PTSD
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder has a range of persistent and distressing symptoms, significantly impacting daily life, including flashbacks, emotional numbing and feeling on edge. Thousands of Coventry fans will be experiencing the full range of them today after the BBC reported that City owner Doug King has asked the Council about permission to build a new 40,000-seater stadium at the Butts (where those rugger buggers play), calling into question whether we can remain at the CBS Arena. It's only four years since we finally got back to Cov after two years playing home games at Birmingham City (and of course one year playing at Northampton Town in 2013/14).
NEW🚨: Coventry City Owner Doug King has been exploring the possibility of building a new 40,000-seater stadium for the club.
— Coventry City Related (@CCFCSBA_) July 31, 2025
Doug has looked into building a 40,000 seater stadium at the Butts Park Arena, on Butts Road.
( Source : @BBCNews )#PUSB pic.twitter.com/RbCoItxzit
Uncertainty
Unsurprisingly, the Council were not keen which Mr King probably anticipated. The reason for fans' concern is that the Frasers Group who own the ground (and which, as most readers will know, is controlled by Mike Ashley, former owner of Newcastle) have been extremely reluctant to give the Sky Blues long term permission to play at the CBS Arena - the current agreement runs out at the end of the 2027/28 season. City Fans will remember that Mr Ashley previously refused to sell the ground to us.
Under new English Football League (EFL) rules introduced for this season, Championship clubs will be fined £10,000 if they do not have at least a 10-year stadium agreement by 19 August. While this might be seen as a minor annoyance, the rule states that the fine would double for each consecutive season without a deal and the EFL would ultimately be able to expel the club from the league if they did not have an agreement covering a whole season.
Clearly the situation is serious enough for Mr King to be looking for alternatives. I've never understood why Mike Ashley didn't want to sell us the ground - it can't be much of an income generator. Unless, of course he has long terms to redevelop the site, the thought of which is certainly putting me on edge.
While three years is a long time in football, it's certainly not very long to find and build a new ground. I always said we should never have left Highfield Road...
While this does throw a little bit of a shadow over the new season, we'll try to ignore it and focus on getting back in the Prem.
