Anyone else get a pang of sadness every time they think about Highfield Road? (1 Viewer)

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Ned

Ned

New Member
Perfectly sized ground right in the middle of the city, steeped in the club's history, and it's gone forever, razed to the ground - I still can't bring myself to believe it's gone and I'll never stand in the West Terrace again.

I had a season ticket for twelve years but the decade of mid-table Championship (and often resting players in the cups and going out early) ground me down and I've mostly lost interest in the team. But I was surprised how upset I was when we were relegated last season and I can't bear the thought of the club going bust, it would be so sad.

At the handful of matches I've been to each season over the last few years, the atmosphere's been dominated by anti-SISU chants. I understand totally why that's the case but it's a lot less fun going to sing for the Sky Blues because of it. I don't understand how a hedge fund, supposedly shrewd financial managers who only make positive-expectation decisions, have managed to get the club into this situation, it's insanity.

Total apathy really. For pretty much all my adult life, a large proportion of following the fortunes of Coventry City has been taken up by the ins and outs of their financial accounting. I am fed up of forcing myself to read articles containing the words 'Higgs Trust' or 'Coventry City Council'. I guess it's great that so many of you still care about it but ultimately, sadly, the views of CCFC fans have made little difference to anything for many years.

I'd struggle to be enthusiastic about a start-up fans' club messing around in non-league for the best part of a decade, but I'm very happy that there are people who would be enthusiastic and would make it happen.

One thing about that, it mildly irritates me that all these start-up clubs seem to start with 'FC' or 'AFC', just seems to be needlessly copying AFC Wimbledon. I don't understand it, the phrase 'football club coventry' doesn't make sense in English, that's not the correct order of the words! If there was a new club I'd like to see it called simply 'Coventry FC', known just as 'Coventry'. But my opinions on that are pretty inconsequential.
 
TrueSkyBlueLiam

TrueSkyBlueLiam

Member
I was only 9 last time i went to Highfield road and i miss it like mad. The Ricoh is too big, unaffordable, has no atmosphere and has no history. If i had a time machine i would go back to Highfield Road one last time
 
AFCCOVENTRY

AFCCOVENTRY

Well-Known Member
Highfield Road was such a great place. Really miss the atmosphere and the close proximity to the pitch. It was home and my personal experience with the Ricoh is that it doesn't come close. Ricoh has killed off some of the fan base. With HR being bang in the centre of town people used to walk up easily on match days.

Good memories from HR but that is now dust. Some of our newer fans who never went to HR won't ever experience what we did.
 
torchomatic

torchomatic

Well-Known Member
Blind rage and a vision of my hands around BRs throat for me.
 
Skyblueloyal

Skyblueloyal

Active Member
I went there for 32 years and 28 as a season ticket holder. What you have put I could not have put it better myself.
 
torchomatic

torchomatic

Well-Known Member
I often wonder what the motivation to move was anyway. I certainly don't remember fans clamouring for a new ground.
 
T

trick2

Member
I only became a cov fan when I got with my boyfriend in 2004. I loved going to HR. I don't like the Ricoh at all. By the way cute cat OP.
 
C

crowsnest

Well-Known Member
torchomatic said:
I often wonder what the motivation to move was anyway. I certainly don't remember fans clamouring for a new ground.
Click to expand...

In the mid 90's the club were looking to expand the ground.

They bought the Mercers arms and the car parks behind the sky blue stand.

The plan was to redevelop the sky blue stand (the oldest part of the stadium at the time).

They also wanted to build a 3000 seater indoor arena for the crusaders basketball team and had JJB sports looking to build a shop.

This would have meant closing Thackhall Street.

Local residents and the council were against this due to the increase in traffic.

Within a year or so the plans were dropped and a new plan was to build a new stadium in another part of the city.

The biggest plot of land available in the city at the time was the foleshill gas works.
 
Gynnsthetonic

Gynnsthetonic

Well-Known Member
I find it gut wrenching we have left, its ripped the heart out of the club and makes me angry. A new Sky Blue Stand bringing the capacity up to about 27000 would have ample for us. Oh for days of the Hertford arms, Hastings, Beer Engine, Forresters Old Ball, the walk from and back into town. Luck dip on euromillions tonight and if i win a new football ground will be built not some soulless arena.
 
G

georgehudson

Well-Known Member
especially considering that planning permission was granted to double tier the sky blue stand, with a sports centre & underground car park with an access walkway over to the stand from the old car park at the mercers
would have taken the ground to a 30k+ capacity
 
oakey

oakey

Well-Known Member
I feel very angry about it too. First game in 1970.
Now the money men have stolen our club and some bastard(s) have trousered piles of cash and left us with a shambles.
As well as blaming the board members over the years I also blame the F.A. What is their role if not to safeguard the game? Not prostitute it to the highest bidder.
A century ago thousands of working people packed into stadiums like Highfield re and the clubs were part of local pride and community spirit.
Now we have soulless out of town bowls, branding and corporate sponsors quoffing wine, bankrupt clubs, millionaire loutish players ... I could go on but I don't even watch football except City home games (out of habit and some bizarre sense of loyalty to my father who died years ago and lived through the blitz in Coventry) and ... Sod it, this is too depressing now.
 
W

wingy

Well-Known Member
oakey said:
I feel very angry about it too. First game in 1970.
Now the money men have stolen our club and some bastard(s) have trousered piles of cash and left us with a shambles.
As well as blaming the board members over the years I also blame the F.A. What is their role if not to safeguard the game? Not prostitute it to the highest bidder.
A century ago thousands of working people packed into stadiums like Highfield re and the clubs were part of local pride and community spirit.
Now we have soulless out of town bowls, branding and corporate sponsors quoffing wine, bankrupt clubs, millionaire loutish players ... I could go on but I don't even watch football except City home games (out of habit and some bizarre sense of loyalty to my father who died years ago and lived through the blitz in Coventry) and ... Sod it, this is too depressing now.
Click to expand...

very honest and heartfelt, and accurate.
 
Mexico70

Mexico70

New Member
I don’t get it with this Highfield Road love-in – where I watched City for over thirty years
Hindsight is wonderful and yes the move to the Ricoh was a gamble that has yet to pay-off - but had we, at any time since the move, achieved promotion to the Prem, these threads harking back to a bygone age wouldn’t exist – because we’d be making our own history playing the likes of Man U, Chelsea in front of crowds not seen consistently in Coventry since the early 1970s.
Had we stayed at Highfield Road and got back to the Prem , we’d be citing the limited capacity as the millstone preventing us from kicking-on and really establishing ourselves.
The problem isn’t the ground, it’s the continued deterioration in quality on the pitch over the past 12 years that has resulted in small crowds. “Difficult to get to” - that didn’t stop 11k+ travelling to watch us at Old Trafford five years ago and a sizeable number travel to Arsenal earlier this season.
A sniff of success and the crowds will start to return
I can remember plenty of bleak experiences at Highfield Road, devoid of any atmosphere in sub-10k crowds. Yes there were some wonderful times but I think we need a balanced perspective of what it was really like for majority of the time.
 
Big Mo

Big Mo

New Member
Mexico70 said:
I don’t get it with this Highfield Road love-in – where I watched City for over thirty years
Hindsight is wonderful and yes the move to the Ricoh was a gamble that has yet to pay-off - but had we, at any time since the move, achieved promotion to the Prem, these threads harking back to a bygone age wouldn’t exist – because we’d be making our own history playing the likes of Man U, Chelsea in front of crowds not seen consistently in Coventry since the early 1970s.
Had we stayed at Highfield Road and got back to the Prem , we’d be citing the limited capacity as the millstone preventing us from kicking-on and really establishing ourselves.
The problem isn’t the ground, it’s the continued deterioration in quality on the pitch over the past 12 years that has resulted in small crowds. “Difficult to get to” - that didn’t stop 11k+ travelling to watch us at Old Trafford five years ago and a sizeable number travel to Arsenal earlier this season.
A sniff of success and the crowds will start to return
I can remember plenty of bleak experiences at Highfield Road, devoid of any atmosphere in sub-10k crowds. Yes there were some wonderful times but I think we need a balanced perspective of what it was really like for majority of the time.
Click to expand...

Spot on, the Ricoh was gamble that for many reasons hasn't paid off however to grow the club to the aspirations at the time did make at least some sense. People strangely don't give a shit about how difficult it is to get to or how soulless it is when they're camping out to buy Chelsea tickets...
 
Grendel

Grendel

Well-Known Member
Mexico70 said:
I don’t get it with this Highfield Road love-in – where I watched City for over thirty years
Hindsight is wonderful and yes the move to the Ricoh was a gamble that has yet to pay-off - but had we, at any time since the move, achieved promotion to the Prem, these threads harking back to a bygone age wouldn’t exist – because we’d be making our own history playing the likes of Man U, Chelsea in front of crowds not seen consistently in Coventry since the early 1970s.
Had we stayed at Highfield Road and got back to the Prem , we’d be citing the limited capacity as the millstone preventing us from kicking-on and really establishing ourselves.
The problem isn’t the ground, it’s the continued deterioration in quality on the pitch over the past 12 years that has resulted in small crowds. “Difficult to get to” - that didn’t stop 11k+ travelling to watch us at Old Trafford five years ago and a sizeable number travel to Arsenal earlier this season.
A sniff of success and the crowds will start to return
I can remember plenty of bleak experiences at Highfield Road, devoid of any atmosphere in sub-10k crowds. Yes there were some wonderful times but I think we need a balanced perspective of what it was really like for majority of the time.
Click to expand...

Dead right. In the early 80's gates were less than 10,000 and I remember some pretty bleak Championship games towards the end. It would by now be very very poor. People are comparing now to the Highfield Road days in the Premiership. If the club was in the Premiership the Ricoh would be a lot better than Highfield Road.
 
B

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
I get a pang of sadness when I look at the league table and see we've virtually no chance of overhauling the likes of Tranmere and Doncaster. The same also applies when I look at the fixture list and see we're odds on to lose at Swindon, or go further and realise we're not even in the same league as Barnsley and Peterborough. Everyone involved in the running of the club over the last 15 odd years has some blame to shoulder in that, be it Gary McAllister's dire tenure, McGinnity's firing of Black, the signing of a now infamous rent agreement, blah blah blah. Under Robins there seems to be the early beginnings of a turnaround-and if he seriously pulls it off over the next few years, he has done more good for the club than all the chairmen and managers of the last decade put together.
 
T

tippex9

New Member
Glad to finally read some common sense views of HR & Ricoh... I do feel heavy hearted when I drive down Swan Lane because I practically grew up in that stadium but when the plans to move came out, everyone was excited. Relegation & the mismanagement of the club that followed weren't part of those plans though.

If we had back to back promotions now followed by 'The Entertainers' style seasons, everyone would forget HR & love the Ricoh...

11,000 to United & camping out for Chelsea tickets, excellent points!!!!
 
TheUKGryphon

TheUKGryphon

New Member
Match day ritual at Highfield Road -

We'd always start at the Campbell about noon o'clock,
Move up to the Gosford Arms
Then either the Mercer's Arms or the supporters Bar on Thackall Street.

Then a great game of footy from the front row of the West Terrace. Really good days.
I miss that Highfield Road a lot and when the demoltion photo's were published in the CET, I cried my eyes out.
The Ricoh Arena just doesn't have the same atmosphere, although my mates and I in block 15 and now 14 (Yeah) do try to make it as much like the old West Terrace used to be.

It's Brian Richardson's fault for what has happened to us and I hold him personaly responsible. I shall crack open a bottle of Bollinger the day he croaks and celebrate.
 
covcity4life

covcity4life

Well-Known Member
Once this rent is sorted let's make ricoh our real home. We have a team and manager to be proud of. Let's get the Ricoh packed now
 
Changeyourface

Changeyourface

New Member
I'm never going to be able to class the ricoh as "home". How can anybody be proud of these modern, souless, indentical, lego stadiums. Hardly has a unique "Coventry" feel about the place does it considering there's another 20 grounds just like it all over the country just with different coloured seats.
 
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