The Ricoh Arena officially celebrated its fifth birthday today.
Five years ago, the ground was opened for the first game against Queens Park Rangers which the Sky Blues won 3-0 with Claus Jorgensen scoring the first ever goal.
The complex which is more than a football stadium with its conference facilities, gig venues, hotel, gym and restaurants has hosted 5,465 conferences over the past five years, and 202 exhibitions, whilst 2,500,000 fans watched City first team games at the Ricoh and 334,000 music fans have seen concerts in the stadium bowl that have included Bon Jovi, Take That and Oasis.
Speaking about the anniversary to the Coventry Observer, Ricoh Arena CEO Daniel Gidney said: "The decision to build the Ricoh Arena was one of the best taken in recent years in Coventry.
"The huge numbers of people who have visited the venue's testament to the high standard of our facilities and our flexibility, since we've attracted international sporting matches, world-class musicians, blue-chip companies and trade exhibitions who otherwise wouldn’t have visited here.
"This has had a positive knock-on effect to the local economy not only in terms of the jobs we have created but for other industries such as local hoteliers and transport providers.
"There's absolutely no doubt the Ricoh Arena has taken the standard of sporting, conference, exhibition and entertainment facilities to a new level within the Midlands."
On the highlights at the Arena, which will host Olympic football and World Cup Rugby in the next five years, Mr Gidney said: "Our key sporting highlights were hosting two England under-21 internationals, an England under-19 match, three Heineken Cup matches including the 2008 semi-final and Coventry City’s sell-out FA Cup quarter-final against Chelsea.
"We were also proud to bring Take That to the Midlands which attracted 114,000 fans last summer, when we also held one of the last Oasis gigs. "We are thrilled to be playing our part in staging two of the world’s three largest sporting occasions - the Olympics and Rugby World Cup. "The impact to the regional economy will be significant and on our fifth birthday, there's certainly plenty to look forward to over the coming months and years.".