Reaction: Sky Blues announce campus stadium proposals

It was announced yesterday that Coventry City and the University of Warwick had come to an agreement that will see the University provide land for the construction of a new, 20,000-seater stadium. From Coventry’s perspective, the construction of a new stadium will finally mean a move away from the Ricoh Arena, a ground that has become synonymous with the club’s mismanagement over recent years.

The announcement of this new stadium, coupled with the club’s promotion to the Championship, perhaps signals the dawning of a new era for the Sky Blues as they seek to ascend to the former heights of their glory days in the Premier League.

Amongst the Coventry supporters, the decision has largely been met with some relief, although, naturally, there is also some trepidation as to the validity of the deal. This is understandable considering the trauma of recent years—Coventry will have had two stadiums built for them within two decades—but this deal does seem to be genuine.

Its proximity would be on the agricultural field area of the University

– Joint Statement

This is due to the fact that within the statement, some concrete details seem to have already been ironed out. Amongst these is the fact that, although the two bodies have yet to agree an exact site, the official Coventry joint statement outlines that the stadium’s “proximity would be on the agricultural field area of the University of Warwick land on its main campus at the southwest edge of Coventry.”

Speculatively, this suggests that the ground will be placed somewhere in the fields to the west of the Sport and Wellness Hub. Additionally, the statement also says that there will be a ‘new light rail station at the ground’, coupled with a ‘new link road’. These are concrete plans that can provide some hope that we will steadily see this stadium start to emerge over the next five years.

This news will also have a huge impact on the lives of Warwick students. None of the students who are at the university at the moment are likely to see the stadium during their time at the university, and the emergence of a new stadium will only really provide an interesting addition to the University’s skyline. The only possible hinderance to our day-to-day lives would be the sounds of drills and the sight of cranes, although this is something we have anyway become used to in recent years.

The campus will become a packed thoroughfare of supporters

Instead, and for me quite unfortunately, it will be students who step across the University’s threshold in three to six years-time who will enjoy the unique experience of football becoming a commanding feature of campus life. The campus, which on a Saturday is usually quite quiet, with only a few students traipsing back and forth from the library, will become a packed thoroughfare of supporters making their way to support their local team.

At around 2pm, some will come walking whilst others will be driving (if they have decided the light rail is not for them), and the grey surroundings of the university will suddenly become awash with Sky Blue, something that will hopefully add a unique element to university life. In the future, should the club ever make it back to the Premier League, international stars could come driving down Gibbet Hill Road in their coaches, and that, for me, is the stuff of dreams.

People who prefer peace and quiet will probably rue this news, but it should not have a major impact on their lives, being away from the centre of campus. Should you want to ignore the presence of the stadium, its slight detachment should make this relatively easy, with the sound of chanting and singing muffled by distance. For those of us who miss live football when at university, however, we will be able to embrace our local team.

For Warwick, the stadium offers a unique element of university life

Rather interestingly, an ulterior motive for Coventry could be that this move could have a major impact on improving their fanbase. The presence of live football, coupled with relatively cheap, student rate tickets, will likely provide a decent amount of people who, week to week, will head down to the stadium to support the team.

The fact that Warwick has such a large international community of students will mean that Coventry, in the future, could have a decent following of supporters from around the world. A greater attendance on matchday and revenue through the likes of shirt sales can only be a positive for the club in years to come.

Although it will undoubtedly increase the already intense hustle and bustle of the university, for me, this move is only for the good, for both the University and the Club. For Coventry, it ushers in a new era. For Warwick, it offers a unique element of university life that few others around the globe will be able to match.

Yes, building on greenfield is, in my opinion, never a good thing. But both parties are committed to building an environmentally friendly stadium that, in the future, will provide a new, international following for this amazing club.