London Irish Get License To Play At Brentford's Proposed New Stadium

Rugby Football Union Championship side London Irish's "return to the capital appears a step closer" after its application to play at League Championship side Brentford's proposed new stadium was approved, according to the BBC. Hounslow Borough Council met on Thursday to consider a rugby license for the Lionel Road site. Brentford hopes to leave its Griffin Park home and move to the 20,000-capacity stadium in Aug. '19. Irish plays its home games at Reading's Madejski Stadium, and is "contracted to groundshare" until the '25-26 season. But a "get-out clause can allow the deal to break early," so the club can move to west London. Negotiations were opened in September with the council (BBC, 2/10).