Coventry City versus Blackburn Rovers, Saturday 18th October 2025 and the Sky Blues head back to the top of the Championship table, two goals in as many second-half minutes breaking the resistance of a hard-working, disciplined visiting side.
Just over 20 years into its existence, the Coventry Building Society Arena as it is now known has finally become a home for Coventry City FC, not just because ownership of the club and the stadium is now in the same hands, but because it has become a place where you can actually enjoy spending your Saturday afternoon.
Results on the pitch help, of course, and the Sky Blues have continued their upward trajectory of the last few years, seasons that have seen two promotions, two tilts at the Premier League via the play-offs and a dramatic FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
The Ricoh Arena, as it was, was a spectacularly uninviting place at times, the occasional efforts of those at the club to make it feel welcoming, such as the 2018 Community Day.
Saturday saw the opening of a new fan village in the Arena's Exhibition Hall, open late after the game, to go alongside the bars and food stalls that line the East Stand prior to kick-off. The price of a pint was kept at a reasonable price and, as the marketing messages have been keen to remind people, every penny now spent at the ground goes back into the club.
With tickets for the Blackburn game only available on a ticket exchange in the past few days, it had the look and feel of a big club in action, on and off the field.
Often when I have written about the Sky Blues on this blog since starting it in 2013, it has been in the context of the troubles affecting the club, punctuated by attempts to re-engage with the supporter base through ticket offers and the likes.
The need to tempt people through the turnstiles isn't a problem at present, demand may soon exceed supply in that regard.
Yesterday's ticket cost £32 which, in the context of prices for all manner of things at present, probably doesn't qualify as affordable but isn't extortionate either, although I am well aware that other matches have cost more and that Birmingham City fans were very unhappy with the prices charged to them recently.
