Doug King has provided an update on Coventry City’s efforts to thrash out a deal for a new long-term agreement to stay at the CBS Arena.
The Sky Blues face a race against time to secure a new ten-year contract at the stadium by the end of the season or face being issued with a fine. Club owner King secured a five year extension to continue playing at the stadium owned by Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group in April 2023 following cordial but protracted talks for several months, with the sticking point at the time understood to have been over the annual rent.
As a result of the club’s historical stadium issues, the EFL have introduced a new rule to ensure football clubs have secure tenancy agreements in place at stadiums where they don’t own the ground. Therefore, two years down the line from that interim agreement the Sky Blues have just a few weeks to agree a new arrangement.
Asked by CoventryLive how close the club are to reaching a new agreement, the executive chairman said: “Everyone is aware of the situation. I think things take time, discussions are always happening and it’s obviously always on my mind because I don’t want a fine for the football club. I don’t think anyone wants that.
“But look, we’re commercial parties. This is not a charitable situation. We’re both commercial entities and we have to reach agreements to work for both parties.”
Asked if the long-term aim is still to bring the football club and the stadium together under one ownership, King – who attempted to buy the stadium which was acquired by Mike Ashley’s Fraser Group when he first appeared on the scene – said: “Yes, I think so. If you recall back in November 2022 we tried to do that so look, it should never have been moved away long-term from the football club, in my view. Umm, that was a mistake.
“I know the reasons why that happened but it was a mistake and yeah, obviously my goal is to get it together somehow.”
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