Why any further redevelopment of the BPA must include a 'cowshed or equivalent'...

So darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh, stand by me Oh, stand, stand by me, stand by me

If the sky that we look upon Should tumble and fall Or the mountains should crumble to the sea I won't cry, I won't cry, no, I won't shed a tear Just as long as you stand, stand by me

Stand By Me - Ben E. King

The cowshed at Coundon Road

The trip down to Kingsholm last weekend was interesting not only as further confirmation of just how competitive Cov now is, even against Premiership opposition (albeit without a good number of its international stars), but also as a chance to see what additional facilities might be required of the BPA in order to cope with the expected increase in support if, or rather when, promotion into the top tier of English rugby is achieved.

2018 plan of how the BPA could look once redeveloped

We've all seen the computer generated plans first released back in 2018 of what a redeveloped Butts Park Arena could look like - a 12000 seater stadium which even included a hotel (justified by the need for additional hotel rooms in readiness for Coventry's 'City of Culture' status in 2021), homes and a drive-thru café.

Sadly, I think the café had to be shelved because of the cost of an additional roundabout and changes to the dual carriageway/infrastructure that were necessitated as a result.

However, the proposed 120 bedroom hotel was still at the forefront of discussions as recently as 2021, a build that would include 'a bar, restaurant, dining market, a ground-floor club shop and a hospitality suite/terrace overlooking the pitch'.

No one could have foreseen back in 2018 just how much the economic climate would be so dramatically affected by Covid, the war in Ukraine an other underlying factors and it's hardly surprising that plans for the ground's future redevelopment have been delayed and, in all likelihood, pared back as a result.

Those supporters who attended a recent club forum will doubtless be rather more up-to-date as to just where the club is as far the latest news regarding the redevelopment of the stadium; in time the club will hopefully make this info available to the rest of the supporters.

Apologies if it has already done so, it's something I might well have missed.

Hopefully, one of the original additions planned for the current stadium must remain a firm priority, namely 'a cow shed (sic) or the equivalent with extra bars and hospitality perhaps' (CoventryLive 2018).

Back then, from my understanding, this was to be a covered stand, standing only, designed to allow supporters who don't wish to sit to watch a game to do so in something akin to the old cowshed that was so popular back at Coundon Road before the move to the BPA. Chairman John Sharp was particularly keen to include it back then and as far as I'm aware, it's still central to any future redevelopment of the ground and its facilities.

At the time I was rather ambivalent to the idea of incorporating a covered, standing only area into any future redevelopment of the BPA. 19 years of sitting down to watch Cov has clouded my judgement somewhat and I'd forgotten just how different the atmosphere is when you enable of a large group of supporters to stand shoulder to shoulder, freed up from the unnatural constraints of an all-seater stand.

It's taken a trip down to Gloucester (and a further excursion down memory lane) to remind me of just how impactful a cowshed, or similar, can be.

The Shed at Kingsholm holds, I'm guessing, around 4000 spectators and runs virtually the entire length of the pitch.

Photos of The Shed from Saturday's trip down to Kingsholm

Its low roof and proximity to the playing surface ensures that supporters are closer to the action than at any other part of the ground and is one of the reasons why it is far more atmospheric than a typical all seater stand. Its informality ensures that supporters are relatively unrestrained and perhaps explains why they seem more willing to express support for their team in a far more vocal and emotive way. An all-seater enclosure, on the other hand, is more regimented and regulated and by restricting a supporter's movements, so you control some of their more natural responses to the game itself. It definitely appears to take some of the crowd-generated intensity out of the encounter, albeit for the right reasons.

Seated stands arguably provide a safer environment from which supporters can enjoy a sporting event (although rugby rarely, if ever, generates the kind of incidents which all seater stadiums were designed to prevent?). However, they also manipulate responses, whether deliberately in the case of physical movement, or inadvertently as far as an emotional reactions are concerned.

Speaking to Gloucester supporters before the game and at half-time, they see The Shed as potential factor in influencing the outcome of any game. They have real pride in The Shed. Talk about Kingsholm and one of the first topics for discussion is the atmosphere the supporters generate during a game and so much of that comes from no more than 20-25% of them; those who watch from The Shed.

The Shed is a potent weapon in the armoury of Gloucester Rugby and unsurprisingly it is much revered by all Gloucester supporters.

The noise it generates, coming as it does from several thousand partisan fans all fervent in the support of their club, is certainly intimadatory at times. Even half full as it was last Saturday, the volume of noise was still impressive and I can well imagine how that might lift the home side in tight games where the impact of the crowd can and does make a difference, especially when worked on by a PA who knows exactly how to get the crowd going, as was the case on Saturday.

Of course, this pre-supposes that the crowd will get behind the team which isn't always the case in a sport where supporters can quickly become critical of a team's performance almost at the drop of a hat, or the blow of a whistle in this case.

Alex Rae and his players have often talked about the importance of the crowd as the 16th man at both home and away games. The inclusion of a standing only area, even with a capacity of just one or two thousand supporter at most, would add greatly to the atmosphere of the BPA which even now, with only one main stand, can be impassioned, even fervid, at times.

There are plenty of Coventry supporters who choose to watch the game standing on the West side of the ground, opposite the main east stand, when the weather is favourable. At the moment, with crowds averaging not much more than 2500 for a typical Championship fixture, the demand for a dedicated covered standing area, other than the rather archaic structure that is currently there, doesn't really justify the expense.

However, if and when any major re-development of the ground does take place, then the inclusion of a purpose built 'cowshed' should be a must, both as a response to the wishes of a good number of Coventry supporters and as way of generating the kind of atmosphere that makes a visit to the BPA that much more tricky for any away team. It's what having home advantage is all about and Cov should do everything it can, within its financial means, to make the BPA as difficult a ground to visit as any in the country.

Unless crowd sizes at the BPA improve considerably, any talk of developing the ground to accommodate 12000 supporters seems academic. Even the recent cup game against Saracens could only entice a crowd of just north of 4000 and the Sarries' side that came to the BPA for the Championship encounter that included the likes of Itoje, George, Farrell, Vunipola (x2) and Goode, amongst others, pulled in a even fewer.

Maybe the new Prem 2 could see attendances improve further with visits from some current Premiership sides becoming the norm. If that is indeed the case, then the creation of a new permanent covered standing area to provide for up to 2000 standing supporters might well be an attractive proposition for those who don't like sitting down to watch their rugby.

Although, that might not be quite so true of any opposition winger forced to take a high ball in front of a baying crowd.

Which is precisely why we need one.

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