Carabao Cup: Coventry City v Bristol City moved to Burton Albion because of 'unsafe' pitch

The pitch at the Coventry Building Society Arena has been used for rugby sevens during the Commonwealth Games

Coventry City's Carabao Cup first-round tie with Bristol City on Wednesday has been moved to Burton Albion's Pirelli Stadium due to their pitch still being deemed "unsafe".

The Coventry Building Society Arena hosted rugby sevens matches for the Commonwealth Games at the end of July.

Home ticket-holders will be refunded, with tickets available at the gate.

Coventry's Championship tie with Rotherham on Sunday was postponed due to the pitch being "unplayable".

The pitch at the Sky Blues' ground - which is owned by Premiership rugby side Wasps - has been further impacted by music concerts held this summer.

Burton Albion's stadium in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, is about 30 miles away and has a capacity of just under 7,000 - compared to the 32,000 the Coventry Building Society Arena can host.

A statement from Coventry said they "hope" that by moving the match they would give Wasps time to "make the required improvements" to the pitch before their next home match on Tuesday, 16 August, against Wigan in the Championship.

"The club explored other options, including EFL and non-league clubs locally as well as reversing the fixture, but this was not possible," they said.

A statement from the English Football League, meanwhile, said it has "requested observations" as to why the match with Rotherham could not go ahead as planned.

Coventry chief executive Dave Boddy told BBC CWR on Saturday night that he was "embarrassed by the situation" when the Rotherham game was first called off, outlining "craters and divots" and "an awful lot of sand".

He also maintained that "promised investment by the Arena into a new pitch" had not been fulfilled.

The stadium was jointly owned by Arena Coventry Ltd when City moved there in 2005 after the sale of their previous home, Highfield Road.

The club left to play at Northampton for 14 months in 2013 following a dispute over rent before returning to the stadium in September 2014, but then they became tenants when Wasps moved in and bought the ground.

A further dispute then led to City playing in Birmingham at St Andrew's for two seasons, before returning to Coventry in 2021.