SkyBlue76
New Member
I'm a regular viewer of this forum but this is my first post. I just wanted to share my email to the Football League, sent today (for what it's worth). It was titled: Coventry City heading for liquidation.
Dear Sirs,
I have no doubt that you have received numerous emails from Coventry City fans over the past few weeks and months, expressing their deep concern with the situation at the club. I’m equally sure that some of those emails may not have been articulated very well, or perhaps have gone as far as being disrespectful.
It may be easy to disregard that sort of correspondence but, if nothing else, you should take from them the strength of feeling and anger that most fans have. I am as angry as the next fan, but I want to be as constructive in my comments as I can.
You will hopefully recall that the original application by ACL to put Coventry City Limited into administration came soon after Tim Fisher (Chief Exec, Coventry City Holdings Ltd) made public threats about liquidating the club. As it turned out, the club put itself into administration (not ACL – an important fact that we must remember).
Now, just this morning, Tim Fisher has again made comments on the local radio saying that if ACL reject the CVA, the alternative is to liquidate the club.
Considering Otium’s bid to buy Coventry City Ltd will, for virtually all of the creditors, only require a paper transaction between one SISU owned company and another (not cash), the debt will not be wiped out. On the contrary, it will remain within the group and will, ultimately, remain with Coventry City. When you consider this, and the fact that they plan to build a new stadium at the cost of tens of millions of pounds, while at the same time decreasing revenue significantly in the interim period with low gate receipts at Northampton, it is very clear to see that the debt will increase at Coventry City. And who will ultimately own this new stadium? It will be one of the SISU owned companies, not Coventry City Football Club, so we will be no better off in the long term. So where will Coventry City be in 3 to 5 years? Almost certainly back in administration and, with the potential for fewer, if any, bidders, almost certainly heading for liquidation.
While we do not know the detail of all the other bids for Coventry City Ltd, it was certainly in the public domain that at least one of those bids included the purchase of 50% of the Ricoh Arena (at a much lower cost than it would be to build a new stadium) and would offer real cash sums to the creditors. It is therefore extremely baffling how not only the administrator considers Otium’s bid preferable, but even more so how the Football League can sanction it. I accept there are no guarantees in football or in business, but bringing the club and Ricoh Arena together gives the club a much better chance of avoiding administration or liquidation in the short to medium term. I thought this was one of the criteria that the Football League considered – perhaps I am wrong?
In supporting Otium’s bid to buy Coventry City Ltd - which the Football League is effectively doing by publicly agreeing to Otium’s ground share bid even before they have bought the club - the Football League is setting a very dangerous precedent. While the situation with Wimbledon/ MK Dons cannot be repeated, I fear you are opening another loophole which you will very much regret. All football clubs should have responsible ownership, and the Football League should be publicly condemning owners that threaten liquidation so flippantly. You must ensure that in 5 years’ time, when another club falls into this situation, fans are not saying ‘I hope this is not another Wimbledon or Coventry!’
The Football League claims to be at the heart of 72 communities across England and Wales, and share the pride and heritage of each. Please do not forget that. This is not about supporting hedge funds, this is about supporting clubs and communities. There is only one outcome that will achieve this – and it is not to support the Otium bid.
Dear Sirs,
I have no doubt that you have received numerous emails from Coventry City fans over the past few weeks and months, expressing their deep concern with the situation at the club. I’m equally sure that some of those emails may not have been articulated very well, or perhaps have gone as far as being disrespectful.
It may be easy to disregard that sort of correspondence but, if nothing else, you should take from them the strength of feeling and anger that most fans have. I am as angry as the next fan, but I want to be as constructive in my comments as I can.
You will hopefully recall that the original application by ACL to put Coventry City Limited into administration came soon after Tim Fisher (Chief Exec, Coventry City Holdings Ltd) made public threats about liquidating the club. As it turned out, the club put itself into administration (not ACL – an important fact that we must remember).
Now, just this morning, Tim Fisher has again made comments on the local radio saying that if ACL reject the CVA, the alternative is to liquidate the club.
Considering Otium’s bid to buy Coventry City Ltd will, for virtually all of the creditors, only require a paper transaction between one SISU owned company and another (not cash), the debt will not be wiped out. On the contrary, it will remain within the group and will, ultimately, remain with Coventry City. When you consider this, and the fact that they plan to build a new stadium at the cost of tens of millions of pounds, while at the same time decreasing revenue significantly in the interim period with low gate receipts at Northampton, it is very clear to see that the debt will increase at Coventry City. And who will ultimately own this new stadium? It will be one of the SISU owned companies, not Coventry City Football Club, so we will be no better off in the long term. So where will Coventry City be in 3 to 5 years? Almost certainly back in administration and, with the potential for fewer, if any, bidders, almost certainly heading for liquidation.
While we do not know the detail of all the other bids for Coventry City Ltd, it was certainly in the public domain that at least one of those bids included the purchase of 50% of the Ricoh Arena (at a much lower cost than it would be to build a new stadium) and would offer real cash sums to the creditors. It is therefore extremely baffling how not only the administrator considers Otium’s bid preferable, but even more so how the Football League can sanction it. I accept there are no guarantees in football or in business, but bringing the club and Ricoh Arena together gives the club a much better chance of avoiding administration or liquidation in the short to medium term. I thought this was one of the criteria that the Football League considered – perhaps I am wrong?
In supporting Otium’s bid to buy Coventry City Ltd - which the Football League is effectively doing by publicly agreeing to Otium’s ground share bid even before they have bought the club - the Football League is setting a very dangerous precedent. While the situation with Wimbledon/ MK Dons cannot be repeated, I fear you are opening another loophole which you will very much regret. All football clubs should have responsible ownership, and the Football League should be publicly condemning owners that threaten liquidation so flippantly. You must ensure that in 5 years’ time, when another club falls into this situation, fans are not saying ‘I hope this is not another Wimbledon or Coventry!’
The Football League claims to be at the heart of 72 communities across England and Wales, and share the pride and heritage of each. Please do not forget that. This is not about supporting hedge funds, this is about supporting clubs and communities. There is only one outcome that will achieve this – and it is not to support the Otium bid.
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