, adding that the unusually hot, dry summer had exacerbated the problems.

“We were forced to seek alternative solutions,” said Cape. “By moving some games to the Prince of Wales Stadium, we will free up the 1st XV pitch for cup games and 2nd and 3rd XV games, reducing wear and tear across the two pitches.

“It was a group decision. We considered soldiering on, however, all agreed that was no longer an option and the increased risk of games being cancelled forced us to do something different.

“When the bad weather comes it would mean an increasing number of games at significant risk of being cancelled and that’s not compatible with National League rugby.

“We run three senior teams plus an occasional vets’ team and have over 600 children playing tag or junior rugby associated with the club. Even if the two pitches at Everest Road were top quality they would struggle to support this demand.”

The Pats have just won promotion to South West Premier after winning South West One East last season and have for a good number of years been the highest ranked club in terms of league status in the Cheltenham and District Combination.

And as they climbed the divisions in the late 90s and early noughties a good part of that success was built around their impressive home form with many visiting teams finding it hard to adjust to the sloping, muddy pitch – particularly if the rain and wind was sweeping in from the nearby Leckhampton Hill.

Cape, a former player himself, knows how important that has been in the past but equally has his eyes very much on the future.

“Everest Road is part of our identity,” he said, “but it is only one part. Our focus is to retain our league position and unique identity and currently we’re doing that despite the playing surface at Everest Road.

“Our focus is to find a solution where the facilities support our aspirations and support the demand of an ever growing membership.”

That’s not an easy problem to solve, of course, so what does Cape see as the options for the club going forward?

“Faced with the situation we are in there is no ideal solution because we don’t have limitless funds,” admitted Cape. “We will continue to try to find pragmatic short-term solutions, while exploring longer term possibilities.

“But if you ask what our options are, they are to work with the council to explore upgrading Everest Road, find another site to develop or play on another existing site in the south of Cheltenham so we can continue to serve our community.

“In an ideal world we would be able to create two or three more pitches at Everest Road but sadly that is not possible.

“We will seek what’s best for the club, our members and the community we serve. We are a community club and we are part of the community.”

The Pats are continuing to train at Everest Road and they also played a pre-season friendly there against Lydney, which they won, but Cape said the plan was to move the Tuesday night training sessions to Cheltenham’s artificial grass pitch at The Newlands once the nights draw in.

And despite the flagship team’s difficult start to the season – they lost 52-12 at Bracknell on Saturday – Cape remains confident that they will succeed in South West Premier this season .

“I am confident that we can operate at this level,” he said. “I have confidence in the players and the coaching staff. It will take us a month or so to find our feet but I believe we can do that.

“It is the job of the volunteers to ensure the players and coaches have the support they need to perform at this level.”

Cape, who took over from Michael Angell as chairman only a couple of weeks ago, has other things on his ‘to do’ list including securing more fixtures for the vets’ team and continued mass participation across the juniors.

One of the big plusses in the junior section is the number of volunteers who work so hard to make it possible and Cape is keen to roll out that blueprint across the whole club.

“Any club is only as strong as its volunteer base,” he said. “It’s very strong in the juniors and we’re really keen to encourage past members to play a more active role, in any way they can, to support the seniors.”