Ricoh decision day

Coventry councillors were locked in talks late last night over whether the Ricoh Arena, home of Coventry City, should be sold to Wasps rugby club.   A vote of the full council is scheduled for a meeting starting at  2 p.m. today.

If the Labour group agrees on the sale then they can easily out vote the Conservative opposition on the council.   Some councillors have been asking for a free vote, but this is unlikely to happen.

Coventry councillors were locked in talks late last night over whether the Ricoh Arena, home of Coventry City, should be sold to Wasps rugby club.   A vote of the full council is scheduled for a meeting starting at  2 p.m. today.

If the Labour group agrees on the sale then they can easily out vote the Conservative opposition on the council.   Some councillors have been asking for a free vote, but this is unlikely to happen.

It now transpires that Wasps want complete control of the stadium rather than the council retaining a 10 per cent stake to safeguard their interests.   Wasps would also have a 250-year operating lease on the stadium.

The deal is likely to go ahead with much of the haggling over the details.   What this might mean for the Sky Blues is unclear.   Owners Sisu have been talking of building a stadium elsewhere in the city, but quite why they should pursue that course of action, other than as a part of a manoeuvre to take control of the Ricoh themselves, has never been clear.

Admittedly, the Ricoh is too big for a League 1 club with attendances of under 10,000.  It was built to accommodate what was then a Premier League club.   The way forward would be to try and get Coventry City back there, or at least into the Championship where they would face more inviting and better supported opposition than Crawley Town.