Answers Please!

Details

Published: 09 December 2014

The Board of the Sky Blue Trust has become aware of many of its' members and Coventry City supporters in general becoming increasingly disillusioned with the plight of OUR football club.

The Board therefore feels it is now time that the club owners clearly and unambiguously spell out to supporters just what strategy the club is now to follow.

We have therefore written to CCFC Chairman Tim Fisher asking him to outline the clubs plans.

The letter sent by our Secretary to Tim Fisher is as follows:

"Dear Tim, 

I am writing to you, on behalf of the Sky Blue Trust, to invite you to explain to the Trust’s members and Sky Blue supporters generally, precisely what strategy the Club is following in order to rectify its current sorry state.

Notwithstanding the recent encouraging experience of a rare away win at Colchester, the Trust is alarmed at the state of the Club we love.  We have reached our lowest League position in over 50 years and were embarrassingly dumped out of the FA Cup by Worcester City.  Despite the welcome move back to the Ricoh Arena, many supporters feel disillusioned and in despair about the state of the Club and its prospects. This is reflected in the dwindling attendances at home games.  Our surveys reveal that, because of their conduct over a number of years, many supporters remain hostile to the Club’s owners. The purchase of ACL by Wasps would seem to end CCFC hopes of ownership at the Ricoh. However we still believe that a positive new start is possible.

We have seen a number of instances in recent years where Clubs with a proud, long history have fallen upon hard times but, with clear ambition and a resolute approach, have risen from a parlous position to new heights of success.

• In 2002 Swansea City were in League 2, almost relegated from the Football League and facing financial disaster. Following a change of owners, with their Supporters Trust acquiring 20% of the Club, they secured promotion to League 1 in 2005, to the Championship in 2007 and the Premier League in 2011, where they remain.
• Southampton FC were faced with administration and relegation to League 1 in 2009. However, they rose from that position with promotion to the Championship in 2011 and the Premier League in 2012.
• But the most memorable example for Coventry fans is five decades older. In 1961, Coventry City finished the season in the old Division 3 in 15th place (three places higher than our current position) and were defeated by Kings Lynn in the FA Cup.  But led by Jimmy Hill, the Sky Blue Revolution saw promotion to Division 2 in 1964 and then to Division 1 in 1967, where we remained for a remarkable 34 years.

Coventry City fans, in the 8th largest City in England with a travel to work area of well over half a million people, expect our football club to have ambition to return to the Premier League. Our own experience in the 1960s, and the achievements of Swansea and Southampton, show that it can be done. 

We are asking you to tell us, in the light of the above factors, what strategy you are now following to turn-around the fortunes of the Club, over the next few years and to state clearly your ambitions for the Club? Simply stating that we are building our new stadium will not do without some supporting evidence.

We also ask you what steps you are taking to develop a positive, mutually beneficial relationship with Wasps, for the next 4 years at least, and how that sits with your oft-stated intention to build a new ground for CCFC? Most City supporters do not want the team to move away from the Ricoh Arena, do not believe that is necessary and do not believe that it will happen. We fully understand that the Club needs to secure more income from the Arena but believe that a mature, business-like partnership with Wasps could secure that in the short-term and perhaps longer.

Please can you respond in full on the above points by the 31st December 2014? If a meeting to discuss the matters raised would be helpful, we would be glad to attend.

Best wishes

 

Roger Ellis

Secretary, the Sky Blue Trust"

 

We have yet to get a reply.

 

 

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Another Meeting With Wasps

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Published: 26 November 2014

Last week the Sky Blue Trust met again with Nick Eastwood CEO of Wasps and new Chair of ACL, following confirmation of their 100% ownership of ACL. The meeting centred on the new owner’s approach to the Sky Blues and how they intended to work together for a mutually beneficial future. Nick stated that they had already had meetings with Steve Waggott and Steve Brookfield from CCFC and the meetings had been very constructive and held in an atmosphere of co-operation covering many aspects of mutual interest such as potentially sharing ticketing systems and some specific matters that would affect CCFC and its supporters.

Nick stated that a Wasps logo would be put up on the outside of the stadium alongside those currently in place for the Sky Blues and Casino but there were definitely no plans for changing the seat colours. He stated this stadium was now the permanent home of the Wasps but they also want it to be the permanent home of the Sky Blues and would not do things to change that but there may well be the need for some compromise and pragmatism.

We asked about the details of the deal for the Council and the Higgs Charity shares but Nick stated that these were covered by commercial confidentiality but did confirm that the North stand would be renamed the Alan Higgs Charity Stand and that the charity would receive 50p for every ticket sold for rugby matches – not for football matches.

When quizzed about the state of the pitch he admitted that it was of concern to all and stated that the main reason for the current poor condition was simply due to the timing of the return of the Sky Blues in that the pitch would ideally have been given time to be properly prepared but for a host of reasons all parties had decided that getting matches back at the Ricoh took precedent over the potential damage to the playing surface. In hindsight this may have been a mistake but ACL were committed to increasing resources in this area to improve the quality of the playing surface for both teams. How the pitch performed for the rest of this season would be dependent upon the weather etc but unfortunately the situation is at it is and  both sides would have to make do this season.

Nick stated once again that ACL/Wasps were keen to keep CCFC at the Ricoh and were open to discussions on all aspects including access to revenues but it takes will on both sides to make this happen and as yet these talks have yet to be had. When we brought up the matter of the much vaunted new stadium he stated that was a matter for Otium/SISU to decide what fitted their business model for the club best and it wasn’t his place to comment on its merits. We stated that we preferred that the club stay at the Ricoh in Coventry as tenants on a good rental deal rather than be saddled with millions more debt and a small stadium outside Coventry.

Overall it was a very constructive and positive meeting – the general tone was that ACL want CCFC to be part of the future of the Ricoh and that this is their home. There appears to be a will from Wasps to work with the Sky Blues, not something that was always clear from the previous relationship between ACL and CCFC, but the final decision rests with the football club as to which direction they wish to go in.

Nick has agreed to be the guest speaker at the next Sky Blue Trust open meeting on Monday 1st December, 7.30pm Squirrel pub, Greyfriars Lane, Coventry, CV1 2GY. All Trust members welcome to come along, hear what Nick has to say and ask him their own questions – should be an interesting evening.

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