Can Ricoh Ever Truly Be A Football Ground (5 Viewers)

Deleted member 5849 said:

It'd be nice if just for once somebody was brave enough to design a new ground with four individual stands, rather than just come up with a bowl shape.

Click to expand...

But then over the years they talk of plans to fill the corners in!

I agree the the OP in that there is little to resemble 'who we are' but this has been impossible to establish given the fact that we dont own the ground. Its like renting a house, would you pay money to install decking to ultimately benefit the mortgage payer, probably not. A few pictures here and there is not going to make a iota of difference compared to packing the ground out and creating an intimidating atmosphere.

The one thing that will make the Ricoh more our home than anything else will be filling it with fans on a regular basis. Packing the stands and and getting the singing going and it is amazing how a ground suddenly gains some character.

The Rioch main problem has been that it coincided with some of our worst years of performance playing in lower league and not the premiership. This drove down the attendances which destroyed the atmosphere in a large ground.

If we regularly can attract 15-20k in the three open stands then the stadium will be jumping.

I am guessing the OP (cant remember the name now) entered the stadium via the main entrance of the Conference facilities the big bit between the old club shop and casino. Granted that does not look like a football stadium, that maybe because its not part of the stadium...

Coventry City will finally return to the Ricoh Arena on Friday after a season spent playing home games 35 miles away in Northampton.
It's brilliant that the club have been reunited with their community. What has happened over the last year or so has been utterly, utterly diabolical.
But it's also important to remember that this is just the start. The overall problem hasn't gone away. Which is that somehow, when Coventry left Highfield Road in 2005, they lost control of their own bricks and mortar.
I say somehow because only the people responsible truly know what happened. But the results have been catastrophic.
The club lost control of its own revenue streams. They had no income from the 24/7 spend, from the hotel and the casino, the seemingly endless concerts, even food and drink from the kiosks. The maximum they could ever make was a proportion of the gate receipts.
It's the recipe that led to last year's administration and it's the recipe that'll lead to ongoing struggle unless - fingers crossed - they can find a place to call their own and control in its entirety. A four-year target has been set to achieve that and I hope it bears fruit.
In the meantime - having patched up their differences with the owner of the Ricoh - I hope the organisers will do something to turn the place into a football stadium.
It's far too corporate. You walk in there and you see posters for gigs, hotel customers, the casino. It's by far the most soulless venue of the 72.
I could be inside a five or ten year out-of-date hotel or shopping centre. It's got bells and whistles, facilities all over the place. But it's got no heart.
Where are the pictures of Cyrille Regis? Where are the pictures of Willie Carr and Gordon Milne? Even if you go down the tunnel, it's plastered with pictures of Bruce Springsteen and Tina Turner. Terrible. I just don't feel like I'm at a football match.
If the club were doing it to raise money, I'd cut them some slack. But it isn't them. It's the Ricoh owners. Even if it's just for a few years, they have to turn it into something that feels like a football ground.

Mark Clemmit (Clem). The Football League Paper, 31 August 2014[/QUOTE]

Thoughts .....
Suggest he gets his facts right about how CCFC sold the rights to income and when they actually sold HR
Its all the same old arguments about what caused losses but poor player dealings and over sized salaries surely contributed (what SISU have got right either forced or by intention is an affordable player budget)
The club had access to more than just a proportion of ticket sales
When was the last time he was there? Seems to suggest he has been there for a FL match recently but how?
For the last year the place has been all corporate what else would you expect? There was no professional football team there period
There used to be pictures of players etc up until 2013 when the club left were they ACL's or CCFC's
If you cut the club slack then you surely have to cut the stadium ops slack too whilst they build a partnership together as a proper football venue allow a shared identity to evolve . That said the club insist it seems that the future still remains elsewhere so that surely influences thinking and priorities
Doubt most fans even go in to the atrium and reception so why would they care.
The ground has yet to see any real football success of course that colours thinking and what you think of the ground

It is not the ground that gives the venue heart it is the supporters surely? It is the colours, sounds and excitement of fans that give any ground its heart give us a chance to get back there before having a down on it all.

Sorry but I think his article shows little real thought and should focus more on the fans that create the club identity, the fans successful struggle to stay strong and get their club home.

oldskyblue58 said:

Coventry City will finally return to the Ricoh Arena on Friday after a season spent playing home games 35 miles away in Northampton.
It's brilliant that the club have been reunited with their community. What has happened over the last year or so has been utterly, utterly diabolical.
But it's also important to remember that this is just the start. The overall problem hasn't gone away. Which is that somehow, when Coventry left Highfield Road in 2005, they lost control of their own bricks and mortar.
I say somehow because only the people responsible truly know what happened. But the results have been catastrophic.
The club lost control of its own revenue streams. They had no income from the 24/7 spend, from the hotel and the casino, the seemingly endless concerts, even food and drink from the kiosks. The maximum they could ever make was a proportion of the gate receipts.
It's the recipe that led to last year's administration and it's the recipe that'll lead to ongoing struggle unless - fingers crossed - they can find a place to call their own and control in its entirety. A four-year target has been set to achieve that and I hope it bears fruit.
In the meantime - having patched up their differences with the owner of the Ricoh - I hope the organisers will do something to turn the place into a football stadium.
It's far too corporate. You walk in there and you see posters for gigs, hotel customers, the casino. It's by far the most soulless venue of the 72.
I could be inside a five or ten year out-of-date hotel or shopping centre. It's got bells and whistles, facilities all over the place. But it's got no heart.
Where are the pictures of Cyrille Regis? Where are the pictures of Willie Carr and Gordon Milne? Even if you go down the tunnel, it's plastered with pictures of Bruce Springsteen and Tina Turner. Terrible. I just don't feel like I'm at a football match.
If the club were doing it to raise money, I'd cut them some slack. But it isn't them. It's the Ricoh owners. Even if it's just for a few years, they have to turn it into something that feels like a football ground.

Mark Clemmit (Clem). The Football League Paper, 31 August 2014

Click to expand...

Thoughts .....
Suggest he gets his facts right about how CCFC sold the rights to income and when they actually sold HR
Its all the same old arguments about what caused losses but poor player dealings and over sized salaries surely contributed (what SISU have got right either forced or by intention is an affordable player budget)
The club had access to more than just a proportion of ticket sales
When was the last time he was there? Seems to suggest he has been there for a FL match recently but how?
For the last year the place has been all corporate what else would you expect? There was no professional football team there period
There used to be pictures of players etc up until 2013 when the club left were they ACL's or CCFC's
If you cut the club slack then you surely have to cut the stadium ops slack too whilst they build a partnership together as a proper football venue allow a shared identity to evolve . That said the club insist it seems that the future still remains elsewhere so that surely influences thinking and priorities
Doubt most fans even go in to the atrium and reception so why would they care.
The ground has yet to see any real football success of course that colours thinking

It is not the ground that gives the venue heart it is the supporters surely? It is the colours, sounds and excitement of fans that give any ground its heart give us a chance to get back there before having a down on it all.

Sorry but I think his article shows little real thought and should focus more on the fans that create the club identity[/QUOTE]

Indeed OSB. If have heard him spout his lazy recycled journalism on 5live and the FL show too many times in the past to take his views seriously. And having a dig at being the worst of the 72 grounds is unnecessary in my view. He is a Middlesbrough fan I believe, and anyone who has been there will know that the Riverside is at best, poorly located and with zero atmosphere (so perhaps he carries a bit of a chip on his shoulder)

I think there is after all the disputes, the campaigning, emotional outpouring a real chance in terms of the fans to make the Ricoh "ours". Yes all the parties have to play a part, the club have to ensure we compete at the right end of the table, yes ACL need to agree to the club having some branding/history on display etc.

But above all it is the fans that make it home. The fans have to make it clear that this is where we stay, however the deal is done be it pay as you go or 125 year lease (there are lots of ways income access can be achieved leave that to CCFC/ACL), this is our home we are proud and we are not shifting. We belong there

I think the big glass atrium is superb, it's impressive and different. Some people are more comfortable with peeling walls, rusty pillars in your view, dilapidated toilet facilities, asbestos roofs and crusty old fecks knocking out pasties from a wooden shack. The Ricoh lacks a successful team and some terracing at each end behind the goal, some decent vittles' on offer and a train stop. 1 out of 4 on the way is a start !