Championship outfit Coventry City have been handed an eviction notice for their home ground the Coventry Building Society Arena.
But talkSPORT co-host and ex-Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan thinks Mike Ashley – the chief executive of the stadium’s new owners the Frasers Group – is using the move as a ‘negotiating tool’ and a solution will be found.
Ex-Newcastle owner and chief executive of the Fraser Group Mike Ashley took over the stadium last month after buying its three former operating companies for £17million, and is now telling the Sky Blues they have no right to play their games there anymore.
Coventry – who are waiting to be taken over by Doug King – returned to playing at the CBS Arena at the start of the 2021/22 campaign following their promotion to the Championship after being crowned champions of League One.
Now though, Ashley has stated the Fraser Group are not bound by the previous licence agreement with the stadium’s former owners, Wasps rugby club, who went into administration on the October 18.
The Sky Blues were told the news on Friday, and have been told they must return keys and access cards.
The Fraser Group have said they will be given a reasonable amount of time to remove goods and property from the stadium.
Coventry were already forced to move their FA Youth Cup game on Saturday to neighbouring Leamington Town FC following the news.
The first team are away to Reading when their Championship campaign resumes on Saturday, but their next scheduled home fixture against Swansea on December 17 is fast approaching.
But Jordan – who owned Crystal Palace from 2000 to 2010 and showed interest in buying Coventry City – believes the Sky Blues’ home ground issues will be resolved, and Ashley will be using the eviction as a negotiating tool.
“I suspect it’ll find a solution,” he told talkSPORT. “There’s been this ongoing argument, hence what I didn’t like about the situation about Coventry, was the convoluted nature of what was going to happen to the stadium.”
He continued: “I suspect this headline will be ‘Mike Ashley again trying to do his very worst for a football club’.
“I suspect there’s some internal arguments going on between Coventry City Football Club and Mike Ashley about how this should play out and I’ll be surprised if we don’t find a solution that ends in Coventry City finding a deal with Mike Ashley.
“How that plays out, I don’t know.”
When asked by fellow White and Jordan host Jim White if Ashley is using the eviction as a ‘negotiating tool’, Jordan said: “Possibly, yeah. I’m sure the Coventry City fans don’t think a lot of it but that’s for Doug King to negotiate his way out of a conundrum.
“He’s the one that bought a football club, he’s the one that understands how Coventry City have got to play it, it’s his job to find a solution with the owners of the stadium.
“If he wants to do a deal on the stadium and their use of it, or rehouse the football club in a different stadium, I would’ve thought he would’ve known all this before he walked through the door.
“This sounds like strong arm, bully boy tactics to try to get a better negotiation or better outcome for Mike Ashley. But I’d be surprised if it ends up with Coventry City being drop-kicked out of that stadium with nowhere else to play.”
Jordan also thinks there must be something else going on in the background, given the Sky Blues must have an ongoing lease agreement otherwise the EFL wouldn’t allow them to be in the league.
“I’m not entirely sure why they would be in a position where they could be evicted,” he said.
“They must have an ongoing lease arrangement or they couldn’t play in the EFL because they’re ability to play games has to be underpinned by a stadium relationship that’s either a lease or an ownership.
“I’m assuming there must be some breaches that are being pushed upon Mike Ashley’s new business and he’s saying to Coventry ‘you either remedy these breaches or you get kicked out’.”
Coventry City first moved to the stadium – then known as the Ricoh Arena – in 2005.
A dispute in 2013 with the stadium’s landlords at the time saw them move to League Two Northampton Town’s Sixfields for the 2013/14 season.
They then returned to the Ricoh Arena at the end of the campaign, renting off Wasps. But in 2019 the Sky Blues were again homeless due to rent issues and were forced to play their game at Birmingham City’s St. Andrew’s.
The 2021/22 season saw them come back to the CBS Arena, but their return home wasn’t plain sailing even then due to the state of the pitch after it was used for the Commonwealth Games.
Coventry City are currently awaiting EFL approval for the club’s potentially exciting takeover by Stratford-based businessman King.
Mark Robin’s side currently sit 12th in the Championship, winning four of their last five games and two points off the play-offs.
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