UK Stadiums: Coventry Arena, Coventry, England
Joji Imamiya
The Coventry Building Society Arena (often shortened to the CBS Arena) in Coventry, West Midlands, England, is a 32,609-seater stadium and the home of Coventry City Football Club. The stadium, formerly known as the Ricoh Arena, is accompanied by many non-football-related facilities. These include an exhibition hall, a hotel and a casino. One of the UK's largest Tesco Extra hypermarkets is also located here.
The CBS opened in 2005, replacing Coventry's previous ground, Highfield Road. Arena Coventry Limited (ACL) initially owned and operated the stadium.
During London 2012, the CBS was renamed the City of Coventry Stadium and hosted several football matches. Coventry was the venue for the women's bronze medal match between Canada and France. Arsenal's 2011 Women's FA Cup against Bristol Academy was also played here.
Stands
The four stands in the CBS are as follows; the North, the South, the West and the East.
The North Stand opened as the Coventry Evening Telegraph stand, but once the newspaper's contract ended, it was renamed as such. Vocal City fans occupy this stand. The stand was closed for multiple seasons, but once Coventry's form improved, the club reopened it from 2021-22.
The South Stand is for away followers. In 2018, the stand's capacity was reduced when the stadium installed a new electronic board, replacing the old screen between the South and the East stands.
The West Stand is the most luxurious. It is the only area with cushioned seats; hotel guests can view the match action from their windows. Seating for directors and the media is in this section.
The East Stand is distinct for its black seats that spell certain advertisements or club nicknames. The seats first outlined the words Ricoh but were rearranged to Wasps when Coventry Building Society took over. Following the Wasps' bankruptcy and Mike Ashley's purchase, the word Frasers was inscribed.
Facilities
The 121-bedroom DoubleTree by Hilton Coventry Building Society Arena hotel is right next to the arena. 50 of the 121 rooms have a pitch-side view. For the guests, The Singers Bar & Bistro is available, equipped with a restaurant, bar area and coffee lounge.
The underground casino contains the standalone Show Bar, providing live entertainment sporadically. Customers can head to the 120-seater poker room for blackjack, roulette and slots.
Tesco owns the Arena Shopping Park, a shopping mall that houses many prominent stores, such as Next, Currys, and Marks and Spencer. The standout is the large Tesco Extra shop.
History
Coventry City (nicknamed the Sky Blues) came to being as Singers F.C. in 1883 following a meeting between the members of the Singer Gentleman's club. They changed to their current name in 1898 and joined the Football League in 1919.
Coventry City was one of the clubs in the area linked to the city's bicycle factories, with George Singer as president. Coventry chose Stoke Road Ground as their new venue in 1887, a ground which had rudimentary stands.
Highfield Road
The club moved to Highfield Road in 1899, but in what turned out to be a bleak omen, the arena caused financial hardship. Coventry had to constantly reapply to gain membership in the local leagues. These hard times were characterized by a 2-11 drubbing at the hands of Berwick Rangers, Coventry's biggest loss to date.
In 1931-32, Coventry had assembled a lethal team in front of goal, earning the tag of "The Old Five" for scoring five or more goals on numerous occasions. At the forefront of that attacking force was Clarrie Bourton, who scored a whopping 49 league goals.
Coventry had to abandon football in September 1939 due to the outbreak of World War II. Many fans bemoaned the decision as the club was on an upward trajectory, and promotion to the top light had looked like a real possibility. The truth was that it was early in the season, so there was no guarantee, and the sale of Bourton meant Coventry were a less effective side up top.
The modern history of Coventry kicked into gear in the late 1950s with the appointment of Derrick Robins as chairman and Jimmy Hill as manager in 1961. With Hill in charge, Coventry now had a new kit and nickname and added pre-match entertainment. Coventry owe a lot to Hill since it was under him in 1966-67 that the Sky Blues clinched top-flight promotion by topping the second division.
Coventry's best season in the top flight came under the stewardship of Noel Cantwell, finishing sixth. That was rewarded with an Inter-Cities Fairs Cup tie against Bayern Munich the following season, but they were brushed aside by the Bavarians 3-7 on aggregate. Coventry played their first major semi-final versus West Ham in the League Cup in 1981.
Jimmy Hill
Jimmy Hill got involved in Coventry's affairs in 1980 as chairman. In 1981, Hill reshaped Highfield Road into an all-seater stadium, the first of its kind in England. Hill made many supporters unhappy when he announced the proposal to change the club's name to Coventry Talbot due to their sponsorship. The Football Association rejected this idea. By this time, Hill had become a hate figure and was ousted in 1983. Two years later, terraces returned to Highfield Road as it became clear that hooliganism had not been stamped out with the renovation. Still, despite the problems behind the scenes, Coventry kept a capable and competitive team in the first tier.
1987 FA Cup Final
Coventry won their sole major trophy in 1987 after overcoming Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 in an unforgettable FA Cup final. Clive Allen, who was bang in form, scored his 49th goal of the season for Spurs with only two minutes played. The Midlands outfit hit back quickly with a Dave Bennett effort. Tottenham manager David Pleat admitted his side was in "a lovely position" after the half-time whistle as Spurs went into the break ahead after Garry Mabbutt scored. Keith Houchen brought it back to 2-2, and the game went into extra-time. Mabbutt became the third player in FA Cup Final history to score for and against his team, with his costly error counting as the winner in a hugely entertaining affair. Sadly for Coventry, the European ban imposed on English clubs after the Heysel disaster prevented them from participating in the 1987-88 Cup Winners' Cup. As an alternative, Coventry took on St Mirren in the hopes of reviving the Anglo-Scottish Cup. But this plan proved unsuccessful, with low attendance giving the organizers no reason to continue the competition.
Premier League Era
In the Premier League era, the Sky Blues fans had to subdue their expectations as they were often mired in relegation battles. Bryan Richardson's acquisition of the club brought enough funds to lure talent to the pitch and into the dugout. Marquee signings were made in the shape of Dion Dublin, Moustapha Hadji and Robbie Keane, while famous names such as Ron Atkinson and Gordon Strachan joined as managers. But Coventry never finished higher than eleventh in the 1997-98 campaign. Rising debts forced the club to sell key players, and their 34-year spell in the top flight terminated in 2000-01 after finishing second bottom.
To overcome the mounting debt problem, Coventry sold half of its share to the Alan Higgs charity. Higgs was a local multimillionaire who acquired wealth through real estate in the Midlands. To avoid the possibility of liquidation, Sisu Capital bought out the club. Despite the purchase by Sisu, Coventry continued their slide, finding themselves in League One in 2012-13.
2016-17 Season
2016-17 was a bizarre season, suffering relegation to League Two but winning the EFL Trophy after getting the better of Oxford United in the final. Coventry occupied the fourth tier for the first time since 1959. They were not in League Two for long, climbing out of the division a season later via the playoffs, defeating Exeter City 3-1 in the 2018 final at Wembley.
Manager Mark Robins had assembled an energized team, reaching the EFL Championship after only two seasons in the third tier. Unlike the Premier League, the 2019-20 season in League One was discontinued after Covid-19, meaning the Sky Blues were back without having to play twelve matches.
City have solidified in the second division since and were one step away from the Premier League in 2022-23. Coventry had finished fifth in that campaign, facing Middlesbrough in the playoff semi-finals. There was very little to separate the two sides, but current Sheffield United star Gustavo Hamer grabbed the only goal within the two games to send Coventry through. The final with Luton Town went to the wire, with penalties deciding the victor. All eleven penalties were converted when Fankaty Dabo stepped up to keep Coventry going. His wild attempt and miss sparked orange joy in the Luton end, but nobody expected what happened next to Dabo. He received racist abuse after the match and was subsequently released.
Dabo struggled heavily to find a new club and dropped two divisions to secure a deal with Forest Green Rovers. Forest Green were in crisis mode in 2023-24, as manager Troy Deeney received criticism for his unprofessional post-match press conferences. Dabo was one of the many scapegoats and became a free agent again post-season. The former Chelsea youth player signed a short-term contract in the summer of 2024 with Raith Rovers in the Scottish second tier. Dabo is currently without a club.
On the other side of the spectrum in that Coventry team was Swedish striker Viktor Gyökeres, who has gone supernova at Sporting CP since. The Stockholm native's first English club was with Brighton, a team renowned for their scouting network. The Seagulls deemed Gyökeres too inexperienced for the Premier League, so he was let go and signed a permanent deal with Coventry. The Swede was on the scoresheet seventeen times in the 2021-22 Championship and twenty-one times in 2022-23, his last campaign in England. Indeed, these were impressive numbers, but very few foresaw Gyökeres winning the Golden Boot (named the Bola de Prata in Portugal) and the Player of the Season award. Under Ruben Amorim, Sporting had transformed into a winning machine in Portugal, and Gyökeres was and still is at the heart of it. Gyökeres is currently leading the race for the Golden Boot as of this writing.
A Season in Northampton
Coventry's second season in League One in 2013-14 was played out at Sixfields Stadium in Northampton. Ricoh Arena, at the time, was owned by Arena Coventry Limited, an amalgamation of Coventry city council and the Higgs Charity. As City was £50m in debt during their move to the Ricoh, the football club settled to pay £1.3m in rent annually. Owners Sisu Capital were displeased with the high costs, but Coventry City were desperate to gain matchday revenue to comply with Financial Fair Play.
The financial chaos gave the Football League no choice but to deduct ten points before the campaign kicked off. Coventry had an unsurprisingly underwhelming season, finishing 18th. Striker Callum Wilson was the one positive aspect, leaving for Eddie Howe's Bournemouth the following year.
Two Years in Birmingham
Coventry City returned to the Ricoh in September 2014, but things became complicated when Premiership rugby union side Wasps RFC became full-time owners of the arena soon after. Sisu claimed that the £28m sale of the Ricoh was under the correct value and asked for a judicial review of the transaction. After the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, Sisu took the complaint to the European Commission, which angered the Wasps. The landlord (Wasps) requested Sisu to end all legal proceedings, but as the matter could not be resolved before City's 2019-20 season, the football club had to find alternative venues.
City's first season at Birmingham City was a success, winning promotion to the second tier as champions. Their second and final campaign at St Andrew's concluded with a 16th-place finish.
Frank Lampard
Ex-Chelsea and England midfielder Frank Lampard led Coventry back to the promised land of the Premiership in 2026 as champions after a 25-year absence.
Players
Goalkeeper Steve "Oggy" Ogrizovic is Coventry's record appearance maker in league football and overall. He starred in Coventry's 1987 FA Cup win and was still the club's first choice at age 40 in 1997-98. To extend his playing contact for the final time, Ogrizovic signed a clause where he had to give up smoking cigarettes. Ogrizovic has also featured in professional cricket for Shropshire in the mid-1980s.
Cyrille Regis
Another member of that FA Cup-winning squad was Cyrille Regis. Famous as one of the "The Three Degrees" trio formed at West Brom alongside Laurie Cunningham and Brendon Batson, Regis was a physical threat with exceptional acceleration. Initially coming through the non-league system at Molesey and Hayes, West Bromwich fans saw the club and Regis go through a heyday spell under Ron Atkinson, who would later manage Coventry for a season. Regis engraved himself into the history books as the first Coventry player to score a winner at Anfield in a 1-0 win in 1989.
Peter Ndlovu
Peter Ndlovu was scouted by John Sillett, signing for Coventry from Highlanders in his native Zimbabwe. His impact was immediate with a goal at Arsenal and earned an early cult hero status with a piledriver against Aston Villa. Ndlovu made history as the first African to feature in the rebranded Premier League. His nickname at Coventry was 'Nuddy'. Ndlovu had fallen in the pecking order by the time he left in 1997, as the Moroccan pairing of Mustapha Hadji and Youssef Chippo provided fierce competition.
Access - Getting There
Access to the stadium became undoubtedly easier in 2016 when the Coventry Arena railway station on the Coventry-Nuneaton Line opened. It takes three minutes from the station to the arena on foot.
From the city centre, it is recommended to take routes 3 & 5 of the National Express Coventry bus service and head to Arena Park Shopping Centre.
The car park has a maximum capacity of 2,200. It is warned on the official website that no cars are allowed to move for one hour post-event.
Address: Judds Lane, Coventry CV6 6GE, UK
Nearby Hotels
In Coventry the Ramada Hotel and Suites has four stars. The ibis Coventry Centre is a three-star property.
At the top end in Birmingham try the Clayton Hotel Birmingham or the Jurys Inn on Broad Street.
See a list of hotels in Coventry.
More UK Stadiums
Kirklees Stadium (John Smith's Stadium)
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