Coventry City are a club that simply refused to die. Under Mark Robins, the manager has overseen an extraordinary ascent, from the depths of League Two to the play-offs in the Championship, and an FA Cup semi-final, dealing with an extraordinary amount of off-field problems along the way.
By Dharnish Iqbal
In the last 11 years, Coventry have been forced to play their football outside of their home city for two separate periods of time.
And this story begins with the Sky Blues being relegated to League One in 2012.
On the brink of liquidation, the club were forced to share their ground with Northampton Town for a season. A dispute with stadium owners ACL (Arena Coventry Limited) over Coventry’s access to matchday revenue ultimately led to fans going to a different home stadium to see their team play.
ACL were happy to lower the rent Coventry had to pay in the circumstances, but didn’t want to release matchday revenue to the club who argued they needed those funds to operate.
In 2016-17 the club were relegated to League Two, but everything changed with the appointment of Robins as they won the EFL Trophy in the same year they were relegated.
This proved to be the turning point as in the following season they gained promotion back to League One via the playoffs, before securing promotion to the Championship two seasons later.
As has been the norm for this remarkable club, even when the sun shone there was darkness around the corner.
A return back to their own Ricoh Arena lasted until 2019 when, for two more years, they were forced to once again move their home games – this time to St Andrew’s in Birmingham, as Rugby Union club Wasps, who in the interim period had taken on control of the stadium from ACL, then collapsed into administration themselves.
33 miles away from their home, attendance numbers dwindled. In March 2021, Coventry agreed to a ten-year deal to return to their arena and their city.
There were to be more twists in the tale, as consortium Frasers Group, owned by former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley bought the stadium from Wasps, issuing an eviction notice to the club informing them a new license must be agreed upon before Coventry could play at the stadium.
The club claimed before Ashley’s ownership there was an existing agreement that things would stay the same for City to play at what is now known as the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Finally, Coventry and Frasers Group agreed on a five-year deal in April 2023 for the club to play at the stadium.
The battle for Coventry’s home was finally over, as a 12-year tug of war for where the team would play their football affected fans and revenue.
It makes for an astonishing reading of events. Two changes in stadium, two promotions, two relegations, countless fan protests and flirtations with administration.
All overseen by the calm hand of Robins, the manager famous for once saving Sir Alex Ferguson’s job when he himself, was a fast paced striker.
Finances in the lower divisions of the English league system often mean that clubs are regularly in the unfortunate situation of being on the brink of administration, making the fact that Robins has rebuilt Coventry from the fourth tier one of English football’s greatest achievements in recent years.
Robins regularly had to sell his best players early in his tenure, whilst the budget was tight, but he simply got on with it, having broken the £1m mark when purchasing a player only once since 2008.
This summer was no different. After losing the 2022/23 play-off final to Luton Town, the club sold key players Viktor Gyökeres and Gustavo Hamer, to Sporting, and Sheffield United respectively.
For other clubs, this would be a huge setback. For Coventry, it is simply a bump in the road.
Robins as always, has rebuilt. A strike partnership has formed with Ellis Simms and Haji Wright both hitting red hot form at the business end of the season. Simms has 13 league goals to his name (18 in all comps) while Haji Wright has 15 in the Championship (17 all comps).
Whilst there is a clear battle for the two automatic promotion spots in the Championship, between Leeds, Ipswich Town and Leicester City, the sides below them in the play-off places will be sweating as seventh placed Coventry have won four of their last five games and may be peaking at just the right time.
The Sky Blues took some time to adjust to the departures of Hamer and Gyokeres, winning only three of their first sixteen games this season.
However, they’ve reaped the benefits of having a manager who has been with them through thick and thin, entrusted with turning the club around in the toughest of times.
It’s a relationship that goes far beyond club and manager, as Robins has had a huge hand in reviving a city’s football club from the brink.
With the business end of the season approaching, Coventry are in a good position for another attempt at reaching the play-offs and a glamorous, well-deserved FA Cup semi-final with Manchester United is also on the horizon.
Coventry City are a club that has thrived in disrepute. They’ve been through it all and rose above it against immeasurable odds.
For the Championship teams still to face them – starting with play-off rivals Southampton tonight, and Manchester United, it will be a dangerous time to play a club that has hauled itself off the canvas so frequently.
(Images from IMAGO)
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