League One: Coventry City to end their Ricoh Arena exile

League One side Coventry City are to return to the Ricoh Arena after agreeing a two-year deal with the company that runs the stadium.

The side have been playing their home matches at Northampton Town's Sixfields Stadium since the start of the 2013/14 season, after the club entered a dispute with Arena Coventry Limited (ACL) over the amount of rent they were paying.

However, the two parties have been in discussions over the last few weeks about the club returning to the Ricoh, and this week have agreed a two year deal, with an option to extend the deal until 2018.

The club will play their first game back at the stadium against Gillingham on September 5th.

The stalemate started after Coventry's relegation from the Championship in 2012, with the club arguing they could not afford the £100,000 rent in League One, and stopped payments.

A debt of over £1m accrued over the next 12 months as the row continued, as part of the club was placed into administration.

That led to a 10-point deduction in March 2013 before the club was bought by Otium Entertainment Group only to be hit with another 10-point penalty for the start of last season.

After they left the Ricoh, the club agreed a stadium share at Sixfields for three years whilst they put plans in place to build a brand new arena, but that did little to sway angered fans, many of whom refused to make the 80 mile round trip to Northampton to watch their side play.

The Arena's main use since the club left had been for open air music concerts, but fans will no doubt be flocking back to the Ricoh to witness their club's homecoming.