THE GROUND
Ricoh Arena
Phoenix Way
Foleshill
Coventry
CV6 6GE
Coventry City moved in to the Ricoh Arena in the summer of 2005, leaving their historic Highfield Road home where they had been since 1899.
The stadium cost £113m to build and has an exhibition hall, leisure centre, hotel and casino – it has hosted corporate events and concerts as well as football.
It was one of the host stadiums for the football tournament at the 2012 London Olympics.
The 32,609 capacity stadium is fully enclosed with three single tier stands and one two-tiered stand.
Away fans are generally housed in one half of the South Stand, behind of the goals, and there is usually room for around 3,000.
Coventry are currently in administration and are in dispute with the owners of the Ricoh Arena.
City Chief Executive Tim Fisher said last week Coventry are in negotiations to play at a different ground for the 2013/14 season but this has yet to be announced.
It is approximately 100 miles from Griffin Park to the Ricoh Arena travelling via the M1 and M6.
The stadium is next to the M6 and can be seen from the Motorway.
Drivers should leave the M6 at junction three and take the A444 towards the City centre, the stadium is on the left hand side after around a mile.
There are 2,00 car parking spaces available at the Ricoh Arena on a match day and these can be pre-booked at a cost of £10.
Other parking options are available nearby but travelling fans are advised parking will not be permitted in the nearby retail park.
The nearest station is Coventry and it is around three and a half miles from the stadium.
A taxi to the ground will cost around £12 and buses are available from Coventry city centre, which is a shorter taxi round from the station.
Coventry station is served by Virgin Trains, which terminate and depart from Euston.
For those living west of the M25, Cross Country trains run a direct service from Reading.
The Supporters’ Association will be running coaches to every game this season – details of times and prices will be announced in due course.
Brentford will travel to Coventry on Saturday September 28.
The Bees will welcome City to Griffin Park on Saturday March 22.
Coventry played in the third tier for the first time since 1964 last season due to their relegation from the Championship in 2012.
And, arguably, things got even worse for The Sky Blues last term.
Relegation came about in 2011/12 when they registered just two wins before Boxing Day, won just a single game away from home and lost a total of 16 matches on their travels.
That relegation marked the continuation of a downward spiral.
Coventry were relegated from the Premier League in 2001 after 34 years in the top flight and 14 years after winning the FA Cup.
They never really came close to winning promotion back to the top tier and an eighth places finish in 2005/06 was the best they achieved.
Finishes of 20th, 19th, 17th, 21st, 17th, 19th and 18th were achieved before they eventually went down just over a year ago.
Coventry started poorly last year with no wins in their first eight League One games and they never really put together a promotion challenge.
Andy Thorn started the season as boss but was sacked after three games and Mark Robins, who took over, left to take the Huddersfield Town job.
Steven Pressley took over as manager but City went in to administration – officially Coventry City Football Club Ltd, a non-operating subsidiary of the club – and were docked ten points.
They eventually finished 15th in League One, seven points clear of the relegation zone and 19 away from the Play-Off spots.
Coventry City Football Club Ltd is still in administration – an offer from Otium Entertainment Group, the parent company of Coventry City Holdings Ltd, the part of the club not in administration, was accepted by the administrator earlier this month.
The situation is, however, not resolved.
Steve Pressley was named as Coventry City manager in March, leaving his position at Falkirk to take up the job.
He replaced Mark Robins who left to take over at Huddersfield Town.
Pressley, who won 32 caps for Scotland, had been in charge at Falkirk for just over three years having previously been caretaker boss at Heart of Midlothian.
The former central defender played for Coventry for one season but is best known for his time at Hearts.
He also played for both Glasgow Rangers and rivals Celtic.
Goals were not a problem for Coventry last season; they had three players that scored them at a good rate.
Leon Clarke scored ten in 16 appearances after joining from Charlton Athletic in January and Carl Baker scored 15 from midfield in 55 games.
David McGoldrick, however, beat both those tallies.
He scored 17 goals in 25 games in all competitions during a half season loan from Nottingham Forest.
McGoldrick moved to Ipswich Town for the second half of the season.
Coventry have many of the components for a promotion push in place for 2013/14 with experience and quality in many areas.
Leon Clarke missed the end of the season with an injury but is set to return and other attacking options include Cody McDonald, who scored 25 goals in League Two for Gillingham in 2010/11 and Gary McSheffrey, who played in the Premier League for Birmingham City.
Captain Carl Baker was the dominant player in midfield last season while John Fleck, who played in the Scottish Premier League for Glasgow Rangers, and Steve Jennings, formerly of Motherwell, were also regulars.
Republic of Ireland international Joe Murphy played 45 league games for City last season and is set to start in goal but experienced central defender Richard Wood, who played 36 league games, has left.
Also leaving were forwards Stephen Elliott and Danny Philliskirk and defenders Jordan Stewart and Nathan Cameron.
Defender Cyrus Christie, 20, was named City’s Young Player of the Year last season while former Brentford loanee Blair Adams is also in Coventry’s defensive ranks.
December 12 1912, Southern League First Division – Coventry City 1 Brentford 2
Brentford line-up: McIver; Rhodes, Ewing; Badger, Jay, Richards; Ryalls, Sugden, Buxton, Podmore, Connelly
Brentford goal scorers: Buxton, Badger
April 6 2013, npower League One – Coventry City 1 Brentford 1
Brentford line-up: Moore; Hodson (sub Wright-Phillips), Dean, Craig, Bidwell; Logan, Douglas (sub Diagouraga), Adeyemi, Forrester (sub Saunders); Forshaw; Donaldson
Subs (not used): Gounet, O’Connor, Reeves, Trotta
Brentford goal scorer: Forrester
Harry Forrester scored a second half equaliser as Brentford earned a point on their first ever visit to Coventry City’s Ricoh Arena.
Click here for a full report.
October 23 1926, Football League Division Three (South) – Brentford 7 Coventry City 3
Brentford line-up: Ferguson, Donnelly, Butler; Hodnett, Rae, Bellamy; Hendren, Lane, Watkins, Dearn, Berry
Brentford goal scorers: Hendren (4), Watkins, Dearn (2)
The first time Brentford scored seven goals in a Football League match.