In the atrium that runs the length of the Ricoh Arena’s West Stand, near where the bronze statue of Sir Jimmy Hill stands atop a stone plinth, three men are gathered round a table. All are Coventry City supporters; all are wondering - again - how it’s come to this.

David Johnson is 64. He’s old enough to remember the good times: the FA Cup win in 1987, the halcyon days of top flight football. He can even pinpoint the exact game his obsession with the club truly started. Played in the week between Christmas and New Year in 1977, he was one of 21,000 in attendance at Highfield Road to see Coventry get the better of Norwich City in a breathless 5-4 win.

“The atmosphere was electric that night,” he recalls. “I already had a season ticket by that stage, but that was the moment I knew this was my team.

“I was hooked. I have been ever since.”

Next to him sits CJ Joiner, who grew up watching Coventry as a Premier League club in the 1990s. He remembers his first game - a 1-0 home defeat to Everton in April 1992.

“I saw them lose so I suppose I started as I meant to go on,” he smiles. “But there were a lot of happy times, too. I was there when we beat Liverpool and Villa at home. United, too.”

Sitting opposite is Moz Baker, chairman of the Sky Blue Trust. The son of a Liverpudlian, his first taste of football came not at Highfield Road, but at Anfield.

“I fell in love with football when I was watching Liverpool in the seventies, but I was a Coventry boy, born and raised. I wanted to support my hometown club, so I did.”

“This is a great city,” he continues. “People knock it, but it’s been through a hell of a lot over the years. Coventry City Football Club is at its heart and the thought of them not being here anymore breaks my heart. This place needs its football club. The two go together.”