DOUG King wants to see a full Coventry Building Society Arena for Coventry City’s remaining home matches in 2026.
King has called on the club’s supporters to back the Sky Blues at the CBS Arena next year as the club target a dream return to the Premier League.
Coventry sit top of the Championship table heading into 2026 and hold a significant points gap to the third-placed side.
The Sky Blues have enjoyed a remarkable first half of the campaign, passing the 50-point and 50-goal mark for the season already.
Coventry suffered their first home defeat of the campaign against Ipswich Town in their final fixture of 2025.
However, the result still leaves the Sky Blues 10 points clear of the Tractor Boys in third.
King criticised the parachute payments given to relegated clubs from the Premier League which he feels makes the Championship less competitive.
And King believes this makes Coventry’s success at this stage of the season all the more extraordinary.
Owner and executive chairman King said: “It has been an incredible 2025 for our football club. On the pitch, we have accumulated a remarkable 92 points from 46 games this calendar year.
“Our home form, despite the recent setback, has been nothing short of extraordinary, winning 18, drawing two and losing only three games. To put that into perspective, the club suffered nine defeats at home in 2024.
“I am often quoted in the media on my extreme dissatisfaction with the distortion in the Championship caused by the parachute payments made to the relegated Premier League clubs (approximately £45m to £55m per season to each relegated club over two or three years).
“It is frankly anti-competitive and must be modified by the new football regulator. For the record, if Coventry City ever became a Premier League team my view would remain the same, this distortion must be reduced.
“I welcome the ability for our great cities and towns to have a fairer chance to reach the Premier League without running huge, financially unsustainable risks to compete.
“We have four clubs that continue to receive parachute payments in our league this year and therefore our achievements are unprecedented. As a supporter, I don’t think it really gets much better.”
Coventry have 11 home games remaining this season and had won eight games in succession at the CBS Arena prior to defeat against Ipswich.
And King also urged supporters to the use the club’s ticket exchange system to ensure the CBS Arena is sold out for all of Coventry’s remaining home games.
King added: “As we move into 2026, the club is going to need our supporters like never before. This is our moment to drive the team onto the success that we know is there for us to grasp.
“We have an incredible opportunity to reach the Premier League for the first time in a generation and with 11 home games remaining we need to make our home a stronger fortress than it already has become.
“Speaking candidly, it was disappointing for us all at the club to see our home supporters exiting in droves as we conceded that second goal [against Ipswich] with 10 minutes still to go. Aren’t we all in this together to the end?
“We have reduced the away fan allocation to around 2,000 (from 3,000) to allow more home supporters to be part of this.
“When we sell out our match day home tickets, we open the ticket exchange to encourage those season ticket holders who cannot be present to allow others to be present and support our team in person.
“However, there is always more demand for tickets than tickets put on to the exchange and despite having this facility, nearly 10 per cent of season ticket holders do not post (on sold out games) or physically attend each home game.
“So, versus Ipswich for example, with an official attendance of 31,213, over 3,000 less were present in the Arena supporting our team.
“If our exchange was utilised fully, a further 3,000 tickets would have been posted and available for purchase for this game, covering those who could not attend.
“All season ticket holders clear their diaries for those 11 home games. We need you there. This is our moment. It will probably not get better than this.
“Thank you for all your incredible support for our club. A lot has been achieved in the last few years, and I hope 2026 is a year to remember for each and every one of you in your own lives and one to remember for our great football club.”
