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Post by skybluejim on Feb 5, 2014 21:36:36 GMT
Hi guys,
Coventry City fan here in peace.
In order to bring to light the problem with football governance in our country we are demanding an enquiry by the government into how it came to be that CCFC are playing their matches 35 miles outside the city.
It would be greatly appreciated if you took 30 seconds to sign the petition. Even better if you could share it. If the petition reaches 100,000 signatures it will have to be considered by government.
epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/59884
I am posting this after hearing of the crazy state of affairs at LUFC recently.
From what I gather, the person fronting the takeover of their club has both previously been convicted of fraud AND once uprooted an Italian club from one side of the country to the other to play out matches in front of 200 spectators.
What with my club also being owned by a private equity firm I’m not surprised to hear GFH are going ahead with this sale in their own interests and nobody else’s.
I find it appalling that, given everything that has happened with not just my club but many others, the football authorities are considering allowing the takeover at LUFC to go through.
Once again they are failing to prevent outside interests from making a mockery of our game and its heritage.
In order for this petition to be effective us Sky Blues rely on the football community coming together in this time of need. Your help is much appreciated.
(For those not aware of the background to the CCFC situation and wanting to know more, the extract below is as short hand as it gets and is taken from a recent Q&A with ArsenalOnline prior to our cup game at the Emirates).
Many thanks
Most people blame our owners, the Sisu hedge fund, and many people suspect their actions over the last two years are all about trying to get ownership of the Ricoh Arena on the cheap. The Coventry City saga makes Lord of the Rings look short, but here goes – • Until the mid 1990s we were well run and solvent • 1996 a new chairman decided to ‘have a punt’ on success • 2001 relegated from the Premiership with something like £60 million debt • 2005 after more crises moved from our Highfield Road ground to the Ricoh Arena as tenants with the Arena owned by ACL (Arena Coventry Limited), a joint venture between Coventry City Council and a local Charity • 2007 CCFC was taken over by Sisu, a hedge fund • 2010 with the global financial crisis hitting Sisu hard, Sisu’s owner Joy Seppala took direct control • 2012 Sisu declared the rent being paid to ACL was too high and stopped paying it • 2012 Relegated to League 1 • 2013 Sisu declared they are going to build a new stadium in ‘the Coventry area’, but not in the City itself • 2013 club went into Administration • 2013 Sisu relocated the club to Northampton, approved by the Football League for a period of 3 to 5 years • Today – CCFC has been described as a basket-case. Currently: - The crisis continues to be played out in the courts and media, with the next phase being a Judicial Review Sisu has sought against the Council but that won’t happen for months - Sisu continue to say they will build a new stadium but have not purchased land, engaged in discussions with planning authorities nor submitted a planning application - Our owner is so secretive there is no publicly available photo of her so we don’t even know what she looks like - The vast majority of City fans are boycotting games at Northampton and attendances there are hitting record lows with an average of around 2,000 including visiting fans, but there’s been a massive increase in numbers going to away games - A generation of new football fans is being lost and the heart is being ripped out of our club - There is no indication of when, if ever, we will return to Coventry
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Post by starkiller on Feb 5, 2014 21:56:09 GMT
Ridiculous situation. Good luck.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2014 22:15:55 GMT
Good luck Jim..We are all with you mate, i'm sure on this.
TEST
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Post by roylandstoke on Feb 5, 2014 22:19:22 GMT
happy to support this Jim.
Good luck with the fight.
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Post by stokiejoe on Feb 5, 2014 22:24:15 GMT
disgusting state of affairs good luck
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Post by Huddysleftfoot on Feb 5, 2014 22:24:40 GMT
Hi guys,
Coventry City fan here in peace.
In order to bring to light the problem with football governance in our country we are demanding an enquiry by the government into how it came to be that CCFC are playing their matches 35 miles outside the city.
It would be greatly appreciated if you took 30 seconds to sign the petition. Even better if you could share it. If the petition reaches 100,000 signatures it will have to be considered by government.
epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/59884
I am posting this after hearing of the crazy state of affairs at LUFC recently.
From what I gather, the person fronting the takeover of their club has both previously been convicted of fraud AND once uprooted an Italian club from one side of the country to the other to play out matches in front of 200 spectators.
What with my club also being owned by a private equity firm I’m not surprised to hear GFH are going ahead with this sale in their own interests and nobody else’s.
I find it appalling that, given everything that has happened with not just my club but many others, the football authorities are considering allowing the takeover at LUFC to go through.
Once again they are failing to prevent outside interests from making a mockery of our game and its heritage.
In order for this petition to be effective us Sky Blues rely on the football community coming together in this time of need. Your help is much appreciated.
(For those not aware of the background to the CCFC situation and wanting to know more, the extract below is as short hand as it gets and is taken from a recent Q&A with ArsenalOnline prior to our cup game at the Emirates).
Many thanks
Most people blame our owners, the Sisu hedge fund, and many people suspect their actions over the last two years are all about trying to get ownership of the Ricoh Arena on the cheap. The Coventry City saga makes Lord of the Rings look short, but here goes – • Until the mid 1990s we were well run and solvent • 1996 a new chairman decided to ‘have a punt’ on success • 2001 relegated from the Premiership with something like £60 million debt • 2005 after more crises moved from our Highfield Road ground to the Ricoh Arena as tenants with the Arena owned by ACL (Arena Coventry Limited), a joint venture between Coventry City Council and a local Charity • 2007 CCFC was taken over by Sisu, a hedge fund • 2010 with the global financial crisis hitting Sisu hard, Sisu’s owner Joy Seppala took direct control • 2012 Sisu declared the rent being paid to ACL was too high and stopped paying it • 2012 Relegated to League 1 • 2013 Sisu declared they are going to build a new stadium in ‘the Coventry area’, but not in the City itself • 2013 club went into Administration • 2013 Sisu relocated the club to Northampton, approved by the Football League for a period of 3 to 5 years • Today – CCFC has been described as a basket-case. Currently: - The crisis continues to be played out in the courts and media, with the next phase being a Judicial Review Sisu has sought against the Council but that won’t happen for months - Sisu continue to say they will build a new stadium but have not purchased land, engaged in discussions with planning authorities nor submitted a planning application - Our owner is so secretive there is no publicly available photo of her so we don’t even know what she looks like - The vast majority of City fans are boycotting games at Northampton and attendances there are hitting record lows with an average of around 2,000 including visiting fans, but there’s been a massive increase in numbers going to away games - A generation of new football fans is being lost and the heart is being ripped out of our club - There is no indication of when, if ever, we will return to Coventry Good luck Jim...there by fortune or misfortune could go any one of our teams. Signed and shared on my facebook wall
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Post by stokiejoeofalsager on Feb 5, 2014 22:54:12 GMT
Happily. On matters like this supporters need to stand together,
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2014 23:10:43 GMT
Coventry council should refuse planning permission for any new stadium.The football club have already been heavily subsidised by the council in order to move to The Ricoh and they should insist that the present owners of the club and those that run the stadium get together and thrash out a resolution.If they can't it should go to arbitration. Coventry City FC belong at The Ricoh.
The fans (the majority anyway ) should be applauded for their stance on refusing to go to Northampton. It is a ridiculous situation not helped by the FA/Football League letting any tom dick or harry take over a football club.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2014 7:32:28 GMT
I've just signed it - good luck.
You've got a long way to go by the looks of it - only 7636 signatures when I signed it.
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Post by lawrieleslie on Feb 6, 2014 7:40:41 GMT
Have signed and shared Jim. This "fit & proper person" malarkey is just bollox IMO. Look at the number of clubs that have suffered because some rich gangster wants to "have a punt", as you say, with the livelihoods of football clubs. It just continues the belief that every decent football fan has that the FA are as corrupt as the criminals trying to take control or have taken control of some household names including your good selves. This has to be investigated for the good of our great footballing tradition.
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Post by Lakeland Potter on Feb 6, 2014 7:51:16 GMT
Dunnit - happy to support a good cause. Good Luck.
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Post by delilah7 on Feb 6, 2014 8:23:13 GMT
Signed and shared on facebook. Good luck.
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Post by slother on Feb 6, 2014 8:40:28 GMT
But Barclays compliments us the whole time! WHAT MORE DO YOU WANTTTT!?
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Post by Northy on Feb 6, 2014 8:44:14 GMT
Signed, but how much did you pay that ref in the cup match in 87, dodgy as fook you were back then You mention Leeds a bit but no mention of it on the petition description only
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Post by pulismaskreplica on Feb 6, 2014 8:51:54 GMT
Signed - football is heading for oblivion for the working class man and the powers that be don't give a toss. Respect to you and Coventry fans for making a stand. All the best mate.
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Post by marrer on Feb 6, 2014 10:03:42 GMT
Signed it mate. I shudder to imagine Stoke playing in Burslem!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2014 10:12:38 GMT
right......whilst i agree with the idea that there are certain owners coming in and destroying smaller clubs and that is a disgrace to football i have to say that the OP doesn't actually give all the facts unfortunately.
the ricoh arena is owned by the council and the charitable trust and were charging Coventry 1.2 million a year to rent it. after they got relegated they then went into negotiations almost straight away about a reduction in rent which intially ACL (who run the ricoh) refused to budge on.let's not pretend the 1.2 mill a year rent was imposed because it HAD to be at all, they were screwing the club, they later (at the last minute after massive media attention) reduced the rent amount to a maximum of £400,000 so they had plenty of wriggle room in the negotiations form the start but just didn't want to play ball!
the club DIDN'T just say "It's too high" and stop paying it as alluded to in the OP...they negotiated heavily with ACL and explained that due to a loss in revenue from being relegated they would struggle to keep up with the payments they already owed (to the owners of the stadium AND several other creditors)so asked for a reduction. they also insisted upon (and got) a judicial review through the High court (who agreed with Shisu) to be carried out to investigate a £14 million loan given to the owners of the stadium due to it being seen as improper use of public funds.they saw it as the council basically putting ACL in a strong financial position so they could play hard ball with the club and insist on the £1.2 million fee. the owners of Coventry actually fought quite hard to try to stay at the ricoh and spent months trying to negotiate for that. ACL saw £1.2 million as perfectly reasonable (as did the council) and Shisu actually wanted to stay at the Ricoh, hence them battling for a reduction in the rent amount.
ACL did (at the very last minute before they moved to Northampton) reduce the asking price but by then the club's owners simply saw that as a media stunt to make them look good because of the high media profile the situation had received and basically (and righlty) refused to trust them.
what also didn't help (but isn't mentioned anywhere in the OP conveniently) is the fact that Coventry went from having an average attendance of over 17,500 whilst in the Championship to immediately just over 10,000 after they got relegated...a loss of over 40% of their support has a major effect on a club in the "Lower leagues" no matter who is running them. this loss in revenue was a massive reason behind why they could no longer afford the 1.2 mill a year rent payments to ACL.
yes, Shisu haven't done brilliantly i admit but there are many many factors that have contributed to the downfall of Coventry. it's NOT just happened over the last year or so in fact they have almost constantly been in debt for a good while now (in fact Shisu companies wrote off over £32 million worth of debt last year to help the club's survival...that amount of debt hasn't just happened overnight!).
ACL basically tried to screw the club, the club couldn't afford the rent anymore because over 40% of their supporters gave up after relegation to League 1 so the owners did their best to try to stay there with a severely decreased revenue stream. you can't just expect a club owner to continue to pump money into a club when there is very little whatsoever to indicate that they'll see any of that back...when almost half of your support don't bother coming to games anymore so aren't spending on the club or at the ground then you can't complain if the owners suddenly don't have the money coming in to pump back into the club.
i'm not saying for a second that Shisu have acted impeccably here and are completely blameless...they're a money making business of course they are but they took over a club with large debt already and now there was very little coming back in....did people just expect them to pump in more and more with notihng coming back and if they don't do that then they could just turn around and use the "Fair and proper test" argument again? there's nothing unfair or improper about an owner not having the revenue to carry on pumping endless funds into a club (a business) that isn't giving anything back. to try to pin all the blame on them and the FA Fair and proper test is, quite simply, ridiculous and scapegoating to a massive degree and unfortunately done so in an OP that only tells the facts that back up this theory rather than the full facts surrounding the whole matter.
let's just make sure that when threads like this are started they contain ALL the facts rather than the convenient ones that back up a particular argument......just thinking "Ooh they're foreign, things have gone tits up so let's presume that one is because of the other and therefore we can blame the FA, the Fair and proper test and the owners whilst absolving our own support of any blame for leaving in their thousands a few years back and the former owners who kept us in the Championship whilst running up massive debts that would have fucked us back then if it wasn't for the owners that we're now blaming"...it's far too easy a get out and doesn't look at the full picture whatsoever!!! the simple fact is that if Shisu hadn't bought out Coventry then they would have been sunk years ago but now, because they're foreign owners and a whole host of other issues (including the massive debt they previously had BEFORE Sisu bought them out) suddenly people jump on the lazy excuse of "Fair and proper test" and "It's foreign owners ruining the club"....it just isn't that way at all.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2014 10:23:15 GMT
Done....all the best Jim
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Post by OldStokie on Feb 6, 2014 10:35:01 GMT
Signed. Good luck, but the FA are so damned corrupt that I see little chance of success for you. And I'll guarantee that not far into the future we'll have the US system of franchises, and the first to go will be Man United to a 200,000 seater stadium in the Far East. That's when the Surrey glory hunters will get their cummuppance. OS.
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Post by metalhead on Feb 6, 2014 10:35:36 GMT
What has happened to Coventry is an absolute joke. Signed. Good luck.
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Post by Kenilworth_Stokies on Feb 6, 2014 10:46:57 GMT
I've been following Cov's plight on Sky Blues Talk for some time. I signed this the other day, and I hope it raises the profile of your plight.
Something's got to change in how football is run as it's been taken away from the fans who are its life blood. Hedge Funds have no place in that picture.
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Post by MuddyWoody on Feb 6, 2014 10:52:41 GMT
Signed, and passed on to a few I know.
Hope it reaches the required number.
Scholes out!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2014 10:54:03 GMT
I've been following Cov's plight on Sky Blues Talk for some time. I signed this the other day, and I hope it raises the profile of your plight. Something's got to change in how football is run as it's been taken away from the fans who are its life blood. Hedge Funds have no place in that picture. the same fans that left in their droves after they came down from the Championship you mean? the OP says that fans don't go now out of protest...well, the fans actually stopped going a couple of years back well before any of this situation arose, they dropped by over 40% so let's not pretend that they were all loyal, diehard fans going to Coventry before this debacle...a hugh proportion gave up simply because they'd gone down. that kind of support can not in any way sustain a club or have any quibbles when the owners suddenly stop bailing them out...that's called wanting your cake and eating it........"I can't be fucked to go now we've been relegated but if the owners don't carry on pumping their own money in then i'll complain like mad about them", it doesn't work like that unfortunately! over 40% of them stopped going simply because of relegation...how do you expect any business to carry on pumping funds into a "Business" that isn't giving any kind of return? if that happened to us (a massive reduction in gates) and the Coates family therefore stopped pumping masses into the club would that then be THEIR fault? of course not....we're in a VERY fortunate position with our owners and it would appear that a lot of people have forgottne how football actually works because of that luxury. if a business who didn't make much money in the first place because of debts of previous owners are now making even less because of a drastic fall in support then how can anyone expect them to carry on funding the club in the way they were previously???? if fans ARE the lifeblood of the team then fair enough but that wasn't the case here as nearly half of them couldn't be arsed as soon as they got relegated. Sisu have to accept some of the blame but so do Coventry City council and ACL for screwing them over as do the supporters for quite simply not supporting them as soon as they got relegated as do the previous owners for screwing them financially before Sisu came in. to blame it all on the current owners is just lazy and media sensationalism.
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Post by Birchesheadpotter on Feb 6, 2014 10:59:36 GMT
Signed.
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Post by Clem Fandango on Feb 6, 2014 11:12:45 GMT
signed and shared
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Post by okeydokeystokie2 on Feb 6, 2014 11:32:02 GMT
I have complete sympathy with the Coventry supporters.
A Football Club may have to be run like a business, but it isn't a business. It's a Football Club, an intrinsic part of the community. It has supporters, unlike "customers" of any other business. That's the whole point.
The "Fit and Proper Person" rubbish needs to be completely re-visited and question not just the financial and legal background of potential owners, but their reasons for wanting to get involved.
If a business invests in a venture, it is for one reason. To make money. Essentially, the only way to do this with a football club outside the top 4 or 5 clubs is to buy low and sell high. That's what Sisu will have "planned", "hedged" or "gambled" on doing. Following the financial downturn and some bad football and commercial decisions, they are in the mire, stuck with an "investment" plummeting in value with no hope of even getting back to zero. The only way out will be administration again, and possibly the disappearance of a historic club.
If you are a business manager, surely you would plan for falling revenues as a result of less "customers" buying your "product". This would be inevitable if you were running a football club that was relegated for example.
It seems harsh in the extreme to blame some supporters for this and absolve the former and current owner/managers of any responsibility.
Until we introduce better barriers to ownership, football will continue to attract high risk businesses seduced by the dream of pocketing a few quid from TV money and player transfers, then selling the club at a massive short term profit to any chancer they can persuade that might be able to do the same. And don't worry, if it doesn't work out, just let the club go.
This would prevent the problems now being experienced by completely innocent Coventry City supporters, who just like us, have their memories and dreams and simply want to watch their local football club on a Saturday afternoon. There but for the grace of God and Peter Coates go us.
Coventry City, Luton Town, Wrexham, Leeds United, Portsmouth, Glasgow Rangers... how many more clubs are these gamblers going to ruin before this ends?
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Post by Kenilworth_Stokies on Feb 6, 2014 11:42:10 GMT
Sisu have to accept some of the blame but so do Coventry City council and ACL for screwing them over as do the supporters for quite simply not supporting them as soon as they got relegated as do the previous owners for screwing them financially before Sisu came in. to blame it all on the current owners is just lazy and media sensationalism. This 'who is to blame' malarky has been done to death, and indeed still ongoing, on Cov's message boards so we're unlikely to add anything here. A long history of big egos, poor decisions and outright profiteering has led Cov to where they are now (starting with selling Highfield Road and renting an expensive, soulless, white elephant on the edge of town - are you listening West Ham?). The point is, that SISU are a company who specialise in buying distressed companies and then using litigation to break contracts and make a profit at the expense of creditors and customers alike. They engineered liquidation of CCFC holdings, engineered a rent dispute on a stadium rental they had done due diligence on when they bought the club, broke the lease and moved the club to Northampton. Their ultimate end game? Who knows, perhaps they will build a cheapo new ground 'in the Coventry area' but they're trying to make good a bad investment and return some value to their fund holders without the slightest concern for the football loving public featuring in their plans. Meanwhile, Cov are playing 'home games' in front of a hand full of beleaguered fans in Northampton. That can't be right can it? What has football come to when the authorities are willing to rubber stamp arrangements like that? Don't the wishes of the fans that pay everybody's wages, the FL and the FA included, mean anything in all this? There but for the grace of PC go we, and hence petition signed....
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Post by nott1 on Feb 6, 2014 12:13:32 GMT
Good luck, I have signed.
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Post by owdestokie on Feb 6, 2014 12:41:57 GMT
Done
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2014 12:45:01 GMT
Sisu have to accept some of the blame but so do Coventry City council and ACL for screwing them over as do the supporters for quite simply not supporting them as soon as they got relegated as do the previous owners for screwing them financially before Sisu came in. to blame it all on the current owners is just lazy and media sensationalism. This 'who is to blame' malarky has been done to death, and indeed still ongoing, on Cov's message boards so we're unlikely to add anything here. A long history of big egos, poor decisions and outright profiteering has led Cov to where they are now (starting with selling Highfield Road and renting an expensive, soulless, white elephant on the edge of town - are you listening West Ham?). The point is, that SISU are a company who specialise in buying distressed companies and then using litigation to break contracts and make a profit at the expense of creditors and customers alike. They engineered liquidation of CCFC holdings, engineered a rent dispute on a stadium rental they had done due diligence on when they bought the club, broke the lease and moved the club to Northampton. Their ultimate end game? Who knows, perhaps they will build a cheapo new ground 'in the Coventry area' but they're trying to make good a bad investment and return some value to their fund holders without the slightest concern for the football loving public featuring in their plans. Meanwhile, Cov are playing 'home games' in front of a hand full of beleaguered fans in Northampton. That can't be right can it? What has football come to when the authorities are willing to rubber stamp arrangements like that? Don't the wishes of the fans that pay everybody's wages, the FL and the FA included, mean anything in all this? There but for the grace of PC go we, and hence petition signed.... don't get me wrong....i agree with (and have signed) the petition and the reasoning behind it in footballing terms. i also said in my posts that Sisu DO have to take some of the blame for what's happened. my only issue is the fact that nowadays people seem to take this attitude of "Foreign owners of a club in trouble" and lazily just presume "Fair and proper test" which isn't the case here. whoever had taken over coventry when Sisu did would have been taking on massive debts that were already there beforehand and there were masses of other factors that have led to their downfall other than just Sisu that aren't even mentioned in the OP. i agree with making sure that everything possible is done to ensure that the new owners are capable of running any club, i just think that this particular situation has an awful lot more to it than it just being down to the present owners......i suppose i just think the OP was a bit disingenuous in it's method used to try to get people to sign the petition and omitted a lot of facts that are relevant to this particular club's current plight is all. a simple "Take a look at the petition, i'm sure we all agree" would have sufficed rather than selectively choosing particular facts about one particular case.
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