Leekbrookgull
Well-known member
Just one place off the foot of the table,huge debts (it seems) falling gates and they rent the ground,have we been here before ?http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-19674004
I would disagree. They have a good catchment area, so have the potential for good crowds. All they need is a good management team and a long-term plan to get them into shape. They already have a modern ground with a good capacity (32,000+)
Just seen this as for some reason my post did not work web I originally tried.The stadium isn't theirs to own and much of the revenue bought into the stadium goes to the trust who own part of the stadium along with the council.
The club also owe £600k in rent which they've been unable to pay.
However reading the article below should mean that they should be able to bring in some decent revenue.
BBC News - Coventry City Ricoh Arena ownership deal
Do Brighton own their own ground or does the chap who put all the cash up to build it still own the rights ?
It's 100% the management's fault. They made an agreement on the rent, now they're saying it's out of line with League 1 rents - well yes it is, but a) it's your fault you're in league 1, b) it was up to you when agreeing the terms to make the rent dependent on which league you were in, c) you don't have an average league 1 ground do you, you have a modern 32.5k stadium.I find it hard to sympathise here. If they agree to rent of £1.1m a season, for their ground, surely it is their fault? The owners of the ground aren't doing anything wrong, surely. Only getting 10k attendances, can't be helping!
In some ways that could work in their favour. When Halifax went bust they didn't own The Shay (they'd already sold it to the local Council the previous time they'd hit money troubles). Suddenly here was a football ground without a football team. All of a sudden the 'new' Halifax appeared and were taken on as tenants! Effectively they'd legitimately wiped out all their debts and were able to start again in the same ground. They DID have to start at the bottom of the Pyramid mind - but as they were virtually there already it wasn't that big a deal.Biggest difference is Cov don't own their ground and are millions more in debt than we were.
A lot of the Cov fans I know are seriously worried about this, but all agree that it is poor management from the owners which has led to this.
However, I believe the current owners SISU pledged to buy a 50% share in the stadium when they took over which has not materialised, causing a lot of resentment from the fanbase. The rent they pay for the stadium is not only the highest in League 1, it is higher than any in the Championship as well, and they make nothing from match day sales either. Even if they stump up the rent money, its hardly a business model which is likely to cause the club to grow and progress.
Their current attendances are very poor, and were poor even when they were in the Championship. I think this is due to general apathy amongst the fans, with only the hardcore now attending matches. Personally I liked Highfield Road and went to many matches there but find the Ricoh to be a soulless bowl with no atmosphere and overpriced tickets.
Sounds like us at Withdean. It's no wonder we're years behind Payless in terms of Academy players coming through and all the other benefits not paying your way offers. Coventry are in the same spiral The Albion were-only they don't have a bunch of crooks deliberately running the club down. Their problems stem from some very poor decisions made while they were at Highfield.