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Wasps set to complete £19.5m takeover of Coventry’s Ricoh Arena Wasps set to complete £19.5m takeover of Coventry’s Ricoh Arena
(about 11 hours later)
Wasps’ £19.5m takeover of the Ricoh Arena in Coventry is set to be approved on Tuesday after Labour councillors agreed to back the sale. Wasps have been given the green light to purchase a controlling stake in Coventry’s Ricoh Arena and play future home matches at the stadium 100 miles north of London, in a controversial move that has been met with dismay by the majority of supporters.
According to the Coventry Telegraph, a full Coventry City Council meeting, scheduled for 2pm on Tuesday, will result in the Premiership side being given the green light to complete a 100% takeover of ACL, the operating firm of the Ricoh Arena. The Premiership club have made their first steps towards a major relocation that could have significant ramifications for a number of other teams and Coventry City Football Club, with members of Coventry city council unanimously voting in favour of their Ricoh purchase on Tuesday evening.
Wasps have been based at Adams Park in Wycombe – 80 miles away from Coventry – for the last 12 years but have long since been looking for a new home, a search that was accelerated when the Irish businessman Derek Richardson completed his takeover of the club in April 2013, providing the two-times European champions with much-needed financial stability. Wasps, who have been crowned English champions six times and twice won the Heineken Cup, will therefore play their home matches 80 miles from their current ground, Adams Park in High Wycombe, while their headquarters and training base in west London could potentially move to the Midlands from 2016.
Councillors were locked in late-night talks on Monday, and were reportedly given a presentation by Richardson, and the controlling Labour party are said to be in favour of the takeover. During a council debate it was revealed that the long-term intention of the club is to build a new training base in the Coventry area, a step that could potentially cause major issues in a union stronghold given the proximity of two other Premiership clubs, Leicester and Northampton, Worcester in the second tier and Coventry Rugby Club itself, who play in National League 1.
Wasps are expected to be handed a 250-year lease as part of the deal and while it was initially thought that the council would mantain a 10% stake in the stadium – jointly owned by the council and The Alan Edward Higgs Charity – the six-times English champions are set to take over the arena in its entirety. The news has been met with outrage by Wasps supporters. The club has been based in the London area since 1867, although the “London” prefix was dropped from their name in June this year. An online petition against the move has been signed by more than 2,000 people and its creator, Alexander Hayton, said the club have shown no respect for their own fans. “Wasps recently had a campaign that said every fan counts, but we haven’t been consulted on this,” he said. “I’m afraid every fan doesn’t count. It feels like we don’t count at all.
Prior to Richardson’s takeover 18 months ago, Wasps were in a dismal financial position. They narrowly escaped relegation from the Premiership in 2012 at a time when administration was a constant threat but, according to reports, Wasps will take on the complete £14.4m loan from the council issued to ACL in January 2013. “This is nothing against Coventry. Moving to High Wycombe, around 30 miles from London … getting there is bad enough but at least it’s just on the other side of the M25. We’re talking the same area but the idea that you can just pick up a club and move it to Coventry is really disappointing. They see their fanbase as a disposable asset. I think they’ve undervalued one of Wasps’ key assets, which is a large and loyal fanbase in the local area that has always been there for the club through thick and thin. It’s ridiculous. It would be a bit like trying to set up a new football team in Manchester or Liverpool, it’s not going to happen.”
Coventry City returned to the Ricoh Arena last month, after more than a season in exile, but in a temporary deal for two years, with an option for two more, and Wasps’ relocation will raise further questions as to their long-term home. The move still needs to be approved by the Rugby Football Union and the Premiership itself.
A statement from the club said: “We understand this is an unsettling period for our supporters and we will be holding a series of meetings for our season-ticket holders, starting this week, where we can speak face-to-face to explain our decision and to address their concerns.”
It is not the first time that a major rugby club has relocated, although in distance terms it is certainly the most significant. London Welsh moved from Richmond in the capital to play at Oxford United’s Kassam Stadium after reaching the Premiership in 2012, while London Irish relocated on matchdays to Reading’s Madejski Stadium in 2000.
The decision followed a seven-hour briefing at Coventry City Council on Monday during which the Wasps owner, the Irish businessman Derek Richardson, made a lengthy presentation to councillors ahead of the vote. The move was ratified last night although Wasps have been in talks with Arena Coventry Limited – the previous Ricoh owners made up jointly of the council and the Higgs Trust – for several months.
Ann Lucas, the council leader, said: “When Wasps played a Heineken Cup match here in 2007 it brought about £6m into the local economy”. The opposition leader, John Blundell, added that Wasps “want to build a training facility in the Coventry area”.
A statement from Coventry City Council read: “The deal ensures the council makes a return on its original investment of £13.7m into the arena development… it will also lead to work to develop links with Coventry Rugby Club”.
It it the latest chapter in a protracted saga involving the Ricoh Arena, which Coventry City Council built in 2005 and Coventry City moved into after leaving Highfield Road. Sisu, a hedge fund investing money from the Cayman Islands, bought the Sky Blues in 2008 but moved the club to Northampton last season following a bitter row with ACL regarding rent and stadium revenue.
The two parties recently negotiated a return to the Ricoh for the club in a temporary two-year deal, with an option for two more, in which the club can occupy the stadium only on matchdays. In June a High Court judge found that from April 2012 Sisu refused to pay the rent it legally owed at the Ricoh, “quite deliberately to distress ACL’s financial position” so they could buy a share in the arena on the cheap although it could now potentially strike a ground-share deal with Wasps, with the football club currently holding the right to primacy of fixtures.
Jan Mokrzycki, spokesman for the Sky Blue Trust, said: “In some ways it could be a great thing because it’s new landlords that might be able to have a better relationship with the club. Or suddenly the stadium may turn black and yellow.”