Exclusive: Wael Al Qadi makes Bristol Rovers stadium revelation & drops new Hussain Al Saeed claims | OneFootball

Wael Al Qadi has responded to criticism from supporters and revealed new details on his failed plans for a new stadium

Former Bristol Rovers owner Wael Al Qadi has opened up on his decision to sell his shares in the football club, and on behind-the-scenes efforts to achieve a new stadium for the club.

During a lengthy interview with Football League World, Al Qadi responded to criticism of his due diligence when agreeing to sell the club to the Kuwaiti businessman Hussain Al Saeed, as well as at his handling of the failed attempts to build a new stadium away from the club's current home, the Memorial Stadium. Al Qadi also provided new information on where those attempts went wrong.

"Stringent" EFL due diligence around Bristol Rovers deal

It's one of the biggest criticisms of the former Bristol Rovers owner since his exit.

With the downward spiral the club has been on, his choice to sell his shares to Al Saeed has come under increasing scrutiny. Al Qadi would speak of the tough tests conducted by the EFL, as well as his trips to visit the Kuwaiti in Kuwait.

In addition to his own meetings with Al Saeed, Al Qadi said that the EFL conducted the strongest assessment, telling FLW: “Due diligence is done by the regulator at the EFL with the owner and director test, which is a very stringent process and covers all areas, especially financial sustainability. They were on-boarded without any problems.

“In addition to that, they are required to provide proof of funds not only covering the acquisition but also proof to sustain the club moving forward for a whole year ahead. To give credit where credit is due, they were the only party to provide all that info in a very satisfactory way and in a short time, in my experience.”

He continued: “The EFL have a thorough process to the extent they outsource to specialist firms. This is in addition to my visit to see them in Kuwait, where I found them to be good people with successful businesses in real estate but with no experience in football.”

Stressing that his relationship with the elder Al Saeed wasn't the issue, Al Qadi remains confident that Hussain is a good man with good intentions. He said: “Hussain is a really good guy, self-made, hardworking, he loves his football. For me, Hussain is a really good guy.”

Al Qadi was also asked during the interview about criticisms of his handling of the failed stadium attempts both with the University of the West of England, and at the Fruit Market site in St Phillips.

Talk of a new stadium is almost as storied as the football club itself. Whether it’s moving from Eastville, Twerton Park or the Memorial Stadium, this issue seems to be ever-present for whoever owns the club.

The story of the plan for a stadium at the University of the West of England also has many chapters.

Al Qadi took over following the conclusion of the high court battle against the supermarket chain Sainsbury's, with the club losing an appeal against the chain ending their agreement to buy the Memorial Stadium, which left Rovers forced to rethink their plans.

For his part, Al Qadi said that although the club would initially pull the plug on their plan with UWE, there was in fact a second attempt some years later to rekindle that deal — but it was stymied by the UWE Board of Trustees.

Al Qadi said: “So let's go back to before the fruit market — to UWE Part 1. You know that we pulled the plug on that because the terms weren’t favourable for the club, but what people don't know is we spent another two years through the developer who we had the deal with for the fruit market, trying to rekindle the UWE agreement, and we agreed with UWE.

“But it turns out that the board of trustees didn't want a stadium on their campus, so you know breaking news that was the board of trustees. We spent two years and lots of expenses agreeing with the university as a sort of UWE part two — only to be stymied by the board of trustees.”

Hussain Al Saeed NOT responsible for Fruit Market plan collapse

Al Qadi would then go onto reveal that, contrary to a widely held belief among Gasheads that it was Hussain Al Saeed who pulled the plug on the Fruit Market Stadium plan, it was in fact the developer “out-of-the-blue”.

“So, we come back, the developer says, 'give me time, let's do this deal, but in another place in Bristol,' and 2–3 years later, finally the fruit market deal happens. Hussain had, I think it was two meetings with the head of the development company in London, and it was always going well. We were talking specifics, about what are we going to fill the spaces with, what kind of shops and what have you, and the capacity. And then you know, a very short time later, we just received out-of-the-blue 'development is not happening now'.

“Why did that happen? I have no idea. Did the company foresee the economic downturn that happened in the UK? I have no idea. Did they pull out because of other issues we would never know, but it was totally out of our hands.”

Al Qadi also revealed some of his thinking around what would be built, adding: “I was looking at a 22,000-seater stadium with 3,000 corporate seating to bring in extra revenue. Along with utilising areas for non-matchday income with revenue coming in from outlets serving the community of the new residential Fruit Market. Those were the details we were talking to with the developer about the stadium design after we agreed the stadium deal. “

Al Qadi now joins the ever-increasing list of owners who have tried – and failed – to secure Bristol Rovers a stadium to match the ambition. And the recent announcement that the club is once again exploring options, this is an issue that looks set to rumble on.