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Coventry City set to groundshare with Northampton Town

Last updated on .From the section Football comments 140

Sixfields

Coventry City have agreed a deal to groundshare at Northampton's Sixfields Stadium for the next three seasons, BBC Coventry & Warwickshire reports.

The Sky Blues will no longer play at the Ricoh Arena, despite an offer from the stadium's owners

The move is still subject to approval from the Football League.

Northampton chairman David Cardoza said: "There's some legs in this, but it's not near done and dusted."

Talking to BBC Radio Northampton, he added: "As soon as it is or isn't, I will let everybody know.

"It's speculation at the minute, but we'll see where this goes. I'm a little bit surprised about some of the stuff that's been said."

Coventry are yet to comment on the arrangement, which is expected to be discussed by the Football League on Thursday.

The deal would see City pay the Cobblers to hire the ground, which is a 34-mile drive from the Ricoh Arena, on matchdays only.

against the club moving out of the city last week.

When both sides are scheduled to play at home on the same day, the Cobblers would have preference and Coventry would have to play on a different day - a situation which occurs for 15 of Northampton's 23 scheduled home matches.

The first fixture clash occurs on the opening day of the season - Saturday, 10 August - when the Sky Blues are set to host Bristol City and the Cobblers face Newport.

Last season, Coventry attracted an average attendance of 10,948 at the Ricoh Arena, their home for the past eight years, while Sixfields has a capacity of 7,653.

However, Northampton have agreed a £12m loan from the Borough Council to allow the club to redevelop the ground and increase capacity to around 10,000.

Coventry had been looking at options for a new stadium after being involved in a rent dispute with Ricoh owners Arena Coventry Ltd (ACL) for over a year.

The League One side said they had been looking before ACL's offer of a season rent-free.

The club have been in administration since March and, despite being they to pay creditors.

ACL director Peter Knatchbull-Hugessen told BBC Coventry & Warwickshire that he believes the future of the Sky Blues depends on their ability to negotiate a CVA with creditors.

"They have not yet satisfied the Football League that they can come out of administration in accordance with the rules of the League," he said.

"They can't have done that yet as the CVA, a 35-page document with a lot of detail, only arrived on our desk late yesterday afternoon and we're starting to pore over it.

"Now is the time the Football League will start to look at the whole picture."

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140 comments

  • Comment posted by D1679309147106, at 12:07 4 Jul 2013

    I'm a Saints fan, and we seem to have developed a bit of a bond with Coventry fans, as we saw ourselves as a similar club for many years. We nearly ended up with SISU before Coventry, but when you see where Southampton are now compared to the Sky Blues, it's just incredible. I'm devastated for them, it's a great club with brilliant fans, they deserve so much better

  • Comment posted by BaggiosPonytail, at 11:42 4 Jul 2013

    Looks like Coventry are being sent to Northampton...

  • Comment posted by LostmekecksintheGmex, at 12:39 4 Jul 2013

    Any Cov fans who don't fancy this idea, and still want to support a local team - Leamington, newly promoted to Conference North, would welcome you with open arms - decent level of football now and a much friendlier atmosphere. Looking forward to Leamington at Stockport, Altrincham et al.

    Or you could go to Nuneaton I suppose.

  • Comment posted by User0696248082, at 12:59 4 Jul 2013

    As a Nuneaton fan, I have a lot of close friends that are City fans. The whole situation completely defies logic. Ever since they moved from Highfield Road, its only been going one way. I genuinely feel for them, people who say that its only 30 odd miles away, its like 23 away games, on top of 23 away games. Awful stuff.

  • Comment posted by lampshademusic, at 12:48 4 Jul 2013

    Gutted to hear this news , as a hammer fan use to love going to highfield road . Great old stadium and a genuine atmosphere there . Only went to the Ricoh stadium once and dull dull dull .....All football fans should be gutted to see a great club and fans treated this way . Hope you come home and take over the stadium and get the genuine fans running the club . Where's jimmy hill when you need him

  • Comment posted by User0305060275, at 11:57 4 Jul 2013

    A disgrace that the new owners (who are also the old owners) can continue running the club into oblivion! They tried to force the owners of the Ricoh out of business by not paying rent so they could buy it on the cheap but that didn't work so now this! If the FL allow this to happen then they're not fit for purpose and no club is safe from SISU and their ilk!

  • Comment posted by Twoplayer, at 13:23 4 Jul 2013

    @42 This is not another Leeds or Portsmouth. Coventry have not spent millions chasing success on the pitch. Their hedge fund owners have created a company structure so confusing that they are able to place themselves in administration, charge themselves management fees in the order of millions and buy themselves out of administration. Even liquidation may leave them as owners of the club.

  • Comment posted by User0991381981, at 14:41 4 Jul 2013

    Sisu never had any interest in a money losing club, they are a hedge fund, specialising in distressed opportunities. They were only ever interested in getting the stadium on the cheap. They are now trying to bankrupt ACL, and black mail the council in order to acheive that aim. The lack of interest the national sports press has shown in this story is shocking. All other clubs beware!

  • Comment posted by UKDiscountVouchers_co_uk, at 12:01 4 Jul 2013

    Football League needs to step in, but they won't because they don't want to incur any legal wranglings/costs.

    Club will be finished by this as fans will not make a 70 mile round trip for each home game

  • Comment posted by MHH, at 12:38 4 Jul 2013

    #18 Thanks for the response, I have a soft spot for Coventry despite you beating us in the 87 Cup Final!
    I don't know what the answer is but for both sides to seemingly be shooting themselves in the foot financially I'd hope that some form of mediation might generate a compromise. The cynic in me might suggest that SISU are doing this to force ACLs hand.

  • Comment posted by DavidHankey, at 12:16 4 Jul 2013

    Absolutely staggering that a football club can survived 106 years, come through two world wars unscathed and then all because of big business shenanigans the club is now having to move out of the City.

    It is a sad indictment on those who reckon have the best interests of Coventry City Football Club at heart. It's just emptiness and hollow words!!

  • Comment posted by TheSkyisBlue, at 12:06 4 Jul 2013

    Also, SISU will not get permission to build a stadium within Coventry City Council's boundaries - why would they grant permission when there is already a superb stadium, i.e. the Ricoh, there? Any stadium built outside the city would again not get the support of the fans and it's about time Sisu realised that without the fans, their customers, they are nothing.
    .

  • Comment posted by Steve D, at 14:43 4 Jul 2013

    @59, mcpigulator, you're either naive or a troll. Sisu are shafting every council tax payer in Coventry together with a charity that stepped in when the club couldn't finance the stadium. Both the council and Higgs trust were doing the club a favour and every £ Sisu don't pay is hurting fans and local people. It's quite simple - Sisu are the bad guys in all of this.

  • Comment posted by Twoplayer, at 13:12 4 Jul 2013

    @32 Our problems began when Richardson and Robinson sold our home of 106 years, then went cap-in-hand to CCC because they were unable to fund/build a replacement. The club then sold it's share in the stadium management company to Higgs in an unthinkable piece of short-term management.

    Northampton Town's "lifeline" is most unwelcome.

  • Comment posted by j4gged, at 13:11 4 Jul 2013

    I encourage all City fans to never travel to any ground outside the Coventry boundry to watch city play "at home". I've been a city fan my whole life and a season ticket holder since 1987 (we were encouraged to buy a season ticket to get an FA cup final ticket), and I'm sad that I may never watch the team play again. I will not, however, support this.

  • Comment posted by Skeckersley, at 14:15 4 Jul 2013

    Saints fans should get down and pay homage to Rupert Lowe because it was he that refused to let SISU into St Mary's - despite receiving (more) sustained abuse from Fans and Directors alike!

    Gutted for Coventry fans - I really hope the Club can move forward from here and back up the Leagues where they belong!

  • Comment posted by UKDiscountVouchers_co_uk, at 13:15 4 Jul 2013

    For those who don;t knopw background a good article here explains a lot: http://goo.gl/7lZ1V

  • Comment posted by Potty Harry, at 13:34 4 Jul 2013

    Sad day for a great club. Can't be long before it turns its toes up and dies. Administer the coupe de grace now and save the agony. SISU disgust me.

  • Comment posted by User0821634480, at 12:25 4 Jul 2013

    Sounds like we could have another Wimbledon/AFC situation on our hands again that was a farce caused by bad management from terrible ownership at least it is accessible directly rather than a 2 hour motorway journey away!!! scandal that has been going on for a while would just like to see it finished in 1 way or another for the good of football and areas of cov and northampton fans will swap teams

  • Comment posted by Bryan Tonks, at 12:53 4 Jul 2013

    This is surely yet another example of the FA bringing the game into disrepute. By allowing owners who have no interest in the game, the fans, or the heritage of their club (and who are just looking to make a fast buck) to take over clubs, stadia etc, the FA is steadily and consistently ruining our national game. Temporary groundshares should only be allowed in an emergency (eg fire etc.).