OldBlueLady
Junior Blues Coordinator⭐⭐
No chance. Even if work started tomorrow its too small a time frame.
I agree, now, if he'd have said "last FULL season...." then I might agree with him!
No chance. Even if work started tomorrow its too small a time frame.
No chance. Even if work started tomorrow its too small a time frame.
City lease the Ricoh at a whopping 1.3 million per year payable to the council....the club has no income from food and bar sales,restaurant ,hotel or casino on site,Corp facilities,concerts.........merchandise and tickets are the only income.
Any cup revenue I would imagine goes into paying rent which at nearly £30,000 per week is mental.
Ok... firstly Coventry's landlords are Wasps and not Coventry council. Secondly, Coventry weren't paying that £1.3m rent anyway so none of any cup revenue that they generated went into paying it.
Interesting thing about the Ricoh stadium and what we can learn from it is that Wasps bought it because they were only earning 10p in the pound on matchday (non-ticket) revenue in High Wycombe and wanted all of that money plus the potential to earn 365 days a year from events, concerts etc. And that Coventry City FC still have plans to move from there because they know that their prospects for the future are wholly linked to owning their own ground for the exact same reasons.
The idea of a nice shiny stadium appeals to me, obviously, and I recognise that it has been this dream and the surrounding money associated with the development which has kept us alive the last 15 years but until we understand how the ownership of the ground will work and what revenue streams, if any, the club will have access to then it is no guarantee of success or prosperity for the Club.
I have heard a few mutterings that next season will be our last at Roots Hall and we will be in the new stadium for the 2018/2019 season.
It's simple really.
New stadiums don't win you games or trophies. They do however offer more to the paying fan and that is what entices bums on seats, well partly great facilities and what's on the pitch.
It also gives you room to grow. Roots hall Is great and we love it but we will not get gates of over 10500 on a regular basis at any level. We just don't have the space to accommodate. A new ground may not be filled very often but it's better to have ambition than be unable to fulfill that ambition.
Essex has a huge catchment area which is vastly armchair hammers, but the chance to sample live footy down the road at a reasonable price in a great stadium will entice quite a few. A trip to roots hall Is nostalgic at best. The view is poor in certain stands. The facilities are God awful. The catering and bars are not fit for purpose.
Nobody is saying that a new stadium is a guarantee of better players and higher football levels, but it would increase our chances for sure.
We havent even had planning agreed, or even submitted the plan so dont see how thats possible.
Saturday showed that even in Roots Hall with a decent season we can fill out the home end.
The potential for growth is certainly there, not sure how a 3 stand stadium (if thats even still the plan) would help for now though.
Just to be clear, Coventry City never owned the Ricoh. The stadium was built as a joint-venture between the City Council and the Alan Higgs Trust (a local Charity that is involved in a number of sports centres and facilities across the City).
Re. FF, there is absolutely no way on Earth we could be in the new stadium by 18/19.
As an extremely crude timeline, you can probably assume the following:
Obtain planning permission / undergo various stages of public consultation (if/where necessary) - 6-9 months
Tender for Contractor / pre-contract due dilligence (even in the event that Ron had previously selected a preferred contractor) - 4 months
Site set-up - 2 months
Stadium (only) build - 18 months
The above is on the basis that we have an agreement in place with BL / other stakeholders on the phasing and delivery of the enabling development which is their payback.
Don't like the idea of an East-West pitch, most stadia are South-North orientated....unless free sunglasses are being provided for those in the (proposed) main stand?