FOOTBALL- Coventry City captain Liam Kelly signs new one-year deal

COVENTRY City captain Liam Kelly has signed a new one-year deal to extend his stay at the club for another season.

Kelly is Coventry’s longest-serving player, having joined the club in the summer of 2017, and played a crucial role in the final months of the previous campaign to help City reach the play-off final.

The midfielder has been part of two promotion winning squads and scored in the shootout in Coventry’s heartbreaking Championship play-off final defeat against Luton Town at Wembley.

Coventry manager Mark Robins said: “I am delighted that Liam has signed a new contract with the Sky Blues.

“He has been an integral part of what has been achieved at this football club over the last six years and continues to make a key contribution both on and off the field.

“Having recovered from injury, his influence during the final few months of the season as we reached the play-off final was clear to see and we look forward to continuing to work with him.”

The 33-year-old has made 161 appearances for the club, scoring three goals, and will now enter his seventh season with City.

Kelly became club captain in February 2019 and lifted the League One title in 2019/20 following promotion from League Two in 2017/18.

READ MORE BELOWIt would have a completely different shop front

A new Tesco Express is set to open in a former bank in Coventry city centre. A place where people used to save their pounds could now become one where they spend them as plans show that the old UKEC Coventry in High Street is set to be one of the national supermarket’s Express stores.

The details have emerged in a planning application to Coventry City Council. It asks for permission for the installation of a new shopfront with an automatic sliding door and seven louvres at the building, which is next to the current Barclays Bank.

It has been submitted by Tesco Stores Ltd and, contained within the plans, are designs that show what the frontage of the new store will look like. One of them explains that the Tesco Express sign itself would be made of ‘high-quality aluminium lettering and colours’ to reflect the branding of the supermarket giant.

READ MORE: Plans unveiled for more student accommodation in Coventry city centre

The application also explains that careful consideration has been given to the heritage of the area and the fact that is within a Conservation area.

“It is considered that the proposed shopfront and louvres will match the existing design of the façade, maintaining and preserving the original appearance of the building, also in keeping with the wider area in terms of its commercial context,” the application explains.

“The proposed louvres will be located along the top of the frontage and coloured to match the remainder of the shopfront, making them a minor addition to the façade. It is notable that there are examples of similar louvres in close proximity to the application site within the Hill Top Conservation Area.”

What is not detailed in the application is when the new changes would be made and the new store be opened, if planning permission is granted. It also does not mention how many jobs the new store would create. CoventryLive has contacted Tesco about the application.

Planners at the city council are now looking at the minor application proposal and it is understood that a final decision on whether it gets the green light will be made at the end of next month.