COVENTRY City has confirmed it received an eviction notice from new Coventry Building Society Arena owners Frasers Group on Friday afternoon.
The club said it had been told they needed to agree a new license to play at the Arena after the Mike Ashley owned Frasers Group bought the stadium from administrators last month.
A statement said the club were ‘surprised’ to learn of Frasers Groups’ intention, adding discussions before the purchase of the arena led the club to understand the existing terms ‘would continue unchanged with Frasers Group as the new owners of the Arena.’
The statement continued: “Coventry City has an existing long-term licence to play at the Arena, which was agreed in March 2021 to run until 2031.
“Frasers Group has now presented to Coventry City a new agreement with new commercial terms, which have been presented to us without any dialogue or negotiations, and are less favourable to the Football Club. In addition, this licence would only run until May 2023.
“Frasers Group has said they would negotiate for beyond May 2023, but this leaves us without the security and certainty that our current deal provides to us and our fans.
“We will continue to keep supporters updated regarding the situation going forward and hope that we will continue to be able to welcome our fans to our home at the Coventry Building Society Arena.”
The Sky Blues added it is happy to continue under the terms of the current licence.
Upon buying the arena, Frasers Group said they were looking forward to working with the Sky Blues, and Coventry City said it hopes ‘they will act on those words for the good of the Arena, the Football Club, our fans and the City and community that they are now part of.’
A spokesperson for Coventry City Council said: “The city council has always been clear that one of its strategic objectives is for the football club to continue to play at the CBS Arena and that position has not changed.
“We remain hopeful that the issues widely reported today between the football club and the Frasers Group can be successfully resolved through dialogue and hope this can be achieved as soon as possible.”
Coventry Conservatives leader, Coun Gary Ridley said: “Many people, including me, questioned how the principle of exclusivity would deliver a better outcome when Coventry City had expressed an interest in acquiring the stadium.
“But I think everyone hoped that the Fraser Group deal would finally bring some stability to the area.
“Sadly, it seems their first act is to aggressively evict the football club. It’s not going to help establish trust between Arena Coventry Limited, the fans and the football club.
“Whatever the problem is, the solution will only be found through dialogue. I would urge them to get around the table and sort this out. We can’t allow our team to be forced out of the city once again.”
