A Rhinos fan guide to Coventry Bears and Coventry itself.

We hope visiting Leeds fans enjoy the match under floodlights, last year you contributed to a great atmosphere and a visit by a top club gives a great boost to all those involved down here, not to mention our finances.

Now Coventry isn’t Perpignan [or Barcelona] when it comes to the weather, especially in January, but it’s certainly worth spending more than 80 minutes here.

So, whether you’re arriving early, staying on for a beer or two afterwards, or maybe even making a weekend of it, we’ve put together a guide to point you in the right direction.

Coventry Bears and the Butts Park Arena

Our ground is very close to the city centre and has a 3,000 capacity stand along one side. There is a members’ bar at the top of the stand, and another large bar under the stand which has a great atmosphere after the match.

Before the game a suitable nearby watering hole, recommended by Bears fans, is the CAMRA acclaimed Broomfield Tavern.

Another Bears favourite before or after is Bayleylane Kitchen in the city centre.

We have a car park [£3], so that’s not a problem for drivers, [postcode CV1 3GE for Satnav by the way], while the stadium is only a 15-20 minute walk from the station.

The BPA has a strangely ‘Northern industrial’ feel to it with a railway high up on an embankment overlooking the ground.

We may appear like new kids on the block from the Midlands, but we have been around for twenty years, turning semi-pro five years ago. And now are at the centre of a network of RL teams and initiatives from Merthyr to Loughborough.

We also see ourselves as the proud descendants of a previous Rugby League team which played on this very spot from 1910 to 1913, before the First World War took its terrible toll.

Coventry-City of Culture 2021

Rhinos fans will all know about the fabulous attractions of Hull, but the mantle of City of Culture is now passing to another Rugby League city; Coventry. And we are also City of Sport 2019 too!!!

At which point we’ve put together a few things Rhinos fans may want to see and do as well as watch the match……

Coventry Cathedral

We have an amazing Cathedral, or rather two Cathedrals. The first was almost destroyed in WW2 but was poignantly left in ruined state while a striking and iconic new cathedral was built in the 1960’s, along with much of Coventry’s City Centre.

Museums

We have a really good Transport Museum with free entry. And if transport is your thing, there’s also the Midland Air Museum and just down the road [A45 that is] there is the National Motorcycle Museum.

There is also a Music Museum, with a focus on the Ska or two tone genre which hails from Coventry.

Around the City

Our mediaeval Spon Street is worth a visit. Other city centre highlights include an IKEA, some great examples of 60s architecture [if you like that sort of thing], and a ring road also from the great days of sixties town planning [first-time visitors often spend quite some time on this].

There’s also a nicely restored canal basin, but we don’t expect many Rhinos fans to arrive by narrow boat.

Castles

If you are staying a little longer there’s two of Britain’s greatest castles on our doorstep;

Kenilworth Castle, English Heritage owned and possessing amazing Elizabethan gardens.

Warwick Castle, probably worth a whole day to itself it is so impressive and packed with attractions.

And did we mention Culture???

Culture vultures may wish to take in the Herbert Art Gallery and we have a Theatre and Arts Centre called the Belgrade [although its not their team that’s playing in the Challenge Cup].

Where to stay

There’s plenty of accommodation available to suit all tastes and budgets. There’s a comfortable Premier Inn almost next door to the ground and very handy for the city centre too.

Make it a Sporting Weekend

How about Ice Hockey? Coventry Blaze take on Manchester Storm on the Saturday after the match. It’s incredibly fast and is a game of three halves, honestly.

And on Sunday Wasps play Leinster. If you don’t understand what’s going on there, just clap when everyone else does and marvel at how long a scrum takes.

Alternatively why not watch Leeds United play at Stoke on Saturday? [Answers on a postcard please]

Join us at The Four Provinces Pub after the match for a supporters after party.