The city buzzing as Premier League return beckons

Cast your mind back to 2001 - the first iPhone would not be released for six years, Tony Blair was prime minister and the first Harry Potter film was in cinemas.

It was also the year that Coventry City, after decades in the top division of English football, were relegated from the Premier League.

Many Sky Blues fans hoped they would make a swift return but their journey back has proved tortuous - with the club falling into League Two at one stage and at times also having to play their home games away from Coventry.

But with the club on the verge of being back at the top table of English football, their success is creating a buzz in the city.

They include lifelong supporters who, having had a taste of the Premier League a quarter of a century ago, desperately want the club back in it.

Michael Cassity, a season ticket holder who has followed Coventry for more than four decades, runs a hats, gloves and scarves stall on Coventry Market.

He said it had been "very tough" seeing his team drop down the leagues.

"It's been a lot of dark moments, days but finally nearly there, we're nearly back," he said.

"It'd just be a massive lift for the whole of the city.

"[It will] change people's mood, it just will lift everybody."

His friend Gil Lewis, a former professional boxer, said he had been a fan since 1977.

He said he was "gutted" when they dropped out of the Premier League in 2001 and felt "200% confident" they were going back up.

He remembers the city coming together when Coventry won the FA Cup.

"I was at Wembley in '87 and it was amazing. It's going to be like that," he said.

"Coventry needs a boost."

Julie White is managing director of D-Drill & Sawing, who sponsored the club for many years - starting when her dad was in charge of the company in the 1980s.

White and her father are also lifelong fans, attending many games together, including that FA Cup win at Wembley.

"After 25 years.. we deserve it, we're a great a city... a club that's been going on for years, it's our time now to be back into the premiership," she said.

"[My dad] is so avid, and I've been up quite a few times with him to Coventry, and it's a great feeling, that whole feeling of: 'We're going up, we're going back to we belong', is a real special feeling.

"It's a great city. Coventry is the best city in Great Britain, I think."

Gordy Mazvihwa is director of operations at Dhillon's Brewery, which also owns the Sky Blue Tavern, a venue with a Coventry City theme.

He told the BBC that to get promotion would be "unbelievable" and the feeling in the city was "tangible".

"It would bring new audiences that we haven't catered for before," he said.

"Ultimately I think that will bode well for all companies in Coventry, we're going to have the world's eyes on us, which is fantastic.

"Coventry has had a lot of bad press historically and all the businesses have come together for the last number of years to bring a bit of positivity...you can feel it now.

"This is fantastic for everyone involved."

The benefits for the city could also be huge economically, according to Corin Crane.

He is the chief executive of the local chamber of commerce and said, for a start, more fans would come to the area.

"We're quite close to the airport so hopefully more international fans will come in," he said.

"Beyond that, on matchdays, hopefully the jobs will increase."

Last year, the Sky Blues lost to Sunderland in the semi-finals of the Championship play-offs.

Their opponents went on to win the final and are currently in the middle of the Premier League table.

John McCabe, chief executive of the North East Chamber of Commerce, said Sunderland's promotion had been a success story for the region, with about 10,000 more fans through the turnstiles than when they were in the Championship.

He added that hotels were reporting an increase in overnight stays, as well as "longer dwell times", while local businesses were seeing "spill-over spending", with matchdays becoming full-day economic events.

"The feel-good factor of the club's success has also extended to their global profile," McCabe added.

"An unexpected surge in interest from Mexico [is] generating new merchandise lines and international commercial opportunities that would not have been possible in the Championship."

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