Sky Blues fans gather at first stadium forum

THE FIRST Sky Blues Stadium Forum passed without incident last night as around 70 season tickets holders gathered to hear thoughts and opinions on how the club's new stadium should look.

Local businesswoman and life-long Sky Blues fan, Sandra Garlick, chaired the meeting alongside stadium architect, Phil Osborne, from AFLS+P, and Eleanor Deeley, from property giants CBRE.

Although there were representatives from the club, no directors (Tim Fisher and Mark Labovitch) were present at the Village Hotel.

The meeting, strictly open only to season ticket holders, opened with a short introduction from the trio.

Garlick opened by explaining her passion for the club as a former season ticket holder and sponsor.

She confirmed that she agreed to take on the role after meeting club owners Sisu and was confident they will deliver a new stadium but could not reveal where it might be built.

She also said the aim of the forum was to attract 12 fans of all ages to join a group that would come up with ideas on how a potential new stadium should look.

Deeley, from CBRE, explained how they are involved with projects mainly involving stadiums and training grounds combined.

She dismissed any questions on potential sites but revealed it could take several months to get through important procedures such as site selection, the acquisition of land and the planning process.

Stadium designer, Osborne, spoke about the stadium's modular design and said the images first released were by no means the final designs.

He expressed the need for fanzones outside the stadium and revealed that there was the potential to increase the capacity past the 23,000 set should it be needed in the future.

Throughout the meeting, fans spoke passionately about their experience at other grounds, with the Rotherham United's New York Stadium and Stadium MK in Milton Keynes

The idea of looking beyond England and towards stadium/fans models in Germany and Holland was mentioned, but the main talking point of the night was the potential capacity.

One fan argued that the club were showing a lack of ambition by limiting the capacity to 23,000, using last year's Johnstone Paint Trophy semi-final as an example of the potential when the Ricoh Arena was sold out.

Others disagreed and said fans would struggle to create an atmosphere at a bigger venue which is most likely to attract smaller crowds should the club remain in League One.

Matt Smith, from Holbrooks, said it was nice to hear the plans first hand instead of through the media.

He said: “I was taking a good look at their body language throughout and I think overall they got a good response.

“It seems more real now because we've been shown than something is being done.

“We're in a depressing situation at the moment and what we need is to bring all Sky Blues fans back together, ideally at the Ricoh.”

George Ireland got an applause from everyone in the room following his passionate plea for the club to sort out its problems or face losing out on a generation of supporters.

The 14-year-old, who admits to standing on what has been labelled 'Jimmy's Hill' outside Sixfields, has been supporting the club for as long as he can remember and wants them back in Coventry.

He said: “I want to be part of the stadium group because all I want to do is support my team in my city.

“I went to Rotherham and I really liked the design their. It creates an atmosphere. I like the community aspect and helping local businesses.

“I never got to see Coventry in the Premier League but I still support my city.

“I want to see some light at the end of the tunnel. I don't want to see people my ages in a few years time walking around Coventry with Manchester United or Arsenal shirts on.”

Buy photos» The initial phase will create a 12,500-seater stadium which will ultimately rise to potentially 23,000-seats. (s)

Buy photos» Getting the Sky Blues back to the Ricoh remains fans' number one objective in 2014. (s)

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