Coventry City announce new stadium partnership with University of Warwick

Coventry City Football Club has announced a deal that will see the University of Warwick provide land for the construction of a new stadium.

The Sky Blues spent the 2019-20 season in Birmingham, playing their home matches at St Andrew’s after failing to strike a deal with Ricoh Arena owners Wasps Group.

Coventry City Council has been in dispute with the club’s owners Sisu after it sold a 250-year leasehold of the Ricoh Arena to Wasps in 2014, with Sisu maintaining the authority had undervalued the stadium by almost £30m when it was sold to Wasps Rugby Club for £21m.

But today, Coventry City Football Club and the University of Warwick announced a partnership, which would see the university provide land to the club for the development of a new stadium.

They said that while an exact site has yet to be agreed, its proximity would be on the agricultural field area of the University of Warwick land on its main campus at the southwest edge of Coventry.

The club will own and be entirely responsible for the cost of the stadium and its operation while receiving all stadium revenues it generates.

A statement said: “Both the University and the Club are committed to a visionary, environmentally friendly stadium in terms of materials, energy, noise, building and of course access. We envision supporters arriving at the stadium through a new light rail station at the ground running alongside a new link road.

”This will require significant discussion and partnership work with all surrounding local authorities, the West Midlands Combined Local Authority and the Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP), to ensure the funding and support is there to provide that infrastructure.

”The Club and the University wanted to make people aware of this exciting new development as soon as possible and hope that in doing so, it will pave the way to many discussions needed with a range of partners to progress this project.”