Thursday 1 August 2013

Coventry Cobblers

Tomorrow (Friday 3rd August) is yet another D-day for the wonderful football team that are Coventry City.

Our previous landlords ACL have made an offer to keep us at the Ricoh- a much better deal that the one that has forced us into administration and which has played a huge part in our finances pushing us down to League One from the heady heights of the Championship, yet still one which essentially prevents the club from building for the future. No option to buy the ground, no access to match day revenues- two things which the club needs to complete on an even keel with the clubs around us.

If the club agree to the deal they stay in Coventry at least for the next ten years (assuming they survive that long) and they avoid a fifteen point deduction at the start of the new season. Even better, our transfer embargo will end in twenty eight days meaning that we will be able to start signing players again on the last day of this month, giving us three days to do the transfer dealings that all of our rivals have had the entire summer to complete.

If we don't agree we are likely to end in liquidation, we will certainly be condemned to play our home games in Northampton for the next three years while the club (which is at least £65 million in debt already) look to build a new stadium in the Coventry area. We will get almost no revenue during that time but if we survive then we will have a slight chance of building a club with long term prospects. Of course we may not even be in the football league by then but at least we will have our own ground and revenues so we can start again.

There are no other alternatives on the table at the moment and neither of the above scenarios is appealing to the fans who are running a number of separate (and poorly organised) campaigns against the owners. Some of the wiser fans are also aware that ACL and the local council have each allowed avarice to play a part in the down fall of Coventry City FC.

I really don't want the club to move to Northampton but I totally understand why the new owners (who happen to be the same as the old owners, but that is a totally different thread) will refuse to sign the deal that ACL are putting on the table because without ownership of the ground they are just delaying the inevitable.

So come this time tomorrow I fully expect to be calling my beloved Sky Blues the Coventry Cobblers.
 
Play Up Sky Blues

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