Coventry City heading for home

COVENTRY City’s exile from playing home games in its own city will soon be at an end.

The club has agreed a two-year deal with an option for an extra two years and should return for the Gillingham match on September 6.

The Sky Blues have played their home games 35 miles away in Northampton since the beginning of last season following a dispute with stadium owner ACL.

One of the major elements of that dispute was a disagreement about rent but last week Coventry City paid £471,192 in unpaid rent to ACL and most observers believed this was a major step towards a return to the Ricoh.

The two parties have been holding talks since then and now an agreement has been reached which will see professional football return to the city.

Steve Waggott, development director at Coventry City FC, said: “We are delighted to get this deal done and I am sure every supporter of Coventry City will be thrilled with this news.

“We are under no illusion what a difficult 12 months it has been for the supporters and that was uppermost in our thinking as we worked to get this deal done.

“There has had to be compromise on both sides and the commercial details of the deal will remain confidential.

“Now it is all about looking forward to a really exciting season back in the community and with a real chance of success. I am sure every supporter will want to give Steven Pressley, his staff and players their full backing for the season at the Ricoh.

“Logistically, it’s going to mean a huge amount of work between now and the first game back and we would ask supporters to bear with us as all of our efforts up to now have been in getting this deal over the line to get us back to Coventry as soon as possible.”