Plans have been submitted to create a new home for Edinburgh Rugby at BT Murrayfield.

Scottish Rugby is proposing to install a new 7,800-capacity venue within the grounds of the sports stadium, located on a section of currently used as training pitches.

The fan-focussed, playing venue will incorporate a new 3G surface and covered spectator stands around all four sides of the ground. Scottish Rugby has designed the project using flexible infrastructure and is open to making the space available to other users from the wider rugby community in Scotland, and the possibility of other sports as well.

Chief Operating Officer, Dominic McKay, said: "We are incredibly excited to be in a position to be able to submit this application to give Edinburgh a new home.

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"After many years of exhausting all the potential stadium and playing ground options for Edinburgh in the local area, we have taken the initiative and will be investing ourselves to develop a venue that can help the team to grow and provide a great spectator experience.

"We are fortunate to have space within the BT Murrayfield campus to comfortably accommodate this planned new facility and retain practice pitches for all elements of rugby.

"We see this as adding increased flexibility to the BT Murrayfield site and believe we have submitted a robust, sensible application and hope it will be viewed favourably."

Edinburgh Rugby Managing Director, Jonny Petrie, said: "Having just enjoyed one of the club's most positive seasons in recent times on the pitch, it is hugely exciting to announce our intentions to move to a new purpose-built new home.

"It has been a consistent challenge to grow the club without our own ground and we now have developed plans that meet the needs of our fans and reflect the direction we want the team to be moving in.

"We have given ourselves the opportunity to fully engage with rugby fans across the city and beyond and deliver a matchday experience that merits their growing support."

Scottish Rugby said the application for the new stadium has been submitted to City of Edinburgh Council today, 31 May, with a further update on developments anticipated around the start of the 2018/19 season.

(LM)