Brighton Sky Blue
Well-Known Member
I've sent the following to the people of Sydney FC in Australia, who share our Sky Blues nickname. If anyone here has a strong knowledge of Spanish and/or German so I can send a similar version to Celta Vigo and Chemnitzer, who also happen to be the Sky Blues, then please help me out!
'Hi,
I am writing as a supporter of the English football (soccer) club, Coventry City. On the face of it, these two clubs have little in common-except their nickname, The Sky Blues. However, the fortunes of my own Sky Blues have fallen greatly since the time of a former Coventry player well known to most Aussie soccer fans, John Aloisi. The club's owners have proposed to move it from its home city Coventry, which it has been based in for 130 years, to play in a much smaller stadium in a town 30 miles away. I won't go into the extensive detail underlying this but the story has become well covered in the British press:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ity-owners-ground-share-Northampton-Town.html
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/brian-reade-column-coventry-owners-2030672
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepag...y-fans-threaten-boycott-over-ground-move.html
http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sp...all-league-approve-northampton-ground-4887684
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/jul/04/coventry-city-groundshare-northampton-town
I write to propose to Sydney Football Club, in recognition of the unique piece of common ground our clubs share, to participate in a friendly tournament held in Coventry, at the 32,500 seater stadium, the Ricoh Arena, which the club is intending to leave next season. Sydney FC would not be expected to send a full strength team, but either a representative or supporters' team, and would be competing against a Coventry supporters' team. This would be held in early August and is intended to highlight as strongly as possible the quality of the venue for hosting soccer in Coventry and as a celebration of football in the area in the hope that the club is returned to its home.
I also intend to put similar proposals over the coming days out to other soccer clubs sharing the Sky Blues nickname (Ballymena United of Northern Ireland, UK, Celta Vigo of Spain and Chemnitzer FC of Germany). If the August date is too soon for this to be arranged, it could be just as feasible to organise such a tournament for mid-2014 instead. If successful, the tournament could be repeated in years to follow with different teams having a chance to host it. In the process, a unique link could be created between our clubs and supporters who don sky blue colours.
Aside from purely being a football tournament, this would be one opportunity for soccer fans from across the world to emphatically celebrate the importance of football clubs to their communities. I look forward to your reply and if you require more details on our club and its current circumstances, or on the tournament itself, then please do not hesitate to ask.
Best regards,
Andy'
'Hi,
I am writing as a supporter of the English football (soccer) club, Coventry City. On the face of it, these two clubs have little in common-except their nickname, The Sky Blues. However, the fortunes of my own Sky Blues have fallen greatly since the time of a former Coventry player well known to most Aussie soccer fans, John Aloisi. The club's owners have proposed to move it from its home city Coventry, which it has been based in for 130 years, to play in a much smaller stadium in a town 30 miles away. I won't go into the extensive detail underlying this but the story has become well covered in the British press:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ity-owners-ground-share-Northampton-Town.html
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/brian-reade-column-coventry-owners-2030672
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepag...y-fans-threaten-boycott-over-ground-move.html
http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sp...all-league-approve-northampton-ground-4887684
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/jul/04/coventry-city-groundshare-northampton-town
I write to propose to Sydney Football Club, in recognition of the unique piece of common ground our clubs share, to participate in a friendly tournament held in Coventry, at the 32,500 seater stadium, the Ricoh Arena, which the club is intending to leave next season. Sydney FC would not be expected to send a full strength team, but either a representative or supporters' team, and would be competing against a Coventry supporters' team. This would be held in early August and is intended to highlight as strongly as possible the quality of the venue for hosting soccer in Coventry and as a celebration of football in the area in the hope that the club is returned to its home.
I also intend to put similar proposals over the coming days out to other soccer clubs sharing the Sky Blues nickname (Ballymena United of Northern Ireland, UK, Celta Vigo of Spain and Chemnitzer FC of Germany). If the August date is too soon for this to be arranged, it could be just as feasible to organise such a tournament for mid-2014 instead. If successful, the tournament could be repeated in years to follow with different teams having a chance to host it. In the process, a unique link could be created between our clubs and supporters who don sky blue colours.
Aside from purely being a football tournament, this would be one opportunity for soccer fans from across the world to emphatically celebrate the importance of football clubs to their communities. I look forward to your reply and if you require more details on our club and its current circumstances, or on the tournament itself, then please do not hesitate to ask.
Best regards,
Andy'