peace ndlovu
Well-Known Member
I think we're all feeling frustrated about the stadium debacle and we often feel that we're at the mercy of a lot if people we have little faith in.
Living overseas and being able to attend a maximum of 1 or 2 games a season, I often feel even more powerless to do anything to help prevent what is increasingly looking like a grim outcome. Like a lot of posters on here, I don't feel adequately represented by the Sky Blue Trust. Not deriding CJ's efforts, but I've written my own letter that I was intending to email to Duggins and his colleagues in Coventry CC:
[email protected]
I'm posting it below, in the hope that if other posters broadly agree with what I've written, they might copy it and send it with their name at the bottom (amending the content as.you see fit).
Maybe a barrage of emails might make the CC feel a bit more accountable and understand we don't all buy into their narrative?
Maybe not, but there's sod all else I can do!
PUSB
Dear Mr Duggins,
I write to you with regard to the increasingly alarming situation regarding Coventry City's possible departure from the city, or worse, expulsion from the Football League.
I am dismayed by the evidence provided by the football club's owners that the City Council has repeatedly acted against the interests of the City's football club and supporters, at the expense of a Buckinghamshire based Rugby Union club and what appears to be a campaign against the club's owners.
Since SISU have taken control over Coventry City in 2007, I have even routinely disappointed by many of the decisions they have made. The only thing more disappointing than SISU's stewardship of the club is decisions made by Coventry City Council - which is a dreadful indictment of you and your colleagues.
When the council initially courted London Wasps to become owners of the stadium built for the City's football club, you must have been aware that this would effectively limit any prospects of financial stability and success for Coventry City FC, long after the departure of their current owners?
What you and your colleagues clearly did not understand is that SISU are merely temporary custodians of the City's football club. The only thing enduring about a sporting team is the supporters. Everything else is transient and changes: players, managers, boardroom staff, sometimes even badges and team colours, and in many cases, the venue that the team plays in. The City Council has not grasped this, and in this failure has caused immense harm to a sporting institution integral to the history and identity of the city.
We expect little from a London based hedge fund, but at least they seem to be learning from their litany of mistakes. You have a responsibility to publicly respond to each and every piece of evidence they have cited in their last two statements. You, like SISU, also have an enduring responsibility to cease this depressing war and start to act in the best interests of an extremely important community asset. Please stop this vendetta because it is not SISU you are harming most, but the thousands of people who love Coventry City Football Club. This means entering into a serious dialogue about a viable alternative to the stadium that now belongs to an out of town Rugby Union club with a 250 year lease.
If not, your legacy will be to have damaged (possibly fatally) a proud 136 year old football club, which although has endured nearly two decades of turmoil, is still an internationally recognized sporting brand. Despite your attempt to make SISU exclusively responsible for this sorry mess, the evidence suggests that the City Council is also hugely culpable - and I believe history will judge you accordingly. The irony of this all coming to a head in the year the city claims to be The City of Sport adds a depressing twist to this saga.
I sincerely hope you and all the other parties in this sorry saga will adopt a more conciliatory approach and make a genuine attempt to seek a resolution in the short time we have left.
Kind regards,
Living overseas and being able to attend a maximum of 1 or 2 games a season, I often feel even more powerless to do anything to help prevent what is increasingly looking like a grim outcome. Like a lot of posters on here, I don't feel adequately represented by the Sky Blue Trust. Not deriding CJ's efforts, but I've written my own letter that I was intending to email to Duggins and his colleagues in Coventry CC:
[email protected]
I'm posting it below, in the hope that if other posters broadly agree with what I've written, they might copy it and send it with their name at the bottom (amending the content as.you see fit).
Maybe a barrage of emails might make the CC feel a bit more accountable and understand we don't all buy into their narrative?
Maybe not, but there's sod all else I can do!
PUSB
Dear Mr Duggins,
I write to you with regard to the increasingly alarming situation regarding Coventry City's possible departure from the city, or worse, expulsion from the Football League.
I am dismayed by the evidence provided by the football club's owners that the City Council has repeatedly acted against the interests of the City's football club and supporters, at the expense of a Buckinghamshire based Rugby Union club and what appears to be a campaign against the club's owners.
Since SISU have taken control over Coventry City in 2007, I have even routinely disappointed by many of the decisions they have made. The only thing more disappointing than SISU's stewardship of the club is decisions made by Coventry City Council - which is a dreadful indictment of you and your colleagues.
When the council initially courted London Wasps to become owners of the stadium built for the City's football club, you must have been aware that this would effectively limit any prospects of financial stability and success for Coventry City FC, long after the departure of their current owners?
What you and your colleagues clearly did not understand is that SISU are merely temporary custodians of the City's football club. The only thing enduring about a sporting team is the supporters. Everything else is transient and changes: players, managers, boardroom staff, sometimes even badges and team colours, and in many cases, the venue that the team plays in. The City Council has not grasped this, and in this failure has caused immense harm to a sporting institution integral to the history and identity of the city.
We expect little from a London based hedge fund, but at least they seem to be learning from their litany of mistakes. You have a responsibility to publicly respond to each and every piece of evidence they have cited in their last two statements. You, like SISU, also have an enduring responsibility to cease this depressing war and start to act in the best interests of an extremely important community asset. Please stop this vendetta because it is not SISU you are harming most, but the thousands of people who love Coventry City Football Club. This means entering into a serious dialogue about a viable alternative to the stadium that now belongs to an out of town Rugby Union club with a 250 year lease.
If not, your legacy will be to have damaged (possibly fatally) a proud 136 year old football club, which although has endured nearly two decades of turmoil, is still an internationally recognized sporting brand. Despite your attempt to make SISU exclusively responsible for this sorry mess, the evidence suggests that the City Council is also hugely culpable - and I believe history will judge you accordingly. The irony of this all coming to a head in the year the city claims to be The City of Sport adds a depressing twist to this saga.
I sincerely hope you and all the other parties in this sorry saga will adopt a more conciliatory approach and make a genuine attempt to seek a resolution in the short time we have left.
Kind regards,
