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Coventry

Ground: Ricoh Arena

Visits: 2

 

Date: 31st October 2006

Match: Coventry - Birmingham  0-1  (CC Championship)

Attendance: 27 212

 

Date: 29th March 2016

Match: Coventry - Colchester  0-1  (League 1)

Attendance: 10 027

 

Report (Coventry - Colchester):

The last match on this trip was Coventry v Colchester on Tuesday evening. I visited the Ricoh Arena, the home of Coventry, in 2006 and even though Coventry v Colchester is not exactly the most exciting of games I decided to finish off my tour with a second visit to the ground. From London Euston it only took me around an hour to reach Coventry and shortly before 1 pm I was at my hotel. After having lunch at the hotel I did a short tour of the city centre to take some pictures of the old Cathedral as well as the statue of Lady Godiva. Coventry suffered severe bomb damage during the Second World War. There was a massive Luftwaffe air raid, part of the "Coventry Blitz", on 14 November 1940. Firebombing on this date led to severe damage to large areas of the city centre and to Coventry's historic cathedral, leaving only a shell and the spire. A new cathedral was built after the Second World War and the old one remains as reminder of what happened in 1940. Godiva was an 11th-century Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who, according to a legend dating at least to the 13th century, rode naked – covered only in her long hair – through the streets of Coventry to gain a remission of the oppressive taxation that her husband imposed on his tenants. Having got a bad cold out of my visit to London I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon at my hotel and wait for Stefan and Jocke to arrive. They arrived at 5.30 and the three of us had something to eat and drink at my hotel before setting off for the ground around 7 pm. There was heavy rain coming down in so need to be early at the ground.

 

The Ricoh Arena was opened in 2006 and has a capacity of 32 500. It is used for games in rugby (Wasps) as well as being the home of Coventry City FC. The ground is situated far, around 3.5 miles, from the city centre and we went ordered a taxi. On our way to the ground the rain stopped and suddenly it was sunshine in Coventry. We bought tickets for the East Stand before taking a few exterior pictures of the ground. The North Stand was closed and in the South Stand only the 150 or so away supporters were seated. 95 % of the crowd were in the East Stand and we had a cold and miserable evening at the Ricoh Arena. There were four highlights in this game: 1. The goal scored by Colchester (18th minute), 2. A penalty for Coventry (45th minute, missed), 3. A Colchester player playing a one-two with the corner flag, 4 The final whistle. It was only 4 °C when the game finished and after a while we managed to find a taxi bring us back to the train station. Stefan and Jocke made the 22.21 train back to London and I returned to my hotel. Around 15.30 on Wednesday afternoon I was back home in Kristianstad. Yet another Easter trip to England had come to an end.

 

Pictures from the city centre of Coventry

city centre

City centre

 

cathedral       cathedral1

Coventry cathedral

 

cathedral2

Coventry cathedral

 

cathedral4

Coventry cathedral

 

cathedral3

Coventry cathedral

 

cathedral5

Coventry cathedral

 

 

lady godiva

Lady Godiva

 

lady godiva2

Lady Godiva

 

Pictures from the Ricoh Arena 

ricoh arena

Ricoh Arena

 

south stand, rear

Rear of the South Stand

 

east stand, rear

Rear of the East Stand

 

wall of fame

Wall of fame

 

statue, jimmy hill

Statue of Jimmy Hill

 

south stand

South Stand

 

west stand

West Stand

 

north stand

North Stand

 

pano, ricoh arena2

Pano

 

 

Pictures from Coventry vs Birmingham

south stand2

Away fans

 

west stand2

West Stand

 

north stand2

North Stand

 

 

Pictures from Coventry vs Colchester

players entering

Players and officials entering the field

 

colchesterfans

Colchester fans

 

avspark

Kick-off

 

spelbild

View of play

 

west stand2

West Stand

 

spelbild2

View of play

 

pano, ricoh arena4

Pano