'How did this happen?'
is a question that Coventry City supporters have asked time and again over the last 20 years.
The inquiry focused on the Sky Blues stadium controversy, which concerned the Coventry Building Society Arena (formerly the Ricoh Arena) and the subsequent relocations away from the football team's hometown.
The same issue was posed by an increasing number of people over the years, including journalists, league executives, Supreme Court justices, and even Members of Parliament.
But ultimately, it only took one person asking one question to put an end to two decades of uncertainty:
Doug King, the most recent owner of Coventry City, asked stadium owner and billionaire industrialist Mike Ashley, "How much?"
Before the team's 7-1 victory in the CBS Arena, which it now owns and where supporters are hoping for a return to the Premier League, a deal was revealed on Saturday.
The path to that point started in 1997 when Bryan Richardson, the chairman of Coventry City at the time, presented his idea for facility 2000, a multipurpose facility that would bring in money for the football team off game days.
The Sky Blues were effectively homeless for 25 years after the club lost Highfield Road, their former home pitch, in 1999.
When the club was demoted from the Premier League in 2001, it was a disaster since they had leased the home field back from the construction company while they awaited the completion of the new stadium.
The league's wealth vanished in the days before parachute payments, and the club was no longer able to construct the stadium due to the demise of ITV Digital, which also meant that TV rights revenue vanished.
In the end, the Alan Edward Higgs Charity and Coventry City Council intervened and established a 50/50 partnership known as Arena Coventry Limited (ACL), which went on to become the Ricoh Arena's first owner when it opened in 2005.
The club's financial issues only got worse when they relocated to the stadium that same year.
However, the Sky Blues were on the verge of going into administration when Sisu Capital purchased the team in 2007.
In the years that followed, there was a decline both on and off the pitch.
Relegation to League One in 2012 was the first step, and the club's £1.3 million yearly rent payment to play at the stadium was the final straw in 2013.
The club left Coventry to play at Sixfields Stadium in Northampton as a result of the argument.
Sisu announced its plan to construct a new home field, named 'Highfield Road II,' after the stadium corporation and Sisu engaged in bitter legal fights.
Butts Park, the home of Coventry Rugby Club, and Brandon Stadium, the former home of the Coventry Bees speedway club, were among the venues mentioned.
However, there was never any hard evidence that the plans were moving forward. When the team returned to the stadium in 2014, the joyous occasion quickly descended into chaos as rugby team Wasps jumped in to buy the venue.
As tensions increased in 2019, Sisu removed the club from the stadium once more after vehemently and unsuccessfully contesting that sale in court.
The next two seasons were spent at St Andrew's Stadium in Birmingham City.
After the team was demoted to the lower division of English football in 2017, things were improving on the pitch.
After winning the Football League Trophy that season and hiring Mark Robins as manager, the Sky Blues experienced a comeback that saw them win League One and return to the Championship in 2020.
The announcement of a partnership with Warwick University to construct a new stadium and academy complex around this time brought forth yet another new stadium proposal.
Once more, there was little indication of progress after the statement. Due to Wasps' financial difficulties, Coventry City was permitted to reoccupy the Arena in 2021.
However, after the rugby team finally failed, Mike Ashley's Fraser's Group took over and paid £17 million for the stadium in 2022.
In November 2022, just hours before Mike Ashley was scheduled to secure the stadium at a London court hearing, Doug King took over the team.
He filed a £25 million late bid with the court, but the judge decided it was essentially too late.
When the BBC learnt in July that Doug King had looked into the potential of constructing a new stadium in the city with 40,000 seats, it appeared as though history was ready to repeat itself.
While some thought it was a reasonable backup plan, others assumed it was a negotiation strategy.
However, we now know that a deal that had been unattainable for the previous 25 years would be accomplished by Doug King a few weeks later.
Finally, Coventry City has its own stadium.
Read more at;https://www.allsportnews.co.uk
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