Coventry's arena was meant to rival Wembley and ended up a smaller, oft-renamed stadium
Coventry once pitched itself as the home of England's national stadium, promising a 90,000-seat bowl. What it eventually got, four years late, was a 32,000-seat ground built on an old gasworks. Since then the stadium has changed its name several times, and its football club has left twice.
The plan began in 1997, when Coventry City chairman Bryan Richardson decided to leave the cramped Highfield Road ground for somewhere bigger, with better roads and parking. Permission for a 45,000-seat stadium came in 1999. The dream version had a retractable roof and a pitch that slid out to leave a hard floor for concerts. Meanwhile the city council bid for the national stadium against London and Birmingham, with council leader Nick Nolan insisting in 2001 that Coventry could build a £250 million venue within three years. Wembley kept the honour.
Then things went wrong. The club was relegated from the Premiership in May 2001, backers and contractors withdrew, and England's bid for the 2006 World Cup failed. By 2002 the plan had shrunk to a basic 32,500-seat stadium. Its first sponsor, Jaguar, pulled out in December 2004 after closing its big Coventry car plant, and camera and copier maker Ricoh stepped in, so the ground opened as the Ricoh Arena. It was the first cashless stadium in the UK, with fans paying by prepaid smartcard. During the 2012 Olympics and 2022 Commonwealth Games, which banned sponsor names, it went by plain Coventry titles.
Ownership proved the stickiest problem. The club was only a tenant, and a long rent dispute sent it to play in Northampton from 2013 until September 2014. The rugby club Wasps then bought the operating company and moved in, and a later dispute drove Coventry City out for two more seasons. Mike Ashley's Frasers Group took over the arena, and on 23 August 2025 the football club finally announced it owned the ground.
Coventry Building Society took the naming rights in 2021 under a ten-year deal. Beyond the stadium, the site includes an exhibition hall, a hotel, a casino and one of Britain's largest Tesco Extra stores.
Source: Coventry Building Society Arena
