A takeover offer to buy Coventry City fronted by the Championship club’s former vice-chairman, Gary Hoffman, was unexpectedly withdrawn on Friday afternoon amid concerns over the provenance of its funding and the possible involvement of a businessman with links to West Ham manager Sam Allardyce.
A consortium put together by Hoffman submitted an offer to buy the Ricoh Arena side from current owners, the hedge fund Sisu Capital, last Monday. It is believed that bid was for just £1, with a promise of a further £30 million to be invested into the club, who have just one point from four games under Andy Thorn and sit 23rd in the Championship.
Coventry’s chairman, Ken Dulieu, subsequently released a statement indicating that the club still had “many questions” about the bid — including the identities of Hoffman’s investors, as yet undisclosed - despite detailed talks with the former Northern Rock chief executive in Burton-on-Trent last week.
Dulieu confirmed that Ken Bruce, a retired lawyer and a former chairman of the investment vehicle Investing in Sport, had been present at that meeting.
Bruce is listed as a director of both Game 8 Ltd and its subsidiary Cuju TV Ltd at Companies House.
Allardyce, manager of Coventry’s Championship rivals West Ham, is also listed as a director of both companies. Under Article 86 of the Football League’s rules, it is not permitted for “a person, or any associate of that person, who is interested in a Club” to be “at the same time interested in any other football club.”
Rule 86.2 runs: “A person shall be deemed to be interested in a football club if he, whether directly or indirectly...is involved in any capacity whatsoever in the management or administration of that football club; or has any power whatsoever to influence the financial, commercial or business affairs or the management or administration of that football club.”
Bruce told Telegraph on Friday that “nobody associated with this business has any intention of acquiring, in whole or in part, Coventry City.” He did admit, though, that he was present at Dulieu’s meeting with Hoffman as “an observer”.
