AFCCOVENTRY
Well-Known Member
By Henry Winter, Football Correspondent10:10PM BST 02 Aug 2013
There is a ghost in Sky Blue at the Football League’s glitzy banquet. The world’s oldest league launched its 125th anniversary on Friday night with assorted presentations before Sheffield United’s entertaining 2-1 League One victory over Notts County here at Bramall Lane.
But the thoughts of the Football League chairman, Greg Clarke, were partly focused on the plight of another famous League 1 club, Coventry City, whose own 130th anniversary celebrations next week will be muted at best after Friday’s 10-points deduction.
As he admired the passing football of David Weir’s neat Sheffield United side, and the well-worked goals of the excellent Kevin McDonald and Harry Maguire, Clarke reflected on Coventry’s travails. He had a message for Sky Blues fans.
RELATED ARTICLES
Coventry City handed 10-point deduction after holding company goes into liquidation
Coventry City confirm groundshare with Northampton Town could last five years
Coventry City League One fixtures: 2013-14
“I see Coventry as a victory because that’s another fine old football club that is still alive,’’ said Clarke.
“Now I am absolutely savagely angry that the stadium owners and the owners of the football club can’t agree to keep the club in Coventry. We’ve done everything we can behind the scenes to say ‘look guys, you are two grown-up groups of people, one of you owns the ground, the other owns the football club, you both need each other.
“Let’s find a compromise, make it work, bury the hatchet in the name of the people of Coventry’. But they’ve just fallen out so it’s nearly impossible to get an agreement. It’s a huge clash, which has built up over a long time over the rent of the stadium.
“Coventry City will be back in Coventry. The Football League is still encouraging people to see commonsense and come up with a plan to take Coventry City back to the city and its fans. I’m hoping it will be the current stadium, the Ricoh. Who wants an empty stadium in Coventry?
"Of course, it’s embarrassing for the League. Everyone thinks the League has infinite power and we can tell the clubs what to do. But these are sovereign independent businesses, governed by company law and insolvency law and we have to obey it just as they do. If two independent corporate entities want to fall out, there is nothing the Football League can do about it.
“The problem with the Fit and Proper Person (owners’) Test is it requires people to have done things that are seen as wrong or illegal or unethical.
All these people are obeying the law. We can’t arbitrarily decide when we like the law and don’t like it.
“When I was interviewed to be chairman, they (the League) asked me what would be the most important thing. I said keeping the clubs alive; we are merely the stewards of a heritage that goes back 125 years. The people of Barnsley, Portsmouth, Coventry, Accrington deserve a football club to pass on to their children and grandchildren.
“Our job is to not let terrible things happen that deprive communities of their clubs which is why we have pushed Financial Fair Play hard to get costs under control and why we are driving our central revenues hard so that we can keep our clubs alive. It keeps me awake at night. Always. We came really close to losing Portsmouth.
“I went to bed one night thinking ‘it’s over – Portsmouth will lose their football club’. But we got up the next morning, dusted ourselves down and had another go and we found a way.
"I don’t want to take the credit away from the people of Portsmouth who put their hands in their pocket but the work the Football League had to do behind the scenes to help that happen is legion. We felt so good when we got that over the line.’’
Surely fan trusts are the future? “I worry about supporters owning clubs,’’ replied Clarke. “Not because they don’t deserve it. But it’s like banks. If a bank doesn’t have enough capital to survive a crisis, bad things happen.
It’s the same with supporters. When they get relegated, or fall out with the manager and have to pay him off and some big cash crisis, supporters can only put their hands in the pockets so often.
“What I want to see is empowered supporters. Exeter are a great example: fan-owned club, well run, good directors, good board, good fans, run it within their means, don’t do anything daft. But also you have good owners who do it the right way, you have good owners who put fans on the board.
When I was chairman of Leicester City, we had a member of the fans’ trust on our board and he did a great job. I’m completely open to the fans’ model but I don’t think it works every time.’’
Twitter
9
Facebook
1
Share
10
MORE FROM THE TELEGRAPH
There is a ghost in Sky Blue at the Football League’s glitzy banquet. The world’s oldest league launched its 125th anniversary on Friday night with assorted presentations before Sheffield United’s entertaining 2-1 League One victory over Notts County here at Bramall Lane.
But the thoughts of the Football League chairman, Greg Clarke, were partly focused on the plight of another famous League 1 club, Coventry City, whose own 130th anniversary celebrations next week will be muted at best after Friday’s 10-points deduction.
As he admired the passing football of David Weir’s neat Sheffield United side, and the well-worked goals of the excellent Kevin McDonald and Harry Maguire, Clarke reflected on Coventry’s travails. He had a message for Sky Blues fans.
RELATED ARTICLES
Coventry City handed 10-point deduction after holding company goes into liquidation
Coventry City confirm groundshare with Northampton Town could last five years
Coventry City League One fixtures: 2013-14
“I see Coventry as a victory because that’s another fine old football club that is still alive,’’ said Clarke.
“Now I am absolutely savagely angry that the stadium owners and the owners of the football club can’t agree to keep the club in Coventry. We’ve done everything we can behind the scenes to say ‘look guys, you are two grown-up groups of people, one of you owns the ground, the other owns the football club, you both need each other.
“Let’s find a compromise, make it work, bury the hatchet in the name of the people of Coventry’. But they’ve just fallen out so it’s nearly impossible to get an agreement. It’s a huge clash, which has built up over a long time over the rent of the stadium.
“Coventry City will be back in Coventry. The Football League is still encouraging people to see commonsense and come up with a plan to take Coventry City back to the city and its fans. I’m hoping it will be the current stadium, the Ricoh. Who wants an empty stadium in Coventry?
"Of course, it’s embarrassing for the League. Everyone thinks the League has infinite power and we can tell the clubs what to do. But these are sovereign independent businesses, governed by company law and insolvency law and we have to obey it just as they do. If two independent corporate entities want to fall out, there is nothing the Football League can do about it.
“The problem with the Fit and Proper Person (owners’) Test is it requires people to have done things that are seen as wrong or illegal or unethical.
All these people are obeying the law. We can’t arbitrarily decide when we like the law and don’t like it.
“When I was interviewed to be chairman, they (the League) asked me what would be the most important thing. I said keeping the clubs alive; we are merely the stewards of a heritage that goes back 125 years. The people of Barnsley, Portsmouth, Coventry, Accrington deserve a football club to pass on to their children and grandchildren.
“Our job is to not let terrible things happen that deprive communities of their clubs which is why we have pushed Financial Fair Play hard to get costs under control and why we are driving our central revenues hard so that we can keep our clubs alive. It keeps me awake at night. Always. We came really close to losing Portsmouth.
“I went to bed one night thinking ‘it’s over – Portsmouth will lose their football club’. But we got up the next morning, dusted ourselves down and had another go and we found a way.
"I don’t want to take the credit away from the people of Portsmouth who put their hands in their pocket but the work the Football League had to do behind the scenes to help that happen is legion. We felt so good when we got that over the line.’’
Surely fan trusts are the future? “I worry about supporters owning clubs,’’ replied Clarke. “Not because they don’t deserve it. But it’s like banks. If a bank doesn’t have enough capital to survive a crisis, bad things happen.
It’s the same with supporters. When they get relegated, or fall out with the manager and have to pay him off and some big cash crisis, supporters can only put their hands in the pockets so often.
“What I want to see is empowered supporters. Exeter are a great example: fan-owned club, well run, good directors, good board, good fans, run it within their means, don’t do anything daft. But also you have good owners who do it the right way, you have good owners who put fans on the board.
When I was chairman of Leicester City, we had a member of the fans’ trust on our board and he did a great job. I’m completely open to the fans’ model but I don’t think it works every time.’’
9
1
Share
10
MORE FROM THE TELEGRAPH
