From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ricoh Arena
Ricoh Arena
Ricoh Arena Centre containing one of the largest Tesco Extra hyper-
markets. The site was previously home to the Foleshill
Fortress Ricoh gasworks. It is named after its sponsor, Japanese compa-
ny Ricoh who paid £10million deal for the naming rights
over ten years.[3] For the 2012 Summer Olympic Games
and the 2015 Rugby World Cup, where stadium naming
sponsorship is forbidden, the stadium will be known as
the City of Coventry Stadium [4][5]
Stadium.
The arena was opened officially by Dame Kelly
Holmes and Sports Minister Richard Caborn on 24 Fe-
bruary 2007. This was after the arena had been open for
a year which included hosting a sell out England under
21 football match against Germany and a full season of
Coventry City football matches.
History and background
Full name The Ricoh Arena
Location Phoenix Way, Rowleys Green, Coventry, England
CV6 6GE
Coordinates 52°26′53″N 1°29′44″W / 52.44806°N 1.49556°W /
52.44806; -1.49556Coordinates: 52°26′53″N
1°29′44″W / 52.44806°N 1.49556°W / 52.44806;
-1.49556
Built 2005
Opened 2005
Owner Coventry City Council / The Alan Edward Higgs
Charity
The Ricoh Arena
Operator Coventry City F.C.
Surface Grass
Construction £113 million[1]
cost
Architect The Miller Partnership
Capacity 32,609[2]
Field 105 x 68 m
dimensions
Tenants
Coventry City (2005–present)
Ricoh),
The Ricoh Arena (commonly known as The Ricoh home
to Coventry City F.C., is a stadium complex situated in The Ricoh Arena
the Rowleys Green district of the city of Coventry, Eng-
land containing a 32,609 seater football stadium, a 6,000 The decision to relocate Coventry City from Highfield
square-metre exhibition hall, a hotel, a leisure club, and Road to a new stadium – with a larger capacity and better
a casino. The site is also home to Arena Park Shopping road links and parking facilities – was made in 1997 by
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ricoh Arena
the club’s then chairman Bryan Richardson. It was an- The Ricoh Arena was the first cashless stadium in the
ticipated that the new stadium would be ready for the United Kingdom, with customers using a prepay smart-
2000–01 season.[6] card system in the grounds bars and shops.[10] However,
Permission for the ground’s construction was given for the 2010–11 football season, one third of the bars and
in the spring of 1999, with a targeted completion date kiosks will accept cash.[11]
of August 2001. This deadline was not met by almost On 28 July 2011 a bronze statue of Jimmy Hill was un-
four years – the final gas holder wasn’t demolished until veiled at the entrance to the stadium.[12]
September 2002.
The original design for the arena was for a state-of-
the-art 45,000 capacity stadium with a retractable roof,
Location
and a pitch that could slide out to reveal a hard floor The stadium is situated on the northern side of Coventry,
for concerts. If the plan for a 45,000-seat stadium had less than 1 mile south of junction 3 of the M6 motorway,
gone ahead, it would have given the Sky Blues one of the on the A444 road from Coventry to Nuneaton. Although
biggest club stadia in Britain. officially designated as being situated in the Foleshill dis-
After Coventry City’s relegation in May 2001, a num- trict, it is in fact located in the small suburb of Rowleys
ber of contractor/financier withdrawals and England’s Green, between two larger suburbs, namely Holbrooks to
bid to host the 2006 World Cup finals ended in failure, the the west, and Longford to the east. However, the stadi-
plans were significantly downsized to reflect new reali- um was constructed on the former site of the ’Foleshill’
ties, and by the summer of 2002, there were plans for a gasworks complex, although the Foleshill district itself
more basic 32,500-seat stadium in its place. begins more than a mile to the southeast. The stadium
On Friday 6 October 2006, the Arena hosted its first is located within a quarter-mile of the boundary with
international football game when the England U-21 team Nuneaton and Bedworth and the county of Warwick-
played the German U-21 team in the first leg of a Euro- shire. It is next to the Arena Park Shopping Centre.
pean U21 Championship qualifying play-off. England won
the game 1–0, with the winning goal scored by Leighton
Baines.
Inaugural events
The name comes from a sponsorship deal, reported The arena became the venue for Coventry City FC’s[13]
to be worth £10 million[7] over 10 years with camera and home games at the start of the 2005–06 season, following
photocopier manufacturer Ricoh, though during con- 106 years at the Highfield Road stadium. The first com-
struction the stadium was variously referred to as the petitive football match played at the Ricoh Arena was
Jaguar Arena, Arena Coventry, and Arena 2000. against Queens Park Rangers on 20 August 2005, in front
The sponsorship deal with Ricoh came about after of a reduced (for safety reasons) 23,012 capacity crowd.
the stadium’s initial sponsor, the motor firm Jaguar, was The game ended 3–0 to Coventry, with Claus Bech Jør-
forced to pull-out due to the same financial difficulties gensen becoming the first player to score at the arena.
that had caused the controversial closure of the large Hull City became the first away team to win at the Ricoh,
Jaguar assembly plant at the city’s Brown’s Lane, previ- snatching a 2–0 win on 24 September 2005, with both
ously a major source of employment in Coventry. On 4 goals coming from John Welsh.
August 2004, 12 months before the stadium’s opening, The first concert held at the arena was Bryan Adams
it had been announced that the new stadium would be on 23 September 2005. The bar in the Eon Lounge, over-
called the Jaguar Arena in a deal worth up to £7million looking the pitch, was named ’The Bryan Adams Bar’ af-
until 2015. However, the deal was cancelled on 17 Decem- ter the Canadian rocker. Bon Jovi played there live on 7
ber 2004.[8]Ricoh’s sponsorship of the new stadium was June 2006 (35,000 attendance), as did Red Hot Chili Pep-
confirmed on 26 April 2005.[9] pers on 2 July 2006 (40,000). For both the Bon Jovi and Red
The Arena is run by Arena Coventry Limited (ACL) Hot Chili Peppers concerts, the fans were able to stand
and is separate from the running of Coventry City Foot- on the pitch. The venue played host to the Heineken Cup
ball Club who are the Arenas first tenants. It was funded semifinal match between Northampton Saints and Lon-
largely by Coventry City Council & the Higgs Charity, a don Wasps on Sunday 22 April 2007. London Wasps (who
charity (of which CCFC and ACL director Sir Derek Higgs went on to win the cup) also played at the Ricoh Arena in
was a trustee), and includes shopping facilities, a casino, the Heineken Cup again against Munster on 10 November
exhibition halls and a concert venue. 2007 narrowly winning 24–23. Saracens have announced
At the end of the 2008–09 Championship season in that they will play their semi final against Munster at the
May 2009, the stadium had still not achieved a capacity arena. The stadium hosted its first ever American foot-
32,600 crowd. The stadium’s highest attendance for a ball game on 6 May 2007, when the Coventry Cassidy Jets
home game was an FA Cup match against Chelsea in 2009. beat then British national champions London Olympians
This game was technically a sellout as the fan segregation 27–20.[14] The Jets had hoped to play their inaugural EFAF
took up a whole block and all available tickets were sold. Cup game against Madrid Bears on 29 April but they were
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ricoh Arena
forced to change venue. The Heineken Cup the previous build". The Independent (London).
week to the Madrid game had led to CCFC objecting in http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/
case of damage to the pitch.[15] football-league/footballs-man-of-the-future-the-
stadiums-paul-fletcher-has-helped-to-
Further events [2]
build-503600.html. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
"Coventry City Factfile: Ricoh Arena". Sky Sports.
• Bon Jovi returned to the Ricoh on 24 June 2008. http://www.skysports.com/football/venue/
• Scouting for Girls performed on 30 November 2008, 0,19753,11065_5,00.html. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
it was held in the Jaguar Exhibition Hall. [3] Shaw, Phil (20 August 2005). "Football’s man of the
• The EDF Rugby Semi-Finals took place at the arena future: The stadiums Paul Fletcher has helped to
on 28 March 2009. build". London: The Independent.
• In 2009, the Ricoh Arena hosted a series of concerts http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/
for Take That, showcasing The Circus Live Tour at football-league/footballs-man-of-the-future-the-
the arena from 8–10 June 2009. They were supported stadiums-paul-fletcher-has-helped-to-
by The Saturdays, James Morrison, The Script & Gary build-503600.html. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
Go. [4] ^ "Coventry City’s Ricoh Arena chosen for
• Oasis performed at the Ricoh on the 7 July 2009, Olympics". BBC Sport (BBC). 3 June 2010.
where they were supported by Free Peace, Twisted http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/
Wheel & local Coventry band The Enemy. c/coventry_city/8720047.stm. Retrieved 3 June
• Premier League Darts were held at the Ricoh on 21 2010.
February 2008 and returned on the 19 February 2009 [5] London2012.com profile. – accessed 29 September
as the Jaguar Exhibition Hall became the venue for 2010.
the sport. [6] http://www.bbc.co.uk/coventry/webcams/
• Pink performed at the Ricoh as part of her Funhouse stories/2002/12/highfield-road-virtual-tour.shtml
Summer Carnival Tour on 24 June 2010. [7] Rice, Simon (31 March 2011). The Independent
• The Women’s FA Cup final, won by Arsenal Ladies, (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/
was held at the ground on 21 May 2011.[16] football/news-and-comment/giving-the-name-
• The arena is one of the grounds named as hosts for away-stadiums-named-after-
the rugby union world cup in 2015.[17] sponsors-1814651.html?action=Gallery&ino=4.
• There are long term plans for an Arena railway [8] [1]
station. [9] "Coventry announce stadium sponsor". BBC News.
• It was announced on 3 June 2010 that the Arena 26 April 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/
would be one of the regional host stadia for the 2012 football/teams/c/coventry_city/4485823.stm.
Summer Olympics. Since corporate sponsorship on [10] Butler, Sarah (27 July 2009). "A customer and his
venue names is prohibited, it will be renamed City of money are soon parted if a smart card means no
Coventry Stadium for the duration of the Games.[4] queue". The Times (London).
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/
Highest attendances industry_sectors/retailing/article6728143.ece.
Retrieved 10 January 2010.
• 31,407 Coventry 0–2 Chelsea (FA Cup quarter-final – [11] Turner, Andy (30 July 2010). "Coventry City fans
March 2009) can use cash at Ricoh Arena kiosks". Coventry
• 30,919 England U21 1–0 Germany U21 (Qualifier) Telegraph (Coventry).
• 30,325 Saracens 16–18 Munster (Heineken Cup)[18] http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/coventry-city-
• 28,184 Coventry 2–3 Leeds United (League) – fc/coventry-city-fc-news/2010/07/30/coventry-
November 2010 city-fans-can-use-cash-at-ricoh-arena-
• 28,163 Coventry 0–5 West Bromwich Albion (FA Cup) kiosks-92746-26962273/. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
– February 2008 [12] "Jimmy Hill statue unveiled at Coventry’s Ricoh
• 28,120 Coventry 1–1 Middlesbrough (FA Cup)- Arena". BBC News Online (BBC). 28 July 2011.
January 2006 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-
• 27,997 Coventry 1–1 Wolverhampton Wanderers coventry-warwickshire-14328753. Retrieved 28 July
(League) – April 2008 2011.
[13] "CCFC Official Site".
References http://www.ccfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Home/.
[14] Welcome to the Cassidy Jets Website! – News
[1] Shaw, Phil (20 August 2005). "Football’s man of the [15] Welcome to the Cassidy Jets Website! – News
future: The stadiums Paul Fletcher has helped to
3
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ricoh Arena
[16] "Women’s FA Cup final: Arsenal 2-0 Bristol [18] European Rugby Cup : Munster set up dream
Academy". BBC Sport (BBC). 21 May 2011. Heineken Cup final
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/
13463068.stm. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
[17] "England will host 2015 World Cup". BBC Sport
External links
(BBC). 28 July 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/ • Stadium information from Coventry City official
hi/rugby_union/8170488.stm. Retrieved website
2009-07-29. • recent photos at www.geograph.co.uk
• Arena Park Shopping Centre
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ricoh_Arena&oldid=471187385"
Categories:
• Coventry City F.C.
• Football venues in England
• Sports venues in Coventry
• Buildings and structures completed in 2005
• 2012 Summer Olympic venues
• Olympic football venues
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