[Football] Coventry kicked out of stadium

[Hamilton]

Clearly, Ashley wants to buy CCFC and probably Wasps too.

He's doing everything to make the purchase of the club look unattractive.

Who knows, maybe without a bunch of self-entitled Geordie fans at each game he'll be successful. I never understood why Newcastle fans called themselves long-suffering. They were often in the top flight and were entitled to as much as any other club.

I'm not condoning Ashley's behaviour - he has a very low ethics threshold - but perhaps if he buys Coventry and puts them back in the PL he'll have a bunch of fans that are appreciative rather than whinging all the time. Then again, maybe the ghost of Jimmy Hill will resurface and they'll be demanding European football as well.

 

[beorhthelm]

I'm not condoning Ashley's behaviour - he has a very low ethics threshold - but perhaps if he buys Coventry and puts them back in the PL he'll have a bunch of fans that are appreciative rather than whinging all the time. Then again, maybe the ghost of Jimmy Hill will resurface and they'll be demanding European football as well.

not sure holding a club to ransom is a great start to having apprecative fans. i'm not sure he wants to buy the club either, Coventry has been a basket case for years, how much lower can the value go? i wonder if there's something else going on.

 

[Iggle Piggle]

No doubt an NSC expert will enlighten me, so did Coventry sell Highfield Road for development and then 'rent' the Ricoh (as was) in the same the Hammers do with the Olympic Stadium?

Yes is the short answer. As time went by the rent was then disputed when cov went down and didn't want to pay Premier league prices for lower league crowds and TV money. Cov then went walkabout whilst the dispute was ongoing, in the meantime, Wasps bought the ground and came to an agreement with cov before Wasps went bust earlier this year. Enter Big fat Mike to buy the ground off the administrators.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

It’s more than just a stadium though. It comes with an exhibition centre, a hotel, casino and a massive shopping centre.

Indeed, and these others parts of the business bring in more money than the football club presumably.

Very sad for the supporters though, really feel for them.

 

[GT49er]

What's the point of owning a stadium if you have no-one to play in the stadium?

Depends how much the site is worth to Barratt Homes or similar? Might need to cross a few councellors' palms to get planning ermission of course - but that's not always a barrier, is it?

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Other bits of local gossip are that "the stadium needs 20 million quids worth of work on it which is why he got it so cheap" and "the council have agreed that Mike can knock it down in a deal behind the scenes" and god only knows where a future wasps fit into this. One of the money men behind Wasps used to drink in my local but has understandably gone missing when me and the dog go for a pint and a bag of crisps

It makes the sale of the Goldstone seem straightforward in comparison. Personal view is that Cov is in the middle of a fight between 2 sith lords. Whoever wins won't be giving away free beer.

I was on site, literally last week, removing some equipment on behalf of a customer (Relating to Wasps’ use of the stadium).

The idea that a huge amount of work needs doing seems very unlikely - the place looks to be in pretty good order throughout.

Given the area the stadium sits in (in a light industrial area, sat between a duel carriageway and a scrap yard) the suggestion of being knocked down for housing, also seems pretty outlandish.

brinkmanship / blackmail over the ownership of the football club, looks the most likely.

 

[Seasider78]

According to this statement Frasers group have decided they don’t like the existing long term rental agreement so have a put a new take it or leave it one on the table with no consultation

 

[Iggle Piggle]

I was on site, literally last week, removing some equipment on behalf of a customer (Relating to Wasps’ use of the stadium).

The idea that a huge amount of work needs doing seems very unlikely - the place looks to be in pretty good order throughout.

Given the area the stadium sits in (in a light industrial area, sat between a duel carriageway and a scrap yard) the suggestion of being knocked down for housing, also seems pretty outlandish.

brinkmanship / blackmail over the ownership of the football club, looks the most likely.

Yeah I deliberately framed it as gossip as there is all sorts of rumour going round. I don't blame the Cov lot for being paranoid. For instance our local swimming pool is being rebuilt for 13 milllion so I've no idea what you'd blow 20 mill on given its there already. Also, council can't make deals behind the scenes and as you say it's not exactly prime 5 bed detached territory.

Like you I think It's a cock waving competition between 2 blokes with tiny penises.

 

[US Seagull]

"Frasers do not believe they are bound by the previous licence agreement with the stadium's former owners" - considering the sale only went through three weeks ago, seems very fast to have been through the licence, had discussions and then got hold of an eviction notice.

For someone who says he is a football fan, this is pretty low. I have friends and relatives who are Coventry fans and they really have been through the ringer over the last few years. While they didn't want Ashley involved they were hopeful that he might at least be a useful ally.

My Dad is from Coventry, so I always had a soft spot for them and kinda, sorta followed them as a second club (but never very closely), especially when they were in the top tier and we were in the wilderness.

All very sad. Hope they get it sorted out, but it looks like they are deep in the shit at the moment and have been for some time.