User:Amakuru/Draft 16

Coventry Building Society Arena
In 1997, Coventry City published plans for a 40,000-seat stadium on the site of a former gasworks in the Foleshill area of Coventry. Backed by a 50% stake from Coventry City Council, the stadium gained planning permission in 1998, and in 2000 was included in England's bid for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The failure of this bid and relegation in 2001 forced Coventry City to sell their share of the stadium to the Alan Higgs charity to repay debts. After several delays, decontamination work on the site, and reductions in the scope of the project, the stadium hosted its first game in 2005 when Coventry defeated Queen's Park Rangers 3–0. Electronics manufacturer Ricoh were the initial sponsor of the stadium and it was named the Ricoh Arena. In addition to the stadium, the venue features an exhibition hall, hotel and casino and is adjacent to a retail complex and superstore. Coventry Arena railway station was opened next to the site in 2016.

Ninian Park - 1814
Cardiff's first ground was at Sophia Gardens recreational park where they played from their founding in 1899 until 1910. With increasing support for the club, Bartley Wilson contacted Bute Estate, who owned large amounts of Cardiff at the time, in an attempt to find land suitable for building a stadium. They eventually agreed on an area of waste ground on Sloper Road. The land was a former rubbish tip and required extensive work to get a playable surface, but with the assistance of Cardiff Corporation and volunteers the work was completed. The original intention was to name the ground Sloper Park, but Ninian Park was chosen instead after Lord Ninian Crichton-Stuart, who was a driving force behind the ground's construction. The ground hosted its first match on 1 September 1910 with a friendly against Aston Villa; Lord Crichton-Stuart ceremoniously kicked off the game.

The stadium was built with one stand. A second, which replaced an earth embankment and could hold 18,000 people, was opened in 1928. It hosted its first international match in March 1911 with a Welsh match against Scotland. Towards the end of its lifespan, the ground was replaced for international fixtures by Cardiff Arms Park as doubts mounted over the safety of the aging ground. The club's record attendance in the ground is 57,893 which was achieved during a league match against Arsenal on 22 April 1953. The scaling down of grounds throughout the 1970s and 1980s due to safety fears, which saw the ground capacity fall to 22,000, meant that the record stood until the grounds' closure. In its final years of use, the club was forced to seek special dispensation from authorities to keep the remaining standing areas of the ground open beyond the three-year period given to clubs at Championship level or above to remove them.

Cardiff City Stadium - 1542
In June 2009, the club completed construction of a 26,828-seat stadium on the site of the now-demolished old Cardiff Athletics Stadium at a cost of £48 million. The ground was named the "Cardiff City Stadium". Three of the four stands would keep the names used at Ninian Park—the Grange End, the Canton Stand and the Grandstand—and the fourth stand would be called the Ninian Stand. The ground's naming rights were expected to be sold, the club hoping to generate up to £9 million income; they remain unsold. Although a pre-season friendly against Chasetown was played at the ground with limited capacity to test safety features, the stadium was officially opened with a friendly against Scottish side Celtic on 22 July 2009. The first competitive match played at the ground was on 8 August 2009, the opening day of the 2009–10 season, as Cardiff won 4–0 over Scunthorpe United. When it opened, the Cardiff Blues rugby union club left their Cardiff Arms Park home to share the new stadium with Cardiff City. The move proved unpopular among fans of the rugby club, which returned to Cardiff Arms Park in 2012.

A few years after the stadium was built, plans to upgrade and expand the stadium were initiated. The expansion plans were completed in August 2014, and the seating capacity was raised to 33,316. In March 2015, it was announced that the Ninian Stand extension was to be shut for the 2015–16 season due to poor ticket sales, dropping the capacity to 27,978. It was reopened the following year due to an increase in demand for tickets.

1975–1983: Return of Jimmy Hill
Robins' replacement as chairman was Sir Jack Scamp, a local industrial relations expert who had previously chaired Rugby Town F.C.. Scamp remained in the role for two years before being replaced by Phil Mead. More significant, however, was the return of Jimmy Hill to the club as managing director, which was announced at the end of the 1974–75 season. It was not initially clear what Hill's role would be, and his Coventry City duties were combined the job with his ongoing television and consultancy work, but his arrival was greeted with less optimism than when he had first joined the club in 1961. The 1975–76 season saw a similar pattern to the previous, but supporters were shocked when star midfielder Dennis Mortimer, who had been with the club since the age of fifteen, was sold to arch-rivals Aston Villa for £175,000. The fans, who had assumed Mortimer would be the player around whom the team was built, were outraged at the apparent lack of ambition at Coventry, and the sale proved to be poor value as Mortimer went on to have a stellar career and captaincy at Villa, culminating in victory in the 1982 European Cup Final.

After a few seasons without serious danger of relegation, and despite the arrival of influential players Terry Yorath and Ian Wallace, City struggled in 1976–77. A run of poor form after the new year left them in serious trouble, and they were in the bottom three going into the final game at home to Bristol City. Sunderland, Bristol and Coventry were level on points, and all battling to avoid one relegation spot, but with Coventry on the lowest goal difference. With five minutes left in the game at Highfield Road the score was 2–2, which would leave Bristol City certain of safety but Coventry facing the drop if Sunderland avoided defeat. At that point, however, news came through that Sunderland had lost their game at Everton, which meant that a draw would be sufficient for both Coventry and Bristol to avoid the drop. Both teams' managers informed the players of the situation, and they played out the final minutes without any attempt to score further goals. Sunderland lodged a complaint and the Football League conducted an enquiry into the situation, but Coventry were eventually exonerated.

The 1977–78 season was a complete contrast, with a change in tactics by Gordon Milne, switching to an attacking 4–2–4 formation. The tactic meant City conceded more goals than previously, but with Yorath and Barry Powell as anchors in midfield, Hutchison and new signing Ray Graydon on the wings, and Wallace and Mick Ferguson as strikers, the attack were more than able to compensate. Coventry finished seventh, narrowly missing out on qualifying for Europe for a second time. A run of injuries led to a less successful campaign the following season, with a tenth-place finish. The club acquired new players Gary Gillespie and Steve Hunt for relatively low prices, both of whom would go on to enjoy success at the club. Despite their recent financial problems, Coventry attempted to make the first-ever £1 million pound signing, of Trevor Francis, but the Birmingham striker elected to move to Nottingham Forest instead. A bid for Ipswich defender Kevin Beattie fell through over concerns about the player's fitness. The club's form suffered further in the 1979–80 season as they fell to fifteenth place in the league table, and exited the FA Cup in the fourth round to Third Division Blackburn. Phil Mead retired at the end of the season and Jimmy Hill, who had also acquired significant shareholdings in the club, was elevated to the chairmanship.

During the close-season Coventry sold Ian Wallace to Nottingham Forest for a fee of £1.25 million, using the proceeds to fund a new sports centre at the club training ground in Ryton-on-Dunsmore. They also negotiated a sponsorhip deal with Talbot, and attempted to rename the club to "Coventry Talbot". This proposal was rejected by the FA. The highlight of the 1980–81 season was a League Cup run which started with a win over Manchester United in the opening round, City winning both legs 1–0. By February the club had reached the semi-final of the competition, and were also enjoying league and FA Cup success, but the final months of the season were a disaster. They lost to West Ham United in the League Cup, through a late goal, to Tottenham in the FA Cup fifth round four days later, and then league form deserted them as they lost seven out of the next eight games. Only a late-season rally prevented City being sucked into the relegation fight. The poor form led Coventry to relieve Milne of his managerial duties, although he remained at the club in the role of general manager. Dave Sexton, who had previously managed Chelsea, Manchester United and Queen's Park Rangers was appointed as Milne's replacement.

In the summer of 1981 Highfield Road was converted into an all-seat stadium, the second in the United Kingdom after Aberdeen's Pittodrie Stadium. Explaining the development, Hill cited the rise of hooliganism, saying "you can't be a hooligan sitting down". The capacity was reduced to just 20,500, a figure well below average attendances in the late 1960s. In the second game after the development visiting Leeds supporters ripped up seats to use as weapons against the police. The club also introduced an unusual kit for the new season, featuring a large "T" representing sponsors Talbot. Meanwhile, the club were selling key players including fan-favourite Tommy Hutchison, who departed for Manchester City, while failing to invest in replacements. The 1981–82 season started dismally, causing attendances to drop below 10,000. A late-season run of thirteen games with only one defeat and progress to the FA Cup quarter finals, inspired by former England captain Gerry Francis, left supporters feeling more optimistic by the end of the season. But this was short-lived, as further players were sold the following season including Garry Thompson, who was sold to West Bromwich for just £225,000. The squad was left with just fourteen players in early 1983 and, with morale low, the club slipped from fifth place into another yet relegation fight. They escaped by one point but the relationship between Hill and the supporters was beyond repair and he left the club in May 1983. Dave Sexton was also dismissed and the terrace on the Kop re-introduced, ending Hill's all-seat experiment.

1983–1987: Rebuilding the team and FA Cup win
At the end of the 1982–83 season almost half of the squad were out of contract and, given the gloomy atmosphere at the club, most did not want to sign new contracts. Mark Hateley, Danny Thomas and Gary Gillespie were among the high-profile names to leave. The new manager was Bobby Gould, who summed up the bleak situation at the club by saying "I have been thrown into the lions' den". A native of Coventry as well as a former player, Gould was very knowledgeable about the league's lower divisions, from which he began rebuilding the team by recruiting inexpensive players. The new recruits included members of the future cup-winning side, Dave Bennett, Michael Gynn and Trevor Peake, as well as Micky Adams, Sam Allardyce and Stuart Pearce, the last of whom joined from non-league Wealdstone a few months into the season. Brian "Harry" Roberts, one of the few players from the previous season to remain with the club, became captain. The inexperience of the side and the poor finances at the club, which were made worse by the withdrawal of Talbot's sponsorship deal, meant that once more the bookmakers had Coventry amongst the favourites for relegation. Despite supporter and pundit expectations, Coventry performed quite well in the first half of 1983–84, rising to fourth in the table by December through a run which included a 4–0 win over champions Liverpool. But once again their form deserted them after the new year, and after a run even worse than the previous season's were saved only through a last-day win against Norwich, Birmingham being relegated instead as they failed to beat Southampton.

Bobby Gould made several more signings in the summer and autumn of 1985, with the nucleus of the future cup-winning side beginning to take shape. Steve Ogrizovic, who would go on to break the club's appearance record, joined from Shrewsbury, Brian Kilcline moved from Notts County, and England-international Cyrille Regis switched from West Bromwich Albion. But the season started poorly, developing into another relegation fight, and Gould was sacked after two lacklustre defeats at Christmas, being replaced by his assistant Don Mackay. Their form improved, but they remained in deep relegation trouble. After a number of game cancellations in April due to a bout of flu, Coventry had three games to play after most other teams had completed their fixtures. Relegation rivals Norwich were eight points ahead, which left City requiring wins in all three games. In the first, they narrowly beat already-relegated Stoke, surviving when a late penalty hit the bar, and in the second they beat Luton with a winner six minutes before the end. The final game was at Highfield Road against Everton, who were already guaranteed the league championship. Coventry put on one of their best performances of the season, winning 4–1 to complete an unlikely escape and send Norwich down. In 1985–86 they faced their third successive relegation battle which went down to the final game. Home form was particularly poor, as City did not win any games at Highfield Road between 6 October and 22 February. Don Mackay resigned or was sacked in April, after a run of eight games without a win, replaced by George Curtis and the youth-team coach John Sillett for the final three games. Coventry won two of them and escaped relegation again.

In 1986–87 Coventry won the only major trophy in their history as they beat Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley to win the FA Cup. The season began with low expectations, following the previous season's relegation battle, and they lost the opening game 1–0 at West Ham. But this was followed up with a win over Arsenal and they didn't lose another game until 4 October. They remained in the top half of the table for the remainder of the year, with Cyrille Regis and Dave Bennett showing improved from in attack and the defence conceding few goals. They scored a notable victory against top-of-the-table Nottingham Forest in November. and on 27 December they played a thrilling game against Tottenham which finished 4–3, Regis scoring the winner in the final minute. The FA Cup run began with a third-round tie against Third Division side Bolton Wanderers, managed at the time by future Coventry manager Phil Neal. City won 3–0 in frozen conditions, Greg Downs, Regis and Bennett the scorers. Coventry's fourth round match was against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Returning from the team's brief trip to Spain to escape the cold George Curtis told the press "Our name is on the cup", but United were the firm favourites. The game was once again played on a frozen pitch and Coventry won the game 1–0 through a Keith Houchen goal. Recently appointed United manager Alex Ferguson cited City's better play for his team's defeat, saying "their players were prepared to risk life and limb – ours weren't".

Another away match followed in the fifth round on 21 February, this time Second Division at Stoke City, who had suffered only one defeat since November. The home side played better in the first half but Coventry withstood the pressure and once again took the game 1–0, Michael Gynn scoring on the rebound after David Phillips had failed to convert a Nick Pickering cross in the 72nd minute. The quarter-final was at Hillsborough against Sheffield Wednesday and scores were level after a first-half Regis goal was cancelled out by a 67th-minute equaliser by Gary Megson. But Coventry scored twice in the final stages to progress to their first ever semi-final, against Leeds United. The semi-final was also played at Hillsborough, this time as a neutral venue, and 27,000 Coventry supporters travelled to Sheffield for the game. Leeds were in the Second Division at the time and City started as favourites, but the Yorkshire side started better, forcing goalkeeper Steve Ogrizovic to make two early saves and taking the lead after fourteen minutes. Coventry played better after going behind, with Regis going close to scoring on three occasions, and eventually equalised after 69 minutes through a Gynn goal. Houchen's goal ten minutes later gave them a 2–1 lead but Leeds equalised with seven minutes remaining. Dave Bennett scored nine minutes into extra time and City held on for the win. The club's league form suffered somewhat during the cup run – despite challenging for a top-six finish at the turn of the year, they eventually finished tenth.

In the FA Cup final, they beat an impressive side 3–2 in the final after extra time, the score having been 2–2 after 90 minutes. It is generally considered as one of finest finals of all time in terms of footballing technique, fair play and sheer excitement. This also finally made archaic the famous Monty Python 'World Forum' sketch, in which Coventry City's last FA Cup win is a trick question asked in a game show, as they hadn't won the Cup to that point. Coventry City's youth team also won the FA Youth Cup in 1987 (beating Charlton Athletic 2–1) to secure a remarkable 'double'. Aside from Coventry, only Arsenal, Liverpool and Everton have ever won both the FA Cup and FA Youth Cup in the same season. Key players in Coventry City's FA Cup winning team included goalkeeper Steve Ogrizovic, defender and captain Brian Kilcline, midfielders Dave Bennett and Lloyd McGrath, and strikers Cyrille Regis and Keith Houchen, who scored the famous diving header. Their manager at the time was John Sillett.

Return to Coventry City
On 6 March 2017, Coventry City re-appointed Robins as manager with immediate effect, the day after the sacking of previous manager Russell Slade.

Against all the odds, on 2 April 2017, Robins led Coventry to a 2–1 victory over Oxford United in the EFL Trophy Final at Wembley. Robins won his first promotion as a manager after leading Coventry to a sixth-place finish in the 2017–18 EFL League Two, and winning the play-offs at Wembley. Over the course of the 2017–18 season, Robins broke numerous records as Coventry City manager including the club's first top six finish in 48 years, their first promotion in 51 years and their most points in a season. Robins's achievements gained much plaudits from local press and fans alike, when considering Coventry City had only moved down the Football League since relegation from the Premier League in 2001.

The win in the League Two Play Off Final, represented Coventry's third competitive win at Wembley and Robins' second trophy in just over a year.

After an 8th-place finish in the 2018–19 EFL League One season, Robins signed a new contract with the club in October 2019.

In the 2019–20 EFL League One season, Robins took Coventry City to the Championship after winning the league with just 3 defeats all season and unbeaten since 14 December 2019.

Mark Robins won the LMA League 1 Manager of the Year award.

On 8 May 2021, Robins guided Coventry City to beat Millwall 6–1 to secure a 16th-place finish, in the club's first season back in the Championship in nine years. The following season, Robins guided the Sky Blues to a 12th-place finish in the Championship, their highest league placing in over 10 years.

Robins signed a new deal with the club in May 2022. Robins said he was "delighted" to have signed a new deal.

What
In 1997, Richardson unveiled a plan to build a new stadium in Holbrooks

After surviving their ninth and tenth last-day relegation battles of the top-flight era, Coventry had a better season in 1997–98, finishing 11th and reaching the FA Cup quarter-final. After two more mid-table finishes, Coventry sold Gary McAllister and Robbie Keane in summer 2000 and were relegated to the Championship in 2000–01, ending a 34-year stay in the top flight.

Final years in the Premier Group
The arrival of Atkinson and Strachan, and Richardson's promise of considerable sums of money to spend on players, brought a sense of optimism to Highfield Road in the summer of 1995. Atkinson made several big-name signings in summer 1995 and during the season, including Brazilian Isaías, John Salako, Nii Lamptey and Noel Whelan, who arrived for a then-club-record £2 million. They also rejected offers of several million pounds each for Dublin and Ndlovu. After making a reasonable start, the team suffered their worst run in the top flight, playing fourteen league games without a win and by early December, City were bottom of the table. They revived somewhat after Whelan's signing in December, but more poor results followed and by Easter, City appeared certain to be relegated. They avoided the drop by winning three of their final six games and benefiting on the final day as Manchester City played out a 2–2 draw without attempting to win, under the false belief that this would keep them up. Coventry continued to spend money on players during the summer of 1996, breaking their transfer record again with the purchase of Gary McAllister from Leeds for £3 million. They suffered a poor start to the campaign though, and with Atkinson failing to bring success he was moved to the Director of Football role, handing over to his designated-successor, Strachan. They had a brief revival but as the season drew to a close they were fighting another relegation battle. For the third season in a row Strachan appeared for the team himself, despite being officially retired and inspired the team to a crucial win over Chelsea. They played Tottenham at White Hart Lane in the final game knowing that only a win and favourable results elsewhere would save them. In a match delayed by 15 minutes due to traffic, they held on for a 2–1 win and were safe again, their tenth and final last-day escape of the top-flight era.

The 1997–98 season, Strachan's first full campaign in charge, was much more successful. A solid 11th-place finish in the league was accompanied by the club's best FA Cup run since 1987, ending only with a quarter-final replay defeat on penalties at Sheffield United. Notable wins during the season included a 3–2 win against champions Manchester United, featuring a Darren Huckerby goal that won goal of the month, an FA Cup win at Liverpool and the club's first ever win away to Aston Villa in the FA Cup fifth round. Dion Dublin's 18 league goals earned him a share of the Premier League Golden Boot for the season and he played for England during the season but failed to make the squad for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Off the pitch, Bryan Richardson revealed ambitious plans for the club's future including "Arena 2000", the initial proposals for the Ricoh Arena. The plans at that time envisaged a 40,000-seat stadium, to be opened in 2001, which was also designated as one of the host venues in the unsuccessful England 2006 FIFA World Cup bid. The next season proved a disappointment after the optimism of the previous campaign. City achieved an opening-day victory over a Chelsea team of international stars, but this was followed by four defeats in the next five games. A run of six games with only one defeat in the spring took the club clear of the relegation fight, but a poor run-in saw them finish in 15th. Another cup run seemed on the cards after a 7–0 win over Macclesfield and a 3–0 defeat at local rivals Leicester in the third and fourth rounds, but it was ended by a poor performance in a 2–1 fifth round defeat at Everton. Adding to supporters' frustration, several top players left during the season and the subsequent summer. This included Dublin, who was sold to Aston Villa for £5.75 million in an acrimonious deal, as well as Huckerby and George Boateng.

The 1999–2000 campaign was one of contrasts. Boosted by the arrival of Robbie Keane for £6 million, as well as Moroccans Moustapha Hadji and Youssef Chippo, Coventry achieved 12 wins from their 19 home games. This included a 3–2 Boxing Day defeat of Arsenal, described by the Coventry Telegraph as one of the "most memorable wins of the Premier League era". But away from home, City failed to win a single game all season, losing the last five, which meant ultimately they could only finish 14th. McAllister, labelled by club historian Jim Brown as "the fulcrum of all the team's moves" during the season, left the club in the summer. Keane also departed to Inter Milan for £13 million and, with neither player adequately replaced, the team struggled throughout the 2000–01 season. They won two of their first three games, ending the run of winless away games in the process, but they then won only two further games before Christmas. Strachan tried numerous different team structures, but the poor run continued. Veteran striker John Hartson arrived on loan in February, and his leadership and goals caused some improvement in results. But it was not enough, and City's 34-year tenure in the top flight ended on 5 May 2001 with a 3–2 defeat to arch-rivals Aston Villa.

Fish
and the club made another strong start to 1993–94, opening with a Quinn hat-trick in a 3–0 win at Arsenal and being unbeaten after eight games. Trouble followed however, as a 5–1 defeat at Queen's Park Rangers was followed by Gould's resignation, the manager claiming that Richardson was forcing him into selling star striker Peter Ndlovu. Phil Neal took over and was initially allowed to strengthen the team rather than sell. The club played some positive football and possessed two top-class players in Ndlovu and Phil Babb, but remained unable to play consistently through a whole season and finished 11th. A strong end to the season meant that 1994–95 began with optimism, enhanced by Neal's purchase of Dion Dublin and American winger Cobi Jones. December injuries to Dublin and David Busst led to a poor run of results, culminating in FA Cup defeat to Norwich and supporters quickly turned against Phil Neal. Neal's reputation had also fallen with the release of "The Impossible Job", a documentary about former England manager Graham Taylor and Neal, his assistant, which portrayed the latter as a "yes man" with no independent opinions. He was sacked and replaced by Ron Atkinson, with Gordon Strachan named assistant manager.