Supporters forum notes 30/8 (4 Viewers)

[Sky Blue Pete]

Answers to questions to follow


Coventry City Supporters Forum
Minutes from The Meeting on the 30th August2022 @ 5.45pm on Teams

1. Attendees
Colin Henderson – Chair – Coventry City London SC (CH)
Pete Griffiths – Sky Blues Talk forum – (PG)
Ray Stevens – Diamond Club (RS)
Michael Garlick – Corporate (MG)
Gordon D – Leamington & Warwick SC (GD)
Steve Moloney – South Wales SC (SM)
Jim Brown – Former Players Association (JB)
Bruce W – Sky Blues Trust (BW)
Laura Smith – Family Zone (LS)
Steve Harding – Bedworth & Nuneaton SC (SH)
Kevin Greenfield – CCFC Disabled supporters (KG)
Dave Boddy – CCFC (DB)
Mark Hornby – CCFC (MH)
Stuart Spencer – West Midlands Police (SS)
Tynan Scope – CCFC (TS)
Jodi Jones – CCFC (JJ)

2. Apologies for absence

Pat Raybould – Family Zone
Daren / Matt – Southam SC
Dave Busst – SBITC
Dave Eyles – Sky Blues Trust


3. Club up-date
Due to SS needing to leave the meeting after 30 mins, the Car park B fencing/barrier was discussed. DB advised that there are no plans to change this as it works well, separating visiting and home fans leaving the stadium after games. SS agreed and advised that they are looking to extend it a little further at the bottom end.
CH asked about keeping away supporters back. DB advised there are no plans to do this and SS advised that the decision would only be taken in exceptional circumstances and likely after specific information being received.
MG raised the question of extending the time given to improve getting cars away from Car parks A & B at the end of the game due to the traffic light sequencing. SS isn’t sure what’s possible. He will ask the local council about whether this is possible
DB confirmed a club up-date had been issued an hourbefore the meeting covering most of the questions that had been raised by members ahead of the meeting. It was noted that most of the attendees had not seen the up-date ahead of the meeting. MH circulated a copy of the up-date via e-mail during the meeting.

4. Dave Boddy responses to submitted questions
Notes included in a separate document attached
5. Family Zone up-date – Laura Smith
LS confirmed that not much is happening due to the postponements. She confirmed that they had 10 new volunteers (adults and older JSB’s). LS will provide CH with some details to share within the minutes or separately for the group to share with their supporter’s groups to try and increase the number of volunteers.
She confirmed that the pen pal scheme letters have been sent to fans in other countries and food that was going out of date due to the three postponed home games had been given to local Foodbanks.
MH had nothing to add.
6. Up-date on the new stadium plans at the University of Warwick.
Discussed as part of the question document
7. Proposed date of the next meeting:- Tuesday the 22ndNovember 2022.
CH suggested this date as it is during the World Cup. DB will look to see if this date is possible and if not suggest an alternative.

 

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[Sky Blue Pete]

Part 1


Minutes from questions raised bymembers

1. Overall Direction of The Club

Are the owners still actively looking to sell the club? Was Dom Hyam sold to cover cash flow in light of the three postponed home games? SkyBlueTalk (SBT)

DB wasn’t sure why this question had arisen. Neither SISU nor CCFC have said they are looking to sell. That the club is for sale is just speculation. DB questioned whether this was related to the Daily Telegraph article and subsequent TalkSport interviews/coverage.

DB advised that the club up-date issued shortly before the meeting has gone into detail about the club’s finances. Dom Hyam was not sold in the light of the 3 postponements. Thepostponements have caused significant cash flow loss for the month of August but the sale is not connected to the cash flow issue. Selling footballers is part of the model for CCFC and has got us to the point we are now and always has been the model since he has been at the Club and before. It’s got us to this point.

Part of the overall budget includes the sale of a player each season and CCFC haven’t sold a player for a significant fee for the last couple of seasons. The sale is disappointing given Dom Hyam’s journey with the club. Because of that he is in demand. Blackburn made an offer and it was accepted.

There was a discussion about whether an earlier higher offer had been rejected to then accept a lower figure. DB didn’t accept that Blackburn’s statement implied this and it wasn’t the case.
What are the short term, medium term and long term aspirations for the club? (SBT)

DB advised that they were:

Short term – stay in division
Medium term – finish above 12th
Long term – Current format – Incremental steps unless there is massive investment

Do you agree that 12th place in the championship is the ceiling for the club in the current climate? (SBT)

DB feels we have massively overachieved finishing 12thlast season and to achieve that this season would once again be a massive achievement. –

What are your current biggest challenges? What could the club be doing better? (PG)

The pitch and expectations are the biggest challenges



2. Pitch, game postponements

What could you or the club done in hindsight to have avoided the pitch fiasco and do you expect a points deduction? (SBT)

DB explained that access to the stadium was not possible due to the Commonwealth Games (CWG) Security Protocols. SS confirmed that access was not possible unless accredited during this time.

TS confirmed that they had found out the state of the pitch watching the Rugby 7’s at the CWG. SS advised that their chief constable was stopped from getting into a CWG venue during the CWG. Security takes precedence. It wasn’t possible for CCFC to just wander in to watch a game/check the pitch.

DB confirmed that the first time they had access was Thursday 4th August.

DB confirmed the club were informed on the 6th June that the new pitch promised for this season was not going to be installed. Installation of a new pitch was a key part of negotiations to return to the Arena.

DB confirmed that the EFL had confirmed that the club could not move the first three fixtures of the season toaway games due to way the fixture algorithm works.


Same question but regarding executive box holders for Preston game? (SBT)

Mentioned about this in the club update. TS / DB were frustrated that certain individuals had made this an issue, when it had been communicated to the Box Holders directly affected.

The reality is that it’s been an issue since we returned to the Arena as events are arranged 2-3 years in advance and so certain fixtures are affected. On this particular issue DB wrote to box holders in Jan 22 saying they were working closely with the stadium. This did not come out of the blue and was not linked to issues of communication with Wasps.

DB explained that when fixtures came out in June they identified 2-3 potential clashes and have been working on minimising the issues.

TS explained that there is an event clashes document and that the impact this season is significantly reduced from last year. Most corporate members are being accommodated for tomorrow, the situation having changed and improved since the letter to Box Holders.

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

Part 2


How’s are the repairs being funded? (SBT)

DB explained that there are some outstanding invoices and other payments that are due shortly, so whilst CCFC have cash flowed the cost this is only in the very short term. CCFC will not be paying any more than the contract agreed with Wasps.

RS linked the March 2022 comments about buying season tickets and investing in the squad. DB acknowledged that no defender has been signed yet, but that efforts are being made.

MH quoted from DB’s statement and it was slightly nuanced than that quoted above. He added that season ticket revenue has all gone into improvements to CCFC and retaining players/staff, and not just in buying and selling certain players.

DB confirmed that the playing budget has increased 17% on last season and our budget is now within the bottom 7 of the league rather than bottom 4. Most of the increase is due to contractual uplifts and extending contracts to the existing squad. He added that over the last 2 seasons the net spend has been significant.

CH asked about those fans who had to cancel travel and hotel at late notice. DB acknowledge the impact on these supporters and agreed to discuss this with CH outside of the meeting.

Can the club confirm the club have a written guarantee from Wasps that they will accept reduced rental (or other) payments from us in future, to recover the pre-payment made now in relaying the pitch, and that it will be re-laid as promised next season? (CH)

DB said there isn’t a written guarantee regarding relaying the pitch but hopes to discuss this with Wasps at the earliest possible moment.

You will be aware that the Wigan game has been rearranged for November meaning we play 4 out of 5 games at home just before the World Cup break. This will be very expensive for supporters and for us Travel and hotels costs. Do the club have a view on this? (CH)

DB acknowledges this but advised that there were only 2 or 3 spots available in the week before the World Cup and 2 of the games have been arranged in these spots with the other one likely to be after the world cup has finished.

3. Tickets

How is the away ticket allocation scheme going? Are we maximising the numbers in a fairer way? Any changes envisaged? (SBT)

DB / TS felt that the system was working well and believe it to be fairer than in previous seasons.

Specific question raised by Leamington and Warwick about tickets and how the current reciprocal model of working with supporters groups has worked really well but maybe given a change of memberships it isn’t working as it was. TS agreed to discuss outside of the meeting

Rumours abound that the club only receives match ticket income once the relevant match has been played, is this correct? (CH)

DB confirmed that it was a combination of the two. Some is received initially and some after each home game.

4. Stadium Up-date

What’s the overall plan? investment at the CBS or new stadium at Warwick university? (SBT)

Progress was always going to be slow and there are numerous conversations with various consultants taking place. We should expect a proper update from the parties in the Autumn.


5. Corporate Lounge

1 Dress Code in Corporate areas. This degenerated towards the end of last season
2. Extremely slow bar service in corporate areas. Many complaints from supporters. Too few staff serving
3. Impossible to get served coffee and tea in half time break. Long queues
4. E cigarette smoking around pitch side seating.
5. Foul Language in Corporate lounge, in particular fromSupporters passing through to boxes. Post match particularly bad when box supporters congregate in level 1 lounge
6 Foul language in seating continues despite ladies being present in seating.
7. The overall standard of behaviour and dress has declined in corporate areas. It does not present a good impression to business users who wish to entertain clients.
8. If we have to continue to be searched prior to entry can they get metal detectors. Many ladies object to being patted up and down. (all MG)

TS – This has been raised on the meetings before and communications have gone out. Doesn’t disagree with any of the comments made. This has been addressed with corporate members / stewarding team. It’s difficult to give an undertaking that those in corporate areas will not swear. Clear direction to the various teams to deal with the issues directly
TS advised that the process should be that female stewards search female fans, male stewards search male fans – He will raise this with the stewarding team at the CBS.

 

[Saddlebrains]

So basically fuck all then?

At least you try Pete Fair play

 

[Grendel]

The Hyam comment is laughable

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

The Hyam comment is laughable

Which particular bit?

 

[Grendel]

Which particular bit?

well all of it. He even refers to a selling model and nothing to do with cash flow - so we were planning to spend the fee and now will in January?

 

[shmmeee]

Pathetic (from Boddy). Thanks Pete.

Still none the wiser:

- how we’ve progressed this season under this incremental improvement model
- why on Earth he thinks a club with our support is overachieving getting 12 (!!!). The lack of ambition is palpable and frankly he’s a L2 chairman who has found himself in charge of a championship club.
- Why exactly we sold Hyam so late and against the wishes of the manager if it was all part of some great plan
- Whether the club is for sale or not (just said “no one said that” but newspaper stories don’t come from nowhere)

Back to dodgy evasive answers from shoddy monkeys while the organ grinder hides away.

 

[shmmeee]

Got to say this made me laugh:

6 Foul language in seating continues despite ladies being present in seating

 

[Grendel]

I bet Seppala will be spending more time in the shadows again

 

[Pricey1984]

Those goals seem like they were written in 2020. The short term goal is to achieve what we acheived 2 seasons ago, and the medium term goal is to achieve what we literally achieved last season? Don't like the sound of those goals at all. Pretty poor that

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

Pathetic (from Boddy). Thanks Pete.

Still none the wiser:

- how we’ve progressed this season under this incremental improvement model
- why on Earth he thinks a club with our support is overachieving getting 12 (!!!). The lack of ambition is palpable and frankly he’s a L2 chairman who has found himself in charge of a championship club.
- Why exactly we sold Hyam so late and against the wishes of the manager if it was all part of some great plan
- Whether the club is for sale or not (just said “no one said that” but newspaper stories don’t come from nowhere)

Back to dodgy evasive answers from shoddy monkeys while the organ grinder hides away.

Seeing your responses makes me understand more of why I was sad after the meeting

His biggest challenge is managing expectation wow

 

[SlowerThanPlatt]

Seeing your responses makes me understand more of why I was sad after the meeting

His biggest challenge is managing expectation wow

Some of the answers are really insulting fans intelligence

 

[Deleted member 5849]

Progress was always going to be slow

Nine years?

 

[Grendel]

Nine years?

And no progress

 

[Deleted member 5849]

The overall standard of behaviour and dress has declined in corporate areas. It does not present a good impression to business users who wish to entertain clients.

Perhaps if they didn't manage to double book executive boxes and not tell people, this might be less of a problem... (why is it a problem anyway? Certain businesses wouldn't wear suit and tie, and are we going all elitest to only accept particular corporate bookings?)

 

[Terry_dactyl]

Got to say this made me laugh:

The blokes a fucking arsehole…and I said exactly that to Mrs D…who is a ‘lady’ and is sat in my homes Corporate Lounge.

 

[Grendel]

The no sale for two seasons also may be true but I doubt they budgeted for the windfall of £1.7m for Callum Wilson

 

[fernandopartridge]

Boddy really ought to go back to running a non league club not a second tier club with a turnover i guess in the region of £16-18m

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[Grendel]

Boddy really ought to go back to running a non league club not a second tier club with a turnover i guess in the region of £16-18m

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Its just pitiful - as I said before it’s like a manager of the local happy shopper given a gig at sainsburys - he’s hopelessly out his depth

 

[LastGarrison]

Part of the overall budget includes the sale of a player each season and CCFC haven’t sold a player for a significant fee for the last couple of seasons.

This is the part that worries me. What happens when we have either sold all of our players of value or no fucker wants to buy them? We have been fortunate that the investments made in Hamer and Gyokores look like they will pay off but we’re not always going to recruit players of their (and O’Hares) calibre every few years and some of those investments we do try are going to fail.

Then what’s the plan?

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

Thanks Pete, but at best some of those answers leaving me feeling depressed, others downright angry that he thinks people would be stupid enough to not notice the discrepancies.

For example, the boxes. He said they were 'working on "minimising the issues". But no-one thought part of minimising them might be informing the box holders they might not have them earlier than a few days before a game? Absolute joke.

As for the aspirations? Our short term 'aspiration' is to be worse than we are now! And to be fair they're doing a cracking job of achieving it!

 

[oldskyblue58]

Thanks Pete. just to be clear these are minutes primarily approved by the club as I understand it?

So a new pitch formed part of negotiations for return but then says there was no written guarantee about the pitch. Just talk then wasn't it, a nice idea nothing more.

Then says ccfc would only pay what was in the contract...... why wouldn't wasps do the same ? Contracts work two ways. There was nothing in writing about a new pitch after all, no undertaking at all, nothing.

No access to stadium because not accredited....... err get accredited then which applies to the police chief too. Its not rocket science but did require a short trip to Birmingham to do it

As for player sales nothing to do with cash flow complete rubbish, that's exactly how the ccfc model has always worked. Ccfc pays for day to day costs, wages new players etc from player sales as well as match and commercial income, because the owners don't put money in.

He really should think about what he says before saying it. Join the dots up perhaps

Sadly laughable

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

Part of the overall budget includes the sale of a player each season and CCFC haven’t sold a player for a significant fee for the last couple of seasons.

This is the part that worries me. What happens when we have either sold all of our players of value or no fucker wants to buy them? We have been fortunate that the investments made in Hamer and Gyokores look like they will pay off but we’re not always going to recruit players of their (and O’Hares) calibre every few years and some of those investments we do try are going to fail.

Then what’s the plan?

What I don't understand is that we're relying on selling players, but recently we're not spending on players who are likely to have higher resale due to their age, as well as having the higher wages that goes with that. Are we now relying on U21 signings/academy players coming good?

 

[GaryMabbuttsLeftKnee]

Part 2

6 Foul language in seating continues despite ladies being present in seating
.

Thanks for the effort as always Pete. Was Jacob Rees Mogg present because this sounds straight out of the 1920s?


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[Sick Boy]

The Hyam comment is laughable

Yeah read that and stopped reading.
Appreciate the effort though @Sky Blue Pete

 

[MAFF]

6 Foul language in seating continues despite ladies being present in seating.

tackling the big issues

 

[theferret]

Surprised nobody questioned the bullshit about car park b looking like a concentration camp and the suggestion it will be 'extended further'. It doesn't work, hence the need for an enormous police precence. The bill must be huge.

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

Thanks for the effort as always Pete. Was Jacob Rees Mogg present because this sounds straight out of the 1920s?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes

 

[fernandopartridge]

Surprised nobody questioned the bullshit about car park b looking like a concentration camp and the suggestion it will be 'extended further'. It doesn't work, hence the need for an enormous police precence. The bill must be huge.

It works for the old bill if it means £££

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[Sky Blue Pete]

Surprised nobody questioned the bullshit about car park b looking like a concentration camp and the suggestion it will be 'extended further'. It doesn't work, hence the need for an enormous police precence. The bill must be huge.

You ask questions of the ‘experts’ who are accountable and to say it’s worked well is the most bizarre conclusion anyone can come to. We will have a fall and serious injury and people will be surprised ffs

 

[Paxman II]

Well we are none the wiser on anything really are we? Boddy is like a politician who gives no straight annswers, and probably does not know the answer.

 

[clint van damme]

At least we've got the autumn stadium update to look forward to.

 

[oldskyblue58]

At least we've got the autumn stadium update to look forward to.

Didn't say which autumn though

 

[no_loyalty]

The Hyam comment is laughable

Boddy said Blackburn were bullshitting about making an offer earlier in the window .