Where Coventry City's new 40,000 seater stadium would rank in the UK's biggest grounds | OneFootball

Doug King wants to build a new ground for Coventry City - and it would be among the biggest stadiums in the country.

Coventry City have had nothing short of an absolutely crazy last decade.

From relegation all the way down to League Two to a Championship play-off final defeats on penalties, the Sky Blues have seen plenty of ups and downs on the pitch over the last ten years or so.

And this season, after a really strong end to last, fans at the CBS Arena will be dreaming of a strong campaign under Frank Lampard that sees them finally return to the Premier League for the first time since 2001.

But, off the pitch, things have been tough to say the least - with two different groundshares in the last 12 years alone. This conversation has been revisited as current owner Doug King has had 'discussions' over the idea of building a new 40,000-seater stadium at Butts Park, the current home of Coventry Rugby Club.

So, with that in mind, FLW have taken a look at where the Sky Blues' potential new ground would rank among the top in the country.

Coventry's stadium nightmare

The Ricoh Arena, as it was known then, has been the most common home of the Sky Blues since they left Highfield Road in 2005. However, only seven years later, controversial owners Sisu entered into a dispute with Arena Coventry Limited (ACL) which led to Coventry playing their home games at Sixfields Stadium in Northampton for the 2013/14 season, before similar issues led to a groundshare being agreed with Birmingham City for their home games to be played at St. Andrew's between 2019 and 2021.

The stadium was also the home of Wasps, the rugby union outfit, before they went into administration in 2022 along with the stadium. It was then eventually brought by ex-Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley's Frasers Group, who in April 2023 signed a five-year deal for City to continue playing their home games in the city at the CBS Arena.

A new stadium is still a possibility for Coventry

Local businessman King finally ended the Sisu era in 2023, and he (for the first time) has now suggested the idea of a new stadium. Whilst it may well be unlikely given the location, as it's just outside the city centre, that hasn't stopped the Coventry fans from dreaming.

Should this new 40,000-seater stadium come into fruition, it would become the 16th largest football stadium in the UK - displacing Hillsborough for that position. However, given Sunderland's promotion, it would actually become the biggest capacity ground in the EFL at this moment in time.

That is as the peak capacity of Hillsborough is only 39,732 - with that expected to significantly decrease this season due to the North Stand being shut for safety reasons.

The CBS Arena is currently sat at 24th on this list with a capacity of 32,609 - although it can extend to 40,000 when the pitch is opened for concerts. Ironically, the record attendance for a football game there wasn't actually for Coventry, but it was for an Arnold Clark Cup clash between England Women and their Italian counterparts in February 2023.