University progressing on ‘master plan’ for new stadium

COVENTRY City have revealed the University of Warwick is working on an infrastructure ‘master plan’ for the joint project to build the football club’s new stadium.

Limited details were given when Sky Blues chiefs were asked for a progress report by the club’s Supporters’ Forum in their latest meeting that focused largely on City’s return to the Ricoh Arena.

The forum, which is made up of representatives from most of the club’s various supporters’ groups and bodies, were given a general club update from chief executive Dave Boddy before he was asked about the proposed new stadium.

Talking about the club’s finances, he said that football will be paying for this Covid-hit season with no fans for a long time, possibly over the “next four years or more,” and urged supporters to have realistic expectations of what’s possible next season.

Then asked by the Forum’s chairman Colin Henderson for a progress report on the planning for the new stadium at Warwick University in terms of a planning application, financing for the new stadium and what are the economics for CCFC on taking such a large amount of debt, Boddy said there was no update but there is a lot of work behind the scenes. The minutes of the meeting say: “He explained that the University are creating a master plan for the whole area to incorporate road, rail, buildings etc.

“There was no current timescale for this. Dave Boddy explained he doesn’t take day-to-day responsibility for the club regarding the new stadium as the owners are the ones liaising with the University of Warwick.”