Coventry City avoid league expulsion but groundshare beckons

A special meeting of EFL clubs to consider the expulsion of Coventry City has been cancelled after the club secured a groundshare for next season.

EFL clubs were due to meet this week at a special EGM to vote on the future of the Sky Blues, but Coventry City say they have a groundshare agreement in place for the 2019/20 season.

Despite the threat of league expulsion ending, details of the groundshare have not been released by the club – leaving fans none the wiser as to where they will be travelling for ‘home’ games next season.

In a statement released this week, Coventry City said: “This groundshare is in place to make sure the Club has somewhere to play in the scenario of a deal to play at the Ricoh Arena not being agreed.”

The club says it would like to play at the Ricoh Arena, but they remain in dispute with the ground’s owners, Wasps Rugby, with no sign of resolution.

Supporters have reacted with disappointment at news of another potential groundshare – their recent stay at Northampton Town during the 2013-14 season proving deeply unpopular with fans.

“We once again make clear our view that Coventry City FC must play in Coventry,” the Sky Blue Trust said. “Anything else will be a massive failure on all of those parties with the power to make it happen.

“As was made perfectly clear in the survey we facilitated for the EFL, a groundshare outside of Coventry, be it at St Andrews or anywhere else will be unacceptable to the vast majority of the Sky Blue Community.”

The trust said: “There is however still time to stop this disastrous measure so instead of wasting any more words we simply say to those who are letting our football club and our city down so badly: get it sorted quickly!”

Thanks to PA Images for the image used in this article.