Flags (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter chiefdave
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torchomatic
Well-Known Member
COVENTRY City Football Club has for months been seeking to fly Sky Blues flags alongside the giant Wasps ones on a traffic island outside the Ricoh Arena where the rugby newcomers enjoyed exclusive use of ten flagpoles, leaked emails reveal.
The 10 Wasps flags on the A444 roundabout have in recent days mysteriously been taken down.
But we can reveal approaches to Coventry City Council and Wasps had led to nothing for months amid delays – despite Sky Blues’ and fans’ concerns about bias against the 133-year-old football club, which rents the Ricoh from owners Wasps since the council’s 2014 sale of the stadium.
Emails between the council and club – leaked to the Coventry Observer – show the club’s request was made in April and state it had later been referred up to the council’s ‘chief executive’ via a female ‘line manager’, apparently in the chief executive’s department where Fran Collingham is PR manager.
Asked about the revelations from the leaked emails, Coventry City managing director Chris Anderson told us, before it became known the flags had been taken down: “This appears to be a microcosm of what it feels like is happening here, with the football club being denied access to Coventry.
“It’s a small thing but it’s hugely symbolic.”
The council emails also state: “The wasps approached Icon (which is the flag pole company) directly and was enquiring about having flags installed on the existing poles on the roundabout. We the city council own the flag poles and this occasion gave permission for them to be used.”
In response to the Sky Blues’ request for the flagpoles to be shared, or even used by them just on Coventry City matchdays, the council member of staff suggested the council would be happy to work with all parties towards sharing the flagpoles at all times, and even approached Icon for costings. But she also stated the matter would be referred upwards in the council.
The club also claims in the emails that Wasps had flatly refused to share the flagpoles, in one instance allegedly claiming: “We’d rather take them all down.”
The leaked emails show several approaches by the club since April have met with delays, and a council decision or explanation is still awaited.
The giant Wasps flags appeared in February on the 10 flagpoles, originally used for the 2012 Olympics when Olympic football came to the Ricoh. The flags’ appearance prompted allegations of insensitivity and bias on social media and CCFC fans’ forums.
Mr Anderson added: “We’ve had a number of supporters express their view on seeing these flags and we’ve been working to address that.
“We agree with our supporters it would be beneficial if Coventry City could fly our flag in the city of Coventry.
“We agree with our supporters that this is something we want to fix in association with the current users (Wasps) and the people who have the authority to decide who gets to fly their flag (the council).”
The Coventry Observer’s Save Our City campaign is calling on the council and city’s sporting institutions to do more to ensure Coventry City Football Club retains a viable and sustainable presence in the city, amid the club and fans’ concerns it is being squeezed out in favour of rugby and Wasps, following a long running dispute with the club’s owners Sisu.
It follows Wasps this month submitting to the council a planning application to move its training facilities into the football club’s purpose-built youth academy at the Alan Higgs Centre in Allard Way, having obtained the Ricoh Arena on a massively extended 250-year deal not offered to Sky Blues for which the stadium was built, and on whose money it depended.
It also follows revelations in this newspaper from a leaked council email in January which proposed blocking any prospect of the football club moving to an expanded Butts Park Arena home of Coventry Rugby Football Club, a proposal which aimed to enable both traditional Coventry sporting clubs to access more vital revenues from commercial stadium activities.
Coventry City fans’ organisations – including the Supporters’ Consultative Group and the Sky Blue Trust – are protesting against the potential loss next year of the Sky Blues’ ‘lifeblood’ youth academy. It has produced young stars such as Callum Wilson and James Maddison, and develops Coventry’s elite sporting youngsters, apparently in line with a democratically approved ten-year Coventry Sports Strategy.
The council’s chief executive is Martin Reeves, who is also a former director of Ricoh company Arena Coventry Limited.
The council has also since March had an acting chief executive, Martin Yardley, who is in charge while Mr Reeves is on West Midlands Combined Authority business for an estimated ‘two or three days a week’.
A Coventry Observer investigation this month revealed how Mr Yardley – another unelected council officer – had made presentations to a council scutiny committee explaining a ‘Coventry Sports Network’ (CSN) of council officers and sporting trust officials had quietly made decisions to designate rugby as a key sport following the Wasps move to the Ricoh, and to promote Coventry as a ‘City of Rugby’. Those sporting trust officials on the CSN include representatives from the Coventry Sports Foundation, which operates the Higgs centre.
* We have approached the council and Wasps for comment. More to come.
The 10 Wasps flags on the A444 roundabout have in recent days mysteriously been taken down.
But we can reveal approaches to Coventry City Council and Wasps had led to nothing for months amid delays – despite Sky Blues’ and fans’ concerns about bias against the 133-year-old football club, which rents the Ricoh from owners Wasps since the council’s 2014 sale of the stadium.
Emails between the council and club – leaked to the Coventry Observer – show the club’s request was made in April and state it had later been referred up to the council’s ‘chief executive’ via a female ‘line manager’, apparently in the chief executive’s department where Fran Collingham is PR manager.
Asked about the revelations from the leaked emails, Coventry City managing director Chris Anderson told us, before it became known the flags had been taken down: “This appears to be a microcosm of what it feels like is happening here, with the football club being denied access to Coventry.
“It’s a small thing but it’s hugely symbolic.”
The council emails also state: “The wasps approached Icon (which is the flag pole company) directly and was enquiring about having flags installed on the existing poles on the roundabout. We the city council own the flag poles and this occasion gave permission for them to be used.”
In response to the Sky Blues’ request for the flagpoles to be shared, or even used by them just on Coventry City matchdays, the council member of staff suggested the council would be happy to work with all parties towards sharing the flagpoles at all times, and even approached Icon for costings. But she also stated the matter would be referred upwards in the council.
The club also claims in the emails that Wasps had flatly refused to share the flagpoles, in one instance allegedly claiming: “We’d rather take them all down.”
The leaked emails show several approaches by the club since April have met with delays, and a council decision or explanation is still awaited.
The giant Wasps flags appeared in February on the 10 flagpoles, originally used for the 2012 Olympics when Olympic football came to the Ricoh. The flags’ appearance prompted allegations of insensitivity and bias on social media and CCFC fans’ forums.
Mr Anderson added: “We’ve had a number of supporters express their view on seeing these flags and we’ve been working to address that.
“We agree with our supporters it would be beneficial if Coventry City could fly our flag in the city of Coventry.
“We agree with our supporters that this is something we want to fix in association with the current users (Wasps) and the people who have the authority to decide who gets to fly their flag (the council).”
The Coventry Observer’s Save Our City campaign is calling on the council and city’s sporting institutions to do more to ensure Coventry City Football Club retains a viable and sustainable presence in the city, amid the club and fans’ concerns it is being squeezed out in favour of rugby and Wasps, following a long running dispute with the club’s owners Sisu.
It follows Wasps this month submitting to the council a planning application to move its training facilities into the football club’s purpose-built youth academy at the Alan Higgs Centre in Allard Way, having obtained the Ricoh Arena on a massively extended 250-year deal not offered to Sky Blues for which the stadium was built, and on whose money it depended.
It also follows revelations in this newspaper from a leaked council email in January which proposed blocking any prospect of the football club moving to an expanded Butts Park Arena home of Coventry Rugby Football Club, a proposal which aimed to enable both traditional Coventry sporting clubs to access more vital revenues from commercial stadium activities.
Coventry City fans’ organisations – including the Supporters’ Consultative Group and the Sky Blue Trust – are protesting against the potential loss next year of the Sky Blues’ ‘lifeblood’ youth academy. It has produced young stars such as Callum Wilson and James Maddison, and develops Coventry’s elite sporting youngsters, apparently in line with a democratically approved ten-year Coventry Sports Strategy.
The council’s chief executive is Martin Reeves, who is also a former director of Ricoh company Arena Coventry Limited.
The council has also since March had an acting chief executive, Martin Yardley, who is in charge while Mr Reeves is on West Midlands Combined Authority business for an estimated ‘two or three days a week’.
A Coventry Observer investigation this month revealed how Mr Yardley – another unelected council officer – had made presentations to a council scutiny committee explaining a ‘Coventry Sports Network’ (CSN) of council officers and sporting trust officials had quietly made decisions to designate rugby as a key sport following the Wasps move to the Ricoh, and to promote Coventry as a ‘City of Rugby’. Those sporting trust officials on the CSN include representatives from the Coventry Sports Foundation, which operates the Higgs centre.
* We have approached the council and Wasps for comment. More to come.
Skyblueweeman
Well-Known Member
If this is true (and I'm taking it with a pinch of salt), why are Wasps being complete a*seholes?
Surely alienating some of the local population is a bad move when you're the new boy in town and trying to settle in?
It's like when I moved from NI to England as a kid and walking into my new school going "Alright w*nkers, I'm the new don in town so I'll have best seat at the back of the class and first dibs on the class hottie so deal with that".
Surely alienating some of the local population is a bad move when you're the new boy in town and trying to settle in?
It's like when I moved from NI to England as a kid and walking into my new school going "Alright w*nkers, I'm the new don in town so I'll have best seat at the back of the class and first dibs on the class hottie so deal with that".
torchomatic
Well-Known Member
Because they are complete arseholes.
torchomatic
Well-Known Member
To be fair, in a City of Rugby why would you want football flags-a-fluttering?
Nick
Administrator
They went back up after MTV crashes flags went I think?
Brylowes
Well-Known Member
That' was "you" !
covcity4life
Well-Known Member
and there are still so called cov fans who say shit like "come on you wasps!"
Brylowes
Well-Known Member
So we have:
A station without trains
Flagpoles without flags
Owners without morals
Fans without (much) hope
"Coming soon"
Football stadium without a football club
torchomatic
Well-Known Member
Obviously the list is longer that that...
Brylowes
Well-Known Member
Yep, but my wrist hurts.
Skyblueweeman
Well-Known Member
There's a joke in there somewhere....
Brylowes
Well-Known Member
Well I'm not laffing!
Seriously though, think I strangled the cat to vigorously
after the game last night.
SkyBlue_Bear83
Well-Known Member
Council cunts being exposed again
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SkyBlue_Bear83
Well-Known Member
Allegedly Wasps said they would rather take them down than share them with ccfc
Brylowes
Well-Known Member
You can almost see what they had for dinner.
italiahorse
Well-Known Member
So you are now slagging fellow Coventry fans who also support Wasps ? Over flags ?
Who's saying 'come on you Wasps' ?
You need to stop being a victim and get on with life.
You did though didn't you.......was she any good ?
asiaskyblues
Well-Known Member
Forgive me if I am wrong but the roundabout doesn't belong to the Ricoh, and if it the property of the council it belongs to us the people of Coventry. If that is so it should bear flags of all Coventry's sporting teams, Bees, Wasps, Blaze, Bears, CRFC, CCFC and others. It should not belong to one team or another.
Nick
Administrator
Yes they belong to the Council.
Brylowes
Well-Known Member
chiefdave
Well-Known Member
Its not the biggest issue for sure but it pissed a lot of people off and we constantly heard complaints that our flags weren't up there as our owners couldn't be bothered to sort it out.
Now turns out thats not the case and the club has been asked but hasn't been given permission. And as soon as it became public the have all mysteriously developed faults.
And it all goes on and on and on...................Have we fucking signed a decent striker yet ?
SISU acted like scumbags, they kicked the rattlesnakes nest and now said snake is snapping back and causing maximum damage in revenge and in the middle is us..................
SISU acted like scumbags, they kicked the rattlesnakes nest and now said snake is snapping back and causing maximum damage in revenge and in the middle is us..................
chiefdave
Well-Known Member
Anderson couldn't have summed it up better.
torchomatic
Well-Known Member
Maybe not. But it's the drip-drip-drip affect of Wasps, CCC negativity.
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italiahorse
Well-Known Member
Yes, another person loving being a victim instead of sorting it out.
Has he left his office yet or is he still waiting for the postman ?
Nick
Administrator
Isn't trying to get CCFC flags on there sorting it out?