Post by Antonio Fargas on Mar 21, 2017 16:05:27 GMT
Might be our last chance to see the Ricoh:
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39342738
Coventry City chairman Tim Fisher says the relegation-threatened League One club are still planning to leave the Ricoh Arena - and share Coventry Rugby's Butts Park Arena.
He told a Sky Blue Trust supporters' meeting on Monday night that Coventry RFC chairman Jon Sharp has now agreed in principle to the move.
City are currently contracted to stay as tenants at the Ricoh until 2018.
And Fisher admitted club owners Sisu have cancelled plans for a new ground.
"We weren't able to close a land deal on our own stadium - full stop," he told the meeting.
"But we have spent a lot of time working with the Football League and Coventry Rugby Club to develop a stadium which would be more than ample in terms of capacity."
"It's the preferred option because it keeps us in the city. We are committed to staying in Coventry.
"Jon Sharp has made a statement over the last day or so which shows his commitment, as long as we have some form of mediation. If he can accommodate the football club, and all the infrastructure challenges, then that's what they will do.
"As long as there is a breakout of peace, I believe the Butts Park Arena is an option for a Coventry RFC and Coventry City groundshare."
Questions remain to be answered over the possible upgrade and renovation of a ground which, on Fisher's own estimate, could have a capacity of "anything from 12,000 up to 25,000."
But the renewed talk of the Butts Park Arena, closer to the centre of the city, does appear a step forward for the club's long-suffering fans.
Although over 40,000 tickets have been sold for City's first trip to the new Wembley for the EFL Trophy final against Oxford United on 2 April, they are rock bottom of League One, having won just five of their 38 games this season under four different managers.
And relegation to League Two could be confirmed as early as the end of this week.
If they lose at home to Port Vale on Tuesday night and to Bristol Rovers on Saturday, and if one of Vale, Gillingham or Shrewsbury win on Saturday, they would drop into English football's bottom tier for the first time since 1959.
Apart from spending the 2013-14 season in exile in Northampton following their fall-out with the then Ricoh Arena owners ACL, the Sky Blues have played at the stadium on the outskirts of the city since leaving their old Highfield Road home in 2005.
After returning to the stadium in 2014, they then had a change of landlords when Premiership rugby giants Wasps took over the running following the London-based club's move from High Wycombe to Coventry.
The Butts Park Arena is currently home to three teams, Coventry RFC, semi-professional rugby league side Coventry Bears and non-league side Coventry United, who play in the Midland Football League Premier Division, having been formed in 2013 by disillusioned Sky Blues fans, in reaction to the move to Northampton.
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39342738
Coventry City chairman Tim Fisher says the relegation-threatened League One club are still planning to leave the Ricoh Arena - and share Coventry Rugby's Butts Park Arena.
He told a Sky Blue Trust supporters' meeting on Monday night that Coventry RFC chairman Jon Sharp has now agreed in principle to the move.
City are currently contracted to stay as tenants at the Ricoh until 2018.
And Fisher admitted club owners Sisu have cancelled plans for a new ground.
"We weren't able to close a land deal on our own stadium - full stop," he told the meeting.
"But we have spent a lot of time working with the Football League and Coventry Rugby Club to develop a stadium which would be more than ample in terms of capacity."
"It's the preferred option because it keeps us in the city. We are committed to staying in Coventry.
"Jon Sharp has made a statement over the last day or so which shows his commitment, as long as we have some form of mediation. If he can accommodate the football club, and all the infrastructure challenges, then that's what they will do.
"As long as there is a breakout of peace, I believe the Butts Park Arena is an option for a Coventry RFC and Coventry City groundshare."
Questions remain to be answered over the possible upgrade and renovation of a ground which, on Fisher's own estimate, could have a capacity of "anything from 12,000 up to 25,000."
But the renewed talk of the Butts Park Arena, closer to the centre of the city, does appear a step forward for the club's long-suffering fans.
Although over 40,000 tickets have been sold for City's first trip to the new Wembley for the EFL Trophy final against Oxford United on 2 April, they are rock bottom of League One, having won just five of their 38 games this season under four different managers.
And relegation to League Two could be confirmed as early as the end of this week.
If they lose at home to Port Vale on Tuesday night and to Bristol Rovers on Saturday, and if one of Vale, Gillingham or Shrewsbury win on Saturday, they would drop into English football's bottom tier for the first time since 1959.
Apart from spending the 2013-14 season in exile in Northampton following their fall-out with the then Ricoh Arena owners ACL, the Sky Blues have played at the stadium on the outskirts of the city since leaving their old Highfield Road home in 2005.
After returning to the stadium in 2014, they then had a change of landlords when Premiership rugby giants Wasps took over the running following the London-based club's move from High Wycombe to Coventry.
The Butts Park Arena is currently home to three teams, Coventry RFC, semi-professional rugby league side Coventry Bears and non-league side Coventry United, who play in the Midland Football League Premier Division, having been formed in 2013 by disillusioned Sky Blues fans, in reaction to the move to Northampton.