Sorry I apologise in advance for this. I smell a rat and I have to have a go at exposing him! my comments in red
"It has been difficult keeping quiet, having information and not being able to share it.
(I'm sure he really has sky blue blood?)
We (who? Higgs or ACL?) have been working hard to do what any business
(IF he says THEY ARE A BUSINESS! he must be speaking for ACL I thought he was speaking for the charity? ) should do when faced with such a serious challenge as ACL has faced with Sisu’s rent strike.
(so it was a serious threat to your "already strong" business then )
I am sure that many of you will have heard the news that Coventry City Council has made an agreement with Yorkshire Bank for the Council to pay off the debt Arena Coventry Limited previously owed to the Bank.
(very nice of them! why would they do that?)
The Council will now make a loan to ACL of £14.4m, which will make repayments to the Council at an interest rate much more affordable for ACL as a business.
(so it's a "cheap" loan!)
You will have other questions about how much, how long, what rate of interest etc, at the moment I am unable to answer as they remain under commercial confidentiality.
(Oh dear! maybe that embarrasses you?)
The agreement gives ACL’s already strong business even more stability. (
If it was already strong why did you need a cheap loan? Still, if you keep telling us we might believe you!)
It means that the Board of Directors can plan for the long term with more confidence than ever
(read stay afloat! and keep their fat-cat jobs!)
The people of Coventry will also benefit as the interest on the repayments made by ACL will be available to the Council to spend on goods and services.
(If it's a "cheap" loan the council are getting less than if the money was invested elsewhere! and in nearly the same breath you ask us to ignor comparisons of other stadium rents!)
This is a decisive move by the Council to secure the long-term future of the Ricoh Arena as an asset for the City of Coventry
(FALSE! it doesn't secure the ARENA - this just secures ACL's business)
and a decision which ought to be welcomed and applauded by everyone posting on this forum. (cringe! give me a break!)
I am already receiving calls and messages asking me what this means with regard to the situation with Coventry City Football Club.
(read I just want to tell you my viewpoint)
The short answer is that nothing has changed. CCFC, under the ownership of Joy Seppala and her Sisu staff including Tim Fisher, has a legal obligation to pay its stadium rent.
(If you keep pushing SISU will pay the debt and walk out - they can play at Rushden or the butts! This is horse-manure! a rental agreement is only satisfactory when both landlord and tenant are content. You are demanding a level of rent that takes money away from the club especially under FFP and it is not sustainable. It has been unsustainable since the drop from the Championship and any negotiation should be effective from then. You are demanding that the tenant pays for the time you withheld agreement to an inevitable change.)
The Board of ACL has already issued a Statutory Demand for payment, the deadline for which has long since passed, and is now looking at its legal options. These legal options include petitioning the courts to grant an order to wind up CCFC and starting off the process of placing the Club into compulsory liquidation.
(go on Dare you! is that what the councils loan is all about? so they are giving you the money to put the club into admin. good move! I'm not sure that is in the best interests of the citizens)
Nobody wants this to be the outcome, but the clock is ticking and now is the time when Joy Seppala and her colleagues need finally to take responsibility for their actions, pay the rent which is lawfully owed, and come to the table with the Board of ACL to present a realistic business and financing plan which will safeguard the future of CCFC.
(It really depends how you look at it - yes its legally owed but its not justifiable and its owed from a period that you took to agree a reduction that you already acknowledge should be made to an extent to be agreed)
And why wouldn’t they want to do this?
there is an answer to this - they see the activity of running the arena as a function that they could fulfil themselves as part of their business and to some benefit of the football club!
The City Council has just presented them with an opportunity to build a better business relationship with an outstanding business which is in an enviable and sustainable financial position.
The council have chosen their horse and put their money there - the provision of (the first) loan demonstrates that it wasn't financially stable at all. There is a view that ACL are totally superfluous and do no good to man nor beast!
Everyone at ACL is absolutely committed to seeing the Sky Blues play at the Ricoh Arena for many years to come. (read holding on to their fat-cat jobs!)
My appeal to Sisu is therefore a simple one; please come and have a sensible conversation.
(perhaps SISU would say the same?)
And please stop trying to blame all the Club’s financial problems on the stadium rent, while drawing misleading and inaccurate comparisons between the rent paid by CCFC and that paid by other Football League One clubs, none of whom enjoy the benefits of a facility comparable to the Ricoh Arena.
Are you being serous? do you think they are enjoying it? They can't get into it except on match days and feel equally "at home" on away grounds! Do they really want to pay extra to play in a cavernous half-empty arena with no atmosphere?
From the Higgs Charity’s perspective as a shareholder, we are completely in support of the Council’s move today.
(of course you are - it bails you out!)
I am sure there will be speculation also about the Charity’s intentions in relation to holding on to its stake holding in ACL.
(hmmmmmm, are you?)
Some of you may even feel that this would be a sensible time for Sisu to make a realistic offer to assume the Charity’s share.(yes, and is your view that would be based on a premiership rent?)
Again our position is unchanged. (maybe you could be more flexible?)
The trustees are proud to be part of ACL and we’re committed to the Arena for as long as it takes.
(so long as our salaries get paid!)
We won’t be bullied or harassed by anyone trying to take our share in the business for less than its true value.
(that being a premiership value?)
But, if any third party makes a sensible and realistic offer, then we will of course give it the consideration it merits.
(I'll offer £10.00 and a season ticket)
Once again I apologise for the length of this update.
(not some sort of smokescreen then?)
I would of course have preferred to share this sooner but I am bound by the obligations of the law and of confidentiality on this hugely sensitive matter.
(but non-the-less you seem to have managed to say quite a lot - that you wanted to!)
As ever, I am happy to answer questions where I am able to do so.
(still tied up are you?)"
Do we really need ACL?
imp:
.....
