It looks increasingly likely that the Ricoh is lost to us. Not merely for another season but for good. Or rather, for worse.
It’s not Highfield Road. It is far from a masterpiece of stadium design. And it is not a home where I have ever felt at home.
But it’s our stadium.
Or was.
It now belongs to London Wasps, the cuckoos who have taken over a stadium built for the association football club and compete for the rugby audience with an authentic Coventry club which many of us remember as the breeding ground for some of the England rugby greats.
The financial and political shenanigans which have led to the City being homeless once again are impossible to fathom. SISU says one thing, Wasps say something else, and Coventry City Council something completely different.
None of them are blameless but the major responsibility lies with SISU and, to an extent, with the previous management of the Club, dating back to the days of Bryan Richardson’s and Mike McGinnity’s chairmanships.
It was Bryan who ‘masterminded’ the sale of Highfield Road and the subsequent development of a toxic site. Some said it was “visionary’. Bryan said he was ‘taking a punt’.
It was a gamble which failed. Which left us in debt, without a ground to call home, and with owners who don’t understand football and massively underestimated the gravity of the problems.
But we are where we are.
Which is in Birmingham.
And we leave behind at the Ricoh many memories, not all of which are miserable, together with our bricks.
Five thousand or so of us bought bricks for the Sky Blue Hall of Fame. Somewhere in that picture is mine.
And, presumably, it will stay there as part of Wasps Stadium. Even though we paid for the privilege of being part of Coventry City’s new stadium.
Back then, it was an expression of pride and (misplaced) confidence in the future of the Club.
But now, it’s just another brick in the wall. A symbol of what once was before football became not about community but money and ego.
Today from the everysmith vaults: Bob. The Rolling Thunder Review. Obviously.
It’s not Highfield Road. It is far from a masterpiece of stadium design. And it is not a home where I have ever felt at home.
But it’s our stadium.
Or was.
It now belongs to London Wasps, the cuckoos who have taken over a stadium built for the association football club and compete for the rugby audience with an authentic Coventry club which many of us remember as the breeding ground for some of the England rugby greats.
The financial and political shenanigans which have led to the City being homeless once again are impossible to fathom. SISU says one thing, Wasps say something else, and Coventry City Council something completely different.
None of them are blameless but the major responsibility lies with SISU and, to an extent, with the previous management of the Club, dating back to the days of Bryan Richardson’s and Mike McGinnity’s chairmanships.
It was Bryan who ‘masterminded’ the sale of Highfield Road and the subsequent development of a toxic site. Some said it was “visionary’. Bryan said he was ‘taking a punt’.
It was a gamble which failed. Which left us in debt, without a ground to call home, and with owners who don’t understand football and massively underestimated the gravity of the problems.
But we are where we are.
Which is in Birmingham.
And we leave behind at the Ricoh many memories, not all of which are miserable, together with our bricks.
Five thousand or so of us bought bricks for the Sky Blue Hall of Fame. Somewhere in that picture is mine.
And, presumably, it will stay there as part of Wasps Stadium. Even though we paid for the privilege of being part of Coventry City’s new stadium.
Back then, it was an expression of pride and (misplaced) confidence in the future of the Club.
But now, it’s just another brick in the wall. A symbol of what once was before football became not about community but money and ego.
Today from the everysmith vaults: Bob. The Rolling Thunder Review. Obviously.
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