Wasps owner rules out allowing CCFC to have a stake in ACL as well as buying the... (13 Viewers)

[SkyBlue_Bear83]

...football club

http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/derek-richardson-wasps-owner-rules-9055299

he owner of Premiership rugby side Wasps has told the Telegraph he has no interest in owning Coventry City FC. Ever since Wasps owner Derek Richardson completed the purchase of the Ricoh Arena company, and relocated his rugby team to the venue permanently, people have speculated he might have a long term aim of marrying the two club together.

But, during a rare media interview, Mr Richardson told the Telegraph he had enough on his plate dealing with Wasps.
He said: “It’s enough to get used to following the oval shaped ball without trying to follow the round one as well.
“I don’t understand football at all, I understand supporters and what they need to get and be given.
“We have such a big mission to complete with Wasps that in my view it’s better not to have anything diverting our mind or our attention away from that.
“We have a massive passion for rugby, all my time is taken up by rugby. If I tried to get interested in football as well it would be too much work.”




Mr Richardson also seemingly ruled out any immediate prospect of becoming Ricoh Arena business partners with the Sky Blues.
Asked whether he would consider allowing CCFC to buy into Ricoh operating firm ACL, he said: “We haven’t thought about that, we haven’t talked about that, nobody has posed that question to us before.
“We do obviously have our club and business to look after. Already we have an excellent relationship with the football club, we’ve made it our business to have everyone feeling welcome.
“We’re putting a new pitch down in the summer, we’ve spent a lot of time on the changing rooms and making sure that the football club don’t feel in any way aggrieved by us having our changing room there.
“We have tried our best and we will keep trying our best to be cooperative with them.
“The ownership is as it is. That’s the way it’s going to stay.”



Can't wait for the usual mob to claim this is great news.

 

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[SkyBlue_Bear83]

Now we know where we stand right? Ricoh long term is untenable under the current arrangement.

 

[Nick]

Have we asked though?

 

[Ashdown]

Tim Fisher will pipe up anytime soon with his 'vision' for the new stadium somewhere out near Church Lawford !

 

[SkyBlue_Bear83]

Tim Fisher will pipe up anytime soon with his 'vision' for the new stadium somewhere out near Church Lawford !

The idea of a new stadium and the credibility of what SISU have so far propsed are different things.

What we need now is a a new owner with a real ambition of building a new stadium in Coventry, won't happen though.

 

[SkyBlue_Bear83]

Have we asked though?

Can't we just make £5 million though in shirt sales to make up for the lack of stadium revenues?

 

[jimmyhillsfanclub]

Now we know where we stand right? Ricoh long term is untenable under the current arrangement.

Same as it ever was......

...and its been a fucking curse since its half-baked inception IMHO......

Still, nothing we can do is there.....Christ knows what happens in a year or so when we get forced out via a massive rent hike........or maybe wasps will feel charitable & renew our tenancy on favourable terms....


Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.........made myself LOL there.....


Happy Friday folks.

 

[Nick]

Can't we just make £5 million though in shirt sales to make up for the lack of stadium revenues?

I heard it was the Anti Freeze.

 

[martcov]

Can't we just make £5 million though in shirt sales to make up for the lack of stadium revenues?

We would need more pasting tables for that to happen..... Off to B and Q then?

 

[torchomatic]

Maybe Italia will stfu about it now then.

 

[TrueSkyBlueLiam]

Come on guys, we all knew that was never gonna happen. Anyone who thought Wasps was going to buy us was dreaming. Why would a rugby club by a football club? Wasps have what they want, a stable home and some much needed income. Why would they want to buy a loss making club who are paying them good money to play at their stadium? If im honest, buying CCFC doesnt make good business sense to anyone, especially not a club who are profiting from CCFC

 

[martcov]

Now we know where we stand right? Ricoh long term is untenable under the current arrangement.

Yes, that is apparently that. TF has not yet come up with a viable alternative to renting from Wasps. Talk of a stadium with nothing more than a touched up picture of someone else's suggested Stadium, and a question to RBC, is the sum total Tim's stadium plan - without a site and an explanation of how it will bring in 365 days revenue from 23 games, it would appear a non-runner.
What now SISU? Theme for Simon's next interview? What happenned to the Stadium announcement in the new year?

 

[Nick]

Maybe Italia will stfu about it now then.

No, because SISU just need to ask. They still haven't asked.

Their finance director or whoever told him while they were wining and dining at their open day.

 

[SkyBlue_Bear83]

Yes, that is apparently that. TF has not yet come up with a viable alternative to renting from Wasps. Talk of a stadium with nothing more than a touched up picture of someone else's suggested Stadium, and a question to RBC, is the sum total Tim's stadium plan - without a site and an explanation of how it will bring in 365 days revenue from 23 games, it would appear a non-runner.
What now SISU? Theme for Simon's next interview? What happenned to the Stadium announcement in the new year?

As I said earlier, the idea of a new stadium and what SISU have so far presented us are different things.

I'd hope if we ever got new owners who could show they were serious about building a new stadium, then all fans would get behind it. The council would also be doing everything to accommodate us within the Coventry boundary but all they've done so far is try to strong arm the football club into an unfavourable arrangement at the Ricoh.

 

[martcov]

As I said earlier, the idea of a new stadium and what SISU have so far presented us are different things.

I'd hope if we ever got new owners who could show they were serious about building a new stadium, then all fans would get behind it. The council would also be doing everything to accommodate us within the Coventry boundary but all they've done so far is try to strong arm the football club into an unfavourable arrangement at the Ricoh.

Agree - except I don't think the council's concern was to force CCFC into an unfavourable agreement - that is more of a side effect than the main aim. At the moment the agreement is not that bad ( 100000 instead of 1,3m ).

The ball game has changed from TF saying he has moved on, to Richardson saying that ownership is as it is - in other words TF has been moved on whether he likes it or not.

as I said "what now SISU"?

 

[torchomatic]

I never wanted them to buy us. They're no better than SISU really, are they?

Come on guys, we all knew that was never gonna happen. Anyone who thought Wasps was going to buy us was dreaming. Why would a rugby club by a football club? Wasps have what they want, a stable home and some much needed income. Why would they want to buy a loss making club who are paying them good money to play at their stadium? If im honest, buying CCFC doesnt make good business sense to anyone, especially not a club who are profiting from CCFC

 

[martcov]

I never wanted them to buy us. They're no better than SISU really, are they?

The are in one important respect, they have a stadium which you can sit in.

 

[TrueSkyBlueLiam]

I never wanted them to buy us. They're no better than SISU really, are they?

I doubt they'd lie and take advantage as much as SISU do

 

[torchomatic]

True. They had to move 85 miles to get it. Permanently. Richardson said the move was based purely on money. Make excuses for them all you will. They're no better.

The are in one important respect, they have a stadium which you can sit in.

 

[Ashdown]

Just as an aside, a guy in the Hinckley pub I was in last night informed me that Leicester Tigers were bringing up to 21000 supporters to the Wasps fixture on the 9th May !! Not sure how true that figure is but the away support will flood into Cov.

 

[martcov]

True. They had to move 85 miles to get it. Permanently. Richardson said the move was based purely on money. Make excuses for them all you will. They're no better.

What are you on about? One has a stadium the other doesn't. That is the point which matters to me. I don't care how or why. The fact is I can sit and watch CCFC in Cov. at a stadium owned by Wasps. I don't need to make excuses for anyone.

 

[chiefdave]

As I said earlier, the idea of a new stadium and what SISU have so far presented us are different things.

Indeed, you can't rule out the idea just because of SISU's incompetence and lack of ability to get the job done. We will still be in the same position if and when a new owner comes in.

What has been confirmed this week with the CT articles is that we have zero chance of getting a stake in ACL ownership and you don't have to do much reading between the lines to see there is little to no chance of us getting increased access to revenues. If, as many people suspect, the numbers for a new stadium don't stack up then unfortunately we will be at or around our current level for many years to come.

 

[chiefdave]

I doubt they'd lie and take advantage as much as SISU do

Recent history would suggest Wasps have a bit of an issue with being truthful and treating their fans well.

 

[Covstu]

I never wanted them to buy us. They're no better than SISU really, are they?

It would never work, you would always have a biaised to one team or the other. Just imagine Cov playing saturday against Crawley (£22 ticket) and Wasps playing Leicester on Sunday (£35 per ticket) where would you want your floating supporters to go?

We would be stiffened as much as we are at present (if not more)

 

[Covstu]

What are you on about? One has a stadium the other doesn't. That is the point which matters to me. I don't care how or why. The fact is I can sit and watch CCFC in Cov. at a stadium owned by Wasps. I don't need to make excuses for anyone.

Wonder if Wasps fans were thinking that in London......

 

[Nick]

I like this comment:

Derek Richardson you are one clever bloke. You know the fans are the life blood of your club so you make them feel part of your club.

 

[italiahorse]

I heard it was the Anti Freeze.

It's a lot of things.

Just need to start winning and see where it takes us.
Lets hope Sisu can rise to the challenge.
Mind you a few on here appear to have given up so they have stopped selling boot laces.

On the point of Wasps not wanting to buy CCFC I said this on this board after speaking to Wasps COO Jeremy Wilton at the open day last year.
So that's old news.

I still remain positive on this item as I see they mention a good working relationship with the club and that we are here until at least 2018.
Obviously they want the club here and hopefully they will actively seek to maintain that by being receptive to the clubs needs.
The pitch is mentioned as are the changing rooms, yet particularly with the latter I only see negativity on this board from a minority but nothing from the club.

As for buying into ACL, that seems as it's not really been discussed.

We still have however a sort of stand off with Wasps saying that ACL can manage without the club and Sisu saying they are building a new stadium.

 

[italiahorse]

Now we know where we stand right? Ricoh long term is untenable under the current arrangement.

Nothing new.
As for untenable that's your opinion and your welcome to it.
Your pmay be right though if Sisu think the same and give up (If they haven't already)

 

[italiahorse]

No, because SISU just need to ask. They still haven't asked.

Their finance director or whoever told him while they were wining and dining at their open day.

Love it how nobody knows what discussions are going on about the club yet assume the worst.
TF is very quiet about it and Wasps are saying they are accommodating the clubs needs.
We have very little information on the current deal other than it's £100K a year and access to some incomes. Again nobody knows what they are.
TF must be happy with the short term deal and on experts have said they should stick with it.

Jeremy Wilton - Chief Operating Officer was my buddy on that momentous day

"Just keep winning and see where it takes us"

 

[SkyBlue_Bear83]

It's a lot of things.

Just need to start winning and see where it takes us.
Lets hope Sisu can rise to the challenge.
Mind you a few on here appear to have given up so they have stopped selling boot laces.

On the point of Wasps not wanting to buy CCFC I said this on this board after speaking to Wasps COO Jeremy Wilton at the open day last year.
So that's old news.

I still remain positive on this item as I see they mention a good working relationship with the club and that we are here until at least 2018.
Obviously they want the club here and hopefully they will actively seek to maintain that by being receptive to the clubs needs.
The pitch is mentioned as are the changing rooms, yet particularly with the latter I only see negativity on this board from a minority but nothing from the club.

As for buying into ACL, that seems as it's not really been discussed.

We still have however a sort of stand off with Wasps saying that ACL can manage without the club and Sisu saying they are building a new stadium.

Not been discussed but its almost printed that if they did it would be a big fat no.

 

[SkyBlue_Bear83]

I've been over to the Wasps forum (to offer an opinion on matters from CCFC perspective) and they are more understanding and reasonable about our situation than a lot of the idiots on here masquerading as Cov fans.

 

[duffer]

Love it how nobody knows what discussions are going on about the club yet assume the worst.
TF is very quiet about it and Wasps are saying they are accommodating the clubs needs.
We have very little information on the current deal other than it's £100K a year and access to some incomes. Again nobody knows what they are.
TF must be happy with the short term deal and on experts have said they should stick with it.

Jeremy Wilton - Chief Operating Officer was my buddy on that momentous day

"Just keep winning and see where it takes us"

We don't have to assume the worst, it's there in black and white - we're not going to get a share of the stadium. Everyone here who banged on about needing to talk to Wasps to try to get a share should surely accept that it's not going to happen.

It seems clear that Wasps think they need the 24/7/365 revenues to make their club a success, but apparently you think CCFC can thrive without them.

The choice here seems pretty clear to me - we can stay as Wasps tenants and continue to struggle, or set up elsewhere and most likely continue to struggle. Some choice.

And yet there's still a pretence from some that the decision to sell to Wasps wouldn't impact the club.

 

[stupot07]

Now we know where we stand right? Ricoh long term is untenable under the current arrangement.

As I've said before, now wasps are here I can't see a long term future (10-15+ years time) for us at the Ricoh.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - so please excuse any spelling or grammar errors

 

[SkyBlue_Bear83]

As for untenable that's your opinion and your welcome to it.

I've yet to see a reasonable argument that convinces me otherwise, or even allows me to understand your alternative point of view. Todays article only reinforces my belief

 

[martcov]

Wonder if Wasps fans were thinking that in London......

Not bothered what they were thinking. Fact is we are there ( at the Ricoh under Wasps tenure ) at the moment and don't have an alternative. We have to take it as it is.