Coventry City owner Doug King has encouraged fans to embrace the excitement as the Championship season heads towards a potentially thrilling conclusion. King paid tribute to Coventry City’s recruitment team for “building a high quality squad that I’m proud of”.
King’s Journey with Coventry City
King reflected on his journey since buying the club. “It has been a huge journey,” King told BBC CWR.
“We have done a lot in three years and we’ve had some great experiences. And here we are on the cusp of hopefully something great.”
King acknowledged his increasing profile since taking over at Coventry City. King said: “They still don’t know me in London. But round here they do, which is great”.
Coventry City need to finish in the top two for automatic promotion and are nine points clear of third-placed Millwall with nine games left.
Addressing Past Difficulties
King addressed the challenges Coventry City has faced in previous years. “It’s well-documented that for Coventry City it has been quite messy in previous years,” King said.
He added: “But I have to say, football ownership is very difficult. I have been around a couple of grounds recently, at West Brom and Bristol, where the fanbase has been grumpy.”
Securing the CBS Arena
King spoke about managing to strike a deal to buy the CBS Arena. “We’ve managed to get it together, so I’m proud that we’ve got it together because that was not so straightforward.
“But now we are together and we are having a season that probably merits us being together.
“We haven’t had it like this for a long time, and you can feel it. It feels like ‘wow, we’re finally doing something properly at our great football club’.”
He added: “I’m proud we’ve been able to do it. We’ve got to get over the line, but people have got to enjoy it and they should feel proud of living here and proud of their football club.”
Focus on the Run-In
King urged Sky Blues fans to enjoy the Championship run-in, saying: “Don’t worry – just make the atmosphere crazy.”
He added: “The fanbase has been incredible and it’s rocking at the Arena. It’s hard work but I am excited. If I can’t get excited now, I’m never going to get excited.”
Doug King said head coach Frank Lampard had a “calmness” around his players “but he is focused” as Coventry City close in on promotion.
King said he believed Coventry City could become established in the Premier League, but the first priority would be to survive the first season if promotion was secured in May.