Coventry City are forced to POSTPONE Tuesday’s Championship encounter with Wigan

Coventry City have postponed Tuesday’s upcoming Championship meeting with Wigan Athletic due to problems with their pitch, that the club blame on Rugby Union side Wasps.

The two teams share the Coventry City stadium as their home ground with Wasps competing in the Gallagher Premiership as rugby and football teams share the same pitch.

The pitch has been under heavy maintenance following the conclusion of the domestic rugby season, however as EFL championship gets underway for a new season, Coventry are facing significant issues with the playing surface.

Coventry City have been forced to postpone the upcoming Championship visit of Wigan

Mark Robins’ side travel to meet Millwall at The Den on Saturday but won’t be playing in the following game against Wigan with the game being postponed.

Coventry did originally ask to reverse the fixture to have the match played at Wigan but this wasn’t possible due to the stadium being used for other purposes over the weekend.

The Championship side were also forced to take the same action for their opening home match of the new season against Rotherham. 

The football club have blamed Rugby Union side Wasps for ruining the pitch at the stadium

Coventry have already been forced to cancel their opening home match against Rotherham

In a lengthy statement published on the club’s website, Coventry City Chief Executive Dave Boddy slammed the rugby union outfit for breaking the promises they made regarding investment into the playing surface.

Boddy said: ‘We are very disappointed to report the lack of improvement in the pitch, and we are very disappointed for our supporters, players and staff again that we have now had to postpone Tuesday’s home game against Wigan Athletic.

‘To be clear, this is not the fault of the grounds staff.

‘Promised investment into a new pitch, which was a fundamental part of the extensive negotiations for the club to return and then again a promise made publicly following the announcement of our return in March 2021, has not happened and there has been no significant refurbishment or repair work over the Summer either.

‘Our concerns over the quality of the pitch have not been addressed, and we were extremely disappointed to be told in June that Wasps had made the decision not to take any action to put a new surface in.’

Coventry insisted that promises made by the rugby club over pitch investment weren’t kept

Boddy also went on to explain that the pitch had ‘independently been found to be unsafe and unplayable, but tried to reassure fans as he went on to explain the cclub’s next steps.

‘We still, despite repeated requests and the high-profile and urgent nature of this situation, await an ‘action plan’ from them to address this major issue, which they promised to implement publicly last Saturday. 

‘The pitch has now been independently found to be unsafe and unplayable by the agronomists and previously by EFL match officials, and we are now desperate for this situation to be resolved.

‘We will continue to keep supporters updated, and will provide further news as soon as possible.’