Ricoh Arena - History and Background

History and Background

The decision to relocate Coventry City from Highfield Road to a new stadium – with a larger capacity and better road links and parking facilities – was made in 1997 by the club's then chairman Bryan Richardson. It was anticipated that the new stadium would be ready for the 2000–01 season. Permission for the ground's construction was given in the spring of 1999, with a targeted completion date of August 2001. This deadline was not met by almost four years – the final gas holder wasn't demolished until September 2002.

The original design for the arena was for a state-of-the-art 45,000 capacity stadium with a retractable roof, and a pitch that could slide out to reveal a hard floor for concerts. If the plan for a 45,000-seat stadium had gone ahead, it would have given the Sky Blues one of the biggest club stadia in Britain. After Coventry City's relegation in May 2001, a number of contractor/financier withdrawals and England's bid to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup ended in failure, the plans were significantly downsized to reflect new realities. By the summer of 2002, there were plans for a more basic 32,500-seat stadium in its place.

On Friday 6 October 2006, the Arena hosted its first international football game when the England U-21 team played the German U-21 team in the first leg of a European U21 Championship qualifying play-off. England won the game 1–0, with the winning goal scored by Leighton Baines.

The name comes from a sponsorship deal, reported to be worth £10 million over 10 years with camera and photocopier manufacturer Ricoh, though during construction the stadium was variously referred to as the Jaguar Arena, Arena Coventry, and Arena 2000.

The sponsorship deal with Ricoh came about after the stadium's initial sponsor, the motor firm Jaguar, was forced to pull-out due to the same financial difficulties that had caused the controversial closure of the large Jaguar assembly plant at the city's Brown's Lane, previously a major source of employment in Coventry. On 4 August 2004, 12 months before the stadium's opening, it had been announced that the new stadium would be called the Jaguar Arena in a deal worth up to £7 million until 2015. However, the deal was cancelled on 17 December 2004. Ricoh's sponsorship of the new stadium was confirmed on 26 April 2005.

The Arena is run by Arena Coventry Limited (ACL). Coventry City F.C. are tenants of the Arena, which is owned jointly by Coventry City Council and the Higgs Charity. The Arena includes shopping facilities, a casino, exhibition halls and a concert venue.

At the end of the 2008–09 Championship season in May 2009, the stadium had still not achieved a capacity 32,600 crowd. The stadium's highest attendance for a home game was an FA Cup match against Chelsea in 2009. This game was technically a sellout as the fan segregation took up a whole block and all available tickets were sold.

The Ricoh Arena was the first cashless stadium in the United Kingdom, with customers using a prepay smartcard system in the grounds bars and shops. However, during the 2010–11 football season, one third of the bars and kiosks accepted cash.

On 28 July 2011 a bronze statue of Jimmy Hill was unveiled at the entrance to the stadium.

On 23 March 2013, Coventry City moved all its staff and club shop stock from the Ricoh Arena after a long dispute over unpaid rent by owners SISU.