First off CCFC will have signed a lease - probably with a long term. Implication of that is the club is now in breach of the contract and liable not only to pay the £100k for last month but quite likely the balance of the outstanding period on the lease. The lease i believe is held by CCFC holdings limited. I also understand that there is a bank account holding a lease deposit against which ACL can draw to pay any rental default. If this deposit no longer exists my question would be how many months rental has it had to pay in the last year? Moving away from the Ricoh has serious financial consequences - probably worse than staying
ACL DO NOT WANT CCFC TO FAIL - ACL rent is not the reason for CCFC to fail CCFC are the reason. The club cannot afford the rent (which has not changed recently or I would bet is likely to in the foreseeable future) because over the last decade or more successive Boards and owners have failed to address the key issues at the club on and off the pitch. ACL, the council, the charity do not and never have ran CCFC, CCFC Holdings or SBS&L. The figure for rent in any business plan for CCFC over the last 5 years has not changed it is fixed, it is a known constant. SISU et al singularly failed to address the problem of performance and income in five arduous years but now seek to blame ACL & the council because "the rent is too high" :facepalm:
We play our home games in an olympic venue, we chose to do that, we accepted that to do so it would cost. We have been happy to take the benefits of the surroundings, happy to base the club and its commercial operations their, happy to show it off as if it were the clubs. yes we only have 26 or so match days there a season but the club is there 365 days a year, holds other events there, markets it as a positive selling point. Their own commercial department values use of the pitch alone for 1 hour at £5000 (had discussions with them for a promotion for our own junior club) - thats not including the changing rooms, the stands, the 4 x restaurant and bar facilities, other catering, offices, shop and ticket offices. Match days alone the club has exclusive use of all the Ricoh facilities from something like 10am till 7pm Do the maths and take a reasonable view of what a fair rent for a large first class sporting stadium should be. Yes the club are in deep mire with the finances but it isnt because of rent
If they owned it or another site ? How can they they have no money and a poor financial track record. But say they bought a site and it cost £25m it would cost at 5% interest £1.98m a year in repayments over 25 years. We cant afford £1.2m rent though :thinking about:
If we ground shared - so we are locked into a lease at the Ricoh and then pay rent to play at another ground where we wouldnt have a share of the other income streams, or a permanent home. How does that benefit us ?
But ACL, the Council, Charity are not helping the club. Think folk need a reality check. Firstly over the years all three have assisted the club in lots of ways including financial. There have been financial arrangements and loans. They have built a stadium that is well run and with an international reputation. Admittedly it wasnt the ultra modern 80000 seater to rival Wembley envisaged by BR etc but it is good enough for the olympics. To do that they have risked their own money and taken out loans. It is a fine line to balance the exposure gained from CCFC and the varied needs of the City of Coventry - not everyone is a football fan in Coventry let alone a CCFC fan. ACL etc are not a bank, are not CCFC's personal charity.
ACL can and would survive without CCFC - but they dont want to ! I suspect there is an awful lot being done behind the scenes by ACL, the council & Charity in order to try save the club that is not being made public. Certainly I dont think some here give them much credit for their efforts or what ACL etc have done in the past. This mess is the club's and SISU's fault - 100% no need to look to blame others.
To my mind it isnt a discussion about whether we go elsewhere or not ..... we stay at the Ricoh. It is now a discussion whether CCFC survives. The club wont fold because of the rent .... it will be because of years of poor management, bad planning, no targetted investment, under achieving, living way beyond means (110% wages as % of turnover before any other bill is paid is lunacy). That is no ones fault other than who ever has been in charge at CCFC for the past decade.
Smoke & mirrors from the club - cant believe anyone buys into it
just my opinion