Latest SBT statement

[dongonzalos]

Quite surprised but it seems becoming a major investor in an already built stadium is better than building a 15k capacity one for 22 million. Who would have thought that?????

 

[Otis]

I suggest sisu drop the appeal and I suggest ACL drop these negotiations. Spend the next 2 years building trust then negotiate a long term deal/buy out.


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But I would add to that, Sisu to stop saying they are leaving and building their own statement and just simply come out and say they want to stay at the Ricoh. Can they not just say those simple few words?

They used to say they wanted to stay at the Ricoh, but for the past 2 years it's all been 'that boat has sailed' and ' We WILL be building our own stadium.' That nonsense has to stop.

However, if it is true they are building their own stadium then why are we bothered about Wasps buying a 90% share in the Ricoh, other than just on the principal grounds of franchsing?

I know you are saying CCFC will always struggle if the Wasps thing goes through, but if we are building a new stadium anyway, surely that will not be the case will it. It will be an irrelevence. We build our own stadium and we will not be forever struggling at the Ricoh!

 

[Astute]

But I would add to that, Sisu to stop saying they are leaving and building their own statement and just simply come out and say they want to stay at the Ricoh. Can they not just say those simple few words?

They used to say they wanted to stay at the Ricoh, but for the past 2 years it's all been 'that boat has sailed' and ' We WILL be building our own stadium.' That nonsense has to stop.

However, if it is true they are building their own stadium then why are we bothered about Wasps buying a 90% share in the Ricoh, other than just on the principal grounds of franchsing?

I know you are saying CCFC will always struggle if the Wasps thing goes through, but if we are building a new stadium anyway, surely that will not be the case will it. It will be an irrelevence. We build our own stadium and we will not be forever struggling at the Ricoh!

Because we all know that a new stadium won't be built. We also know that SISU don't want to pay for the Ricoh. Trying to devalue it failed. They tried to say it was worthless. And some on here agreed :facepalm:

I was going to say that some will start blaming others for SISU not getting the freehold or leasehold but that has already started. And we are not allowed to have an opinion otherwise we are CCC and ACL lovers. It is just that we see the reality of the situation. Higgs wanted to sell their share. SISU fucked them about and cost them money. And some of us have been saying that we couldn't see them trusting them again. But some talk as though the Ricoh should be gifted to a hedge fund. What a joke.

SISU need to find some cash and negotiate, build a stadium or just go and leave us and our club alone so we can start building bridges and rebuild our club. It is starting to look as though we have 4 years left. Yet some think it is more importand to go down the morality route about Wasps than talking about saving our club. Is it just another reason to have a go at CCC and ACL when they have tried but failed to get anywhere with SISU?

 

[theferret]

Because we all know that a new stadium won't be built. We also know that SISU don't want to pay for the Ricoh. Trying to devalue it failed. They tried to say it was worthless. And some on here agreed :facepalm:

I was going to say that some will start blaming others for SISU not getting the freehold or leasehold but that has already started. And we are not allowed to have an opinion otherwise we are CCC and ACL lovers. It is just that we see the reality of the situation. Higgs wanted to sell their share. SISU fucked them about and cost them money. And some of us have been saying that we couldn't see them trusting them again. But some talk as though the Ricoh should be gifted to a hedge fund. What a joke.

SISU need to find some cash and negotiate, build a stadium or just go and leave us and our club alone so we can start building bridges and rebuild our club. It is starting to look as though we have 4 years left. Yet some think it is more importand to go down the morality route about Wasps than talking about saving our club. Is it just another reason to have a go at CCC and ACL when they have tried but failed to get anywhere with SISU?

Missing the point spectacularly. Some people cannot see beyond their hatred of SISU. If it's SISU OUT you want, then you really ought to be screaming at the council not to sell to Wasps. If that deal goes through, we can wave goodbye to the prospect of anybody making a move for the club - because anyone buying the club would know that for it to be viable long term, they would have to build a new stadium, and who would buy a football club on that basis?

 

[theferret]

While arvo/sisu remain owners I think "we'll struggle to get out of the third division, and probably never ever get to the PL."

Well, quite. And yet if this deal goes through, you can safely say SISU will remain owners for a very long time. Nobody will buy a football club that plays second fiddle to a Rugby club in a stadium it has no prospect of ever owning. You do get that?

 

[rupert_bear]

Missing the point spectacularly. Some people cannot see beyond their hatred of SISU. If it's SISU OUT you want, then you really ought to be screaming at the council not to sell to Wasps. If that deal goes through, we can wave goodbye to the prospect of anybody making a move for the club - because anyone buying the club would know that for it to be viable long term, they would have to build a new stadium, and who would buy a football club on that basis?

What about TATA ?

 

[Otis]

Missing the point spectacularly. Some people cannot see beyond their hatred of SISU. If it's SISU OUT you want, then you really ought to be screaming at the council not to sell to Wasps. If that deal goes through, we can wave goodbye to the prospect of anybody making a move for the club - because anyone buying the club would know that for it to be viable long term, they would have to build a new stadium, and who would buy a football club on that basis?

None of us believe a new stadium will be built, so it is about time our owners came out and said, yes, we do want to stay at the Ricoh. Then surely we would all come out and fight for our club to remain. What we have now is ACL trying to sell to a total outsider and Sisu saying they are not staying anyway. The whole thing is a complete joke. If Sisu said they wanted to stay I would be first in line to fight the club's corner.

New money in sport often flows only one way: to the players. But Wasps, in the second stage of Richardson's three-part plan, have vowed to bolster Young's coaching and conditioning staff and, in stage three, find a stadium to own or be a major partner in. This is highly ambitious. More than 38,000 people attended the one-off "Stinger" league match against Gloucester at Twickenham last weekend. But average attendances for regular Premiership home games at Adams Park in High Wycombe are under 6,000. A 15,000-seater comes in at around £22m, and if Wasps refuse to rent from, say, Brentford FC or Queens Park Rangers, they must either find a partner with spare land in one of the world's priciest areas in the Home Counties or find a stadium to take over, such as Coventry's Ricoh Arena.

 

[shmmeee]

Missing the point spectacularly. Some people cannot see beyond their hatred of SISU. If it's SISU OUT you want, then you really ought to be screaming at the council not to sell to Wasps. If that deal goes through, we can wave goodbye to the prospect of anybody making a move for the club - because anyone buying the club would know that for it to be viable long term, they would have to build a new stadium, and who would buy a football club on that basis?

Hang on. I thought the line on the council was that they were pig headed for not accepting peanuts from Sisu because no one wants the Ricoh and its a white elephant?

you can't have it both ways.

Bottom line is the club have had ten years to buy back the Ricoh and aren't interested. If you think the Ricoh is such a prize and ownership is the be all and end all for the club you should be campaigning our owners to put a sensible bid in surely?

And as much as you like to say it, it's far from proven fact that the club needs to own a ground to be viable.

 

[rupert_bear]

It is our owners, whoever they are, that should be who we target for ridicule, Wasps, the owner of Wasps, acl or the city council can do jack shit about the football club until our owners come to the party, either sisu are hatching a cunning plan or they haven't a pot to piss in and are unable to bid, buy or build a new stadium. This Wasps thing has bowled them a googly and imo sisu are well and truly fooked !!

 

[skybluetony176]

Because we all know that a new stadium won't be built. We also know that SISU don't want to pay for the Ricoh. Trying to devalue it failed. They tried to say it was worthless. And some on here agreed :facepalm:

I was going to say that some will start blaming others for SISU not getting the freehold or leasehold but that has already started. And we are not allowed to have an opinion otherwise we are CCC and ACL lovers. It is just that we see the reality of the situation. Higgs wanted to sell their share. SISU fucked them about and cost them money. And some of us have been saying that we couldn't see them trusting them again. But some talk as though the Ricoh should be gifted to a hedge fund. What a joke.

SISU need to find some cash and negotiate, build a stadium or just go and leave us and our club alone so we can start building bridges and rebuild our club. It is starting to look as though we have 4 years left. Yet some think it is more importand to go down the morality route about Wasps than talking about saving our club. Is it just another reason to have a go at CCC and ACL when they have tried but failed to get anywhere with SISU?

You do have to wonder if that to some degree SISU's have succeeded in devaluing the Ricoh. Clearly not enough for SISU to make an attempt to purchase it but enough to turn another parties eye and this is where we find ourselves. It's a theory anyway.

 

[Nick]

It is our owners, whoever they are, that should be who we target for ridicule, Wasps, the owner of Wasps, acl or the city council can do jack shit about the football club until our owners come to the party, either sisu are hatching a cunning plan or they haven't a pot to piss in and are unable to bid, buy or build a new stadium. This Wasps thing has bowled them a googly and imo sisu are well and truly fooked !!

People seem getting so carried away and over joyed that sisu are screwed they forget they own our club while I wouldn't give two shits if they went under, I would if it meant our club did too.

 

[skybluetony176]

It is our owners, whoever they are, that should be who we target for ridicule, Wasps, the owner of Wasps, acl or the city council can do jack shit about the football club until our owners come to the party, either sisu are hatching a cunning plan or they haven't a pot to piss in and are unable to bid, buy or build a new stadium. This Wasps thing has bowled them a googly and imo sisu are well and truly fooked !!

That's the danger. Unfortunately when you say SISU are fucked that really only means as far as this investment goes. In other words it's really only the club that's fucked.

 

[oldfiver]

I think for CCC to vote yes on this there would have to be caveats in place that would protect Coventry City FC and hopefully Cov rugby too. I just cannot see them signing off on a deal that would hurt two local clubs and boost a franchise outsider club from close to 100 miles away.

They'd be chased out fo the council chambers with pitchforks.

The rugby Chairman has stated that CRF had promises ( caveats ) that no other major rugby team would be allowed to set up in the city when they took over the stricken club

Highfield Road had covenants ( caveats ) on it when it was given to the city which CCC bypassed

Pitchforks would not be good enough!

 

[oldfiver]

I don't know is the answer. We can all assume it will be bad for City and Cov rugby, but we don't know for certain. My mind keeps coming back to Coventry City Council and what they represent. I honestly cannot see them voting for a deal that pushes Coventry City out into the wilderness, seriously hurts the city's rugby club and has Wasps coming in with yellow seats plastered all over the Ricoh. I just cannot see it. It would be a total madness and surely would go against the very thing the local council stands for.


I think for CCC to vote yes on this there would have to be caveats in place that would protect Coventry City FC and hopefully Cov rugby too. I just cannot see them signing off on a deal that would hurt two local clubs and boost a franchise outsider club from close to 100 miles away.

They'd be chased out fo the council chambers with pitchforks.

I just think people are jumping to conclusions a bit. What we need to do now is to lobby the council to make sure they do the best thing for the city of Coventry and the people of Coventry.


Bottom line for me is, I truly believe that if this deal proves to be bad for CCFC and CRFC then the council will veto the proposal to accept the deal.

We have only seen one part of the bid offer so far - no sign of the amount involved or even if WASPS have more than a pound to start with

What odds the offer just about covers the CCC loan

 

[covmark]

It is our owners, whoever they are, that should be who we target for ridicule, Wasps, the owner of Wasps, acl or the city council can do jack shit about the football club until our owners come to the party, either sisu are hatching a cunning plan or they haven't a pot to piss in and are unable to bid, buy or build a new stadium. This Wasps thing has bowled them a googly and imo sisu are well and truly fooked !!

The gleeful tone of this post is truly worrying. The staunch defence of the council is also strange. They are hypocrites at best.

 

[stupot07]

Certainly there is no guarantee of success as in winning things, I mean success as in getting people in to watch, getting people to spend money in the ground. If the owners of ACL structure a deal for the club that encourages the club to stay, make the rent cheap enough that the club can make tickets more affordable, more people will turn up, spend more money in the ground, in the casino.

This means other ACL tenants are happier, sponsors see the value of extra people attending the ground, more chance of getting a lucrative arena sponsorship deal. The value of ACL rises, and it makes more money for ACL. That's why if the owner of ACL 'needs every penny' then getting the club playing there is important, and a successful club even more important.

Just my view, I accept that you may disagree.

I think the judge pointed out that the club couldn't 'afford' most of our costs, but as the rent was 10% of the unaffordable costs, maybe the owners were just a bit shit at running a business.

The club won't reduce ticket prices because of a better rent deal. If anything ticket prices will continue to go up with inflation.


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[stupot07]

But I would add to that, Sisu to stop saying they are leaving and building their own statement and just simply come out and say they want to stay at the Ricoh. Can they not just say those simple few words?

They used to say they wanted to stay at the Ricoh, but for the past 2 years it's all been 'that boat has sailed' and ' We WILL be building our own stadium.' That nonsense has to stop.

However, if it is true they are building their own stadium then why are we bothered about Wasps buying a 90% share in the Ricoh, other than just on the principal grounds of franchsing?

I know you are saying CCFC will always struggle if the Wasps thing goes through, but if we are building a new stadium anyway, surely that will not be the case will it. It will be an irrelevence. We build our own stadium and we will not be forever struggling at the Ricoh!

Because 'we/ the majority us fans' don't want a new stadium, we want the one that was designed and built for us.

And as you say later - we won't be building a new stadium.


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[letsallsingtogether]

Got mine for £16.00 for today's match.
12 game deal between 3 of us so have saved £6.00 a ticket and £8.00 if pay on gate.

£24.00 on the gate today is a bit steep wouldn't you say for a L1 game?
Any higher and the gates will drop again

The club won't reduce ticket prices because of a better rent deal. If anything ticket prices will continue to go up with inflation.


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[MichaelCCFC]

Originally Posted by rupert_bear
It is our owners, whoever they are, that should be who we target for ridicule, Wasps, the owner of Wasps, acl or the city council can do jack shit about the football club until our owners come to the party, either sisu are hatching a cunning plan or they haven't a pot to piss in and are unable to bid, buy or build a new stadium. This Wasps thing has bowled them a googly and imo sisu are well and truly fooked !!



The gleeful tone of this post is truly worrying. The staunch defence of the council is also strange. They are hypocrites at best.



This thread is just a poorly disguised rehash of the old pro/anti acl/sisu stuff and is utterly depressing. sisu, acl, ccc and wasps all have their own agendas and their interest is not our team or us fans. Seems very straightforward

 

[theferret]

Hang on. I thought the line on the council was that they were pig headed for not accepting peanuts from Sisu because no one wants the Ricoh and its a white elephant?

you can't have it both ways.

Bottom line is the club have had ten years to buy back the Ricoh and aren't interested. If you think the Ricoh is such a prize and ownership is the be all and end all for the club you should be campaigning our owners to put a sensible bid in surely?

And as much as you like to say it, it's far from proven fact that the club needs to own a ground to be viable.

Again the point is missed. Of course SISU should be making a bid for the Ricoh, and I would call on them to make Ricoh ownership their stated intention asap.

But this is SISU we are talking about, so we know that probably won't happen. Given that fact, who is going to stand up for the supporters and protect the long term interests of the club? If this sale is sanctioned then the club is fucked, and yet many seem indifferent and shrug their shoulders and almost take pleasure in the fact SISU are set to be screwed over because of their own incompetence. I couldn't give a fuck about SISU and what they have/haven't done over the last few years, I care about the here, the now and the future of CCFC.

As for the ownership/viability question, I think that has been answered. Of course it is possible that a club can rent a stadium and be successful, that has happened, but those rent deals are nothing like the one we have in place. The is a world of difference between renting a stadium 365 days a year, and profiting fully from both matchday and non-matchday events, than there is renting it for a few hours 23 times a year.

Add is to this mix that we would become the junior partner in a ground share arrangement, and that profits from our limited activity within the stadium would, ultimately, be for the benefit of Wasps, then I think all talk of the rental agreement being for the benefit of CCFC ends. This deal goes through then a new stadium goes from pipe dream to necessity in an instant.

 

[rupert_bear]

Who is defending the council ? This whole debacle of Coventry City Football Club is down to how sisu have run it since 2007, council don't run the football business sisu do, it's their policies and plans that have brought us to where we are today. Yes the intial £1.3million a year rent was massively excessive but that was negotiable and public opinion will have been noted by the council but sisu no-one chose the confrontational route, looks like they lost

 

[stupot07]

Got mine for £16.00 for today's match.
12 game deal between 3 of us so have saved £6.00 a ticket and £8.00 if pay on gate.

£24.00 on the gate today is a bit steep wouldn't you say for a L1 game?
Any higher and the gates will drop again

Thats the point though isn't it. To encourage fans to commit to a season ticket or package like that, rather than the lottery of the wall ups. Better for cash flow and for financial/budget planning.

At ever club in the country, you'd make those kind of savings on a ST or match package like that. (I'm in the premium block, £17 per match ST)

Yes £24 is too much, and I have agreed before that the £2 surcharge is a waste of time.




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[theferret]

Who is defending the council ? This whole debacle of Coventry City Football Club is down to how sisu have run it since 2007, council don't run the football business sisu do, it's their policies and plans that have brought us to where we are today. Yes the intial £1.3million a year rent was massively excessive but that was negotiable and public opinion will have been noted by the council but sisu no-one chose the confrontational route, looks like they lost

That last bit says it all, some people are more interested in SISU 'losing' than they are the the future of the club. Do you think we're all blind to the fact SISU have fucked up? Do you think that means we should all give up and just allow this to happen? Said it in my last post, couldn't give a flying about SISU - and they won't do the right thing so it's pointless even talking about it.

 

[rupert_bear]

Originally Posted by rupert_bear
It is our owners, whoever they are, that should be who we target for ridicule, Wasps, the owner of Wasps, acl or the city council can do jack shit about the football club until our owners come to the party, either sisu are hatching a cunning plan or they haven't a pot to piss in and are unable to bid, buy or build a new stadium. This Wasps thing has bowled them a googly and imo sisu are well and truly fooked !!



The gleeful tone of this post is truly worrying. The staunch defence of the council is also strange. They are hypocrites at best.



This thread is just a poorly disguised rehash of the old pro/anti acl/sisu stuff and is utterly depressing. sisu, acl, ccc and wasps all have their own agendas and their interest is not our team or us fans. Seems very straightforward

Oh and so speaks our very own Knight in shining armour !! I remember you virtually in tears at the Squirrel regarding sisu and what they were doing to our club. All this is down to them and the plan, path or both they have chosen. I'll ask you one question Michael "Who owns our club" ?

 

[MichaelCCFC]

Oh and so speaks our very own Knight in shining armour !! I remember you virtually in tears at the Squirrel regarding sisu and what they were doing to our club. All this is down to them and the plan, path or both they have chosen. I'll ask you one question Michael "Who owns our club" ?

sisu-acl-ccc-wasps all have their own agendas and their interest is not our team and us fans whereas that is all I am interested in. So I don't want sisu to have any ownership of the ricoh because they can't be trusted. I don't want wasps here because that is wrong on every level.

Are you going to 'fess up to who you really are rather than hiding behind an anonymous name?

 

[Rusty Trombone]

The club won't reduce ticket prices because of a better rent deal. If anything ticket prices will continue to go up with inflation.


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They haven't been going up with inflation.

I didn't mean that prices would reduce as such, I meant that if the rent was cheap enough then the club could choose a host of ways, including ticket deals, to get more people turning up. That's good for the club, and good for ACL. It's also pretty similar to what's happening now.

 

[stupot07]

They haven't been going up with inflation.

I didn't mean that prices would reduce as such, I meant that if the rent was cheap enough then the club could choose a host of ways, including ticket deals, to get more people turning up. That's good for the club, and good for ACL. It's also pretty similar to what's happening now.

So pretty similar to what happens now So there would be little difference then? Ticket deals, kids for a £1, bring a mate for a tenner, free tickets to schools, free tickets for kids on ccfc in the community coaching courses?

The league one allows clubs to do others for up to 4 games for season.

And what benefit is it to ACL? They said they had £1m revenue from F&B's based on 16k fans, of which only £120k was profit (they said they would owner existing contracts so presume includes catering). They don't get a cut from the casino, the just pay rent.


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[Rusty Trombone]

So pretty similar to what happens now So there would be little difference then? Ticket deals, kids for a £1, bring a mate for a tenner, free tickets to schools, free tickets for kids on ccfc in the community coaching courses?

The league one allows clubs to do others for up to 4 games for season.




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I agree, having new owners of ACL is not a concern. The concern is the clubs unwillingness to commit long term to play there.

 

[theferret]

I agree, having new owners of ACL is not a concern. The concern is the clubs unwillingness to commit long term to play there.

I'm not sure that's what he said. Of course it is a concern, it is a massive concern. While ACL is owned by the local council and a local charitable trust, hope remains that ownership will one day pass, at least in part, to the football club. The moment ACL is sold to a third-party sports franchise then all that hope goes. You do see that?

 

[Rusty Trombone]

I'm not sure that's what he said. Of course it is a concern, it is a massive concern. While ACL is owned by the local council and a local charitable trust, hope remains that ownership will one day pass, at least in part, to the football club. The moment ACL is sold to a third-party sports franchise then all that hope goes. You do see that?

It will never 'pass to the football club', the club, or rather the clubs owners, will need to stump up some cash. No I don't see that having new owners of ACL leads to all hope ending.

 

[stupot07]

I agree, having new owners of ACL is not a concern. The concern is the clubs unwillingness to commit long term to play there.

I agree that the clubs unwillingness to commit is a major concern.

But so is the prospect of having new owners of ACL, especially a sports franchise moving 75 miles to play there. It's a huge concern, it will almost certainly mean we will not own (leasehold) the Ricoh our lifetime, and that means not getting access to 365 day revenue, which very likely means never reaching the top flight again.


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[rupert_bear]

I agree that the clubs unwillingness to commit is a major concern.

But so is the prospect of having new owners of ACL, especially a sports franchise moving 75 miles to play there. It's a huge concern, it will almost certainly mean we will not own (leasehold) the Ricoh our lifetime, and that means not getting access to 365 day revenue, which very likely means never reaching the top flight again.


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Who are we ? .

 

[Rusty Trombone]

I agree that the clubs unwillingness to commit is a major concern.

But so is the prospect of having new owners of ACL, especially a sports franchise moving 75 miles to play there. It's a huge concern, it will almost certainly mean we will not own (leasehold) the Ricoh our lifetime, and that means not getting access to 365 day revenue, which very likely means never reaching the top flight again.


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Well ACL can't force SISU to buy the shares, if SISU change their mind and decide that they want the club at the Ricoh for more than 4 years now is the time for them to act.

 

[stupot07]

Who are we ? when you say we will never own the leasehold.

The club, under whatever guise (clubs usually keep the stadium under a different company in their group of companies).

Fuck sisu, what in 5,10, 15 years time when they have fucked off? Once wasps buy, gradually relocate they won't be letting go of it because they need all the revenue they can get to challenge and get in to Europe, and to help fund there own operating losses.


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[Frisky blue]

I know this issue has been on the back burner for a long time, over a year in fact. If it happens I believe sisu's grip on our club will be over, sooner the better for me. This Richardson character is one mean astute business man believe me, does he want to own a football club, perhaps and is his consortium wealthy, yes, very, apparently, includes atleast one a rab I've been told. Sorry I know there are always dodgpots and I am as wary as the next guy on who owns and controls my football team but after this sisu crowd and it's bunch of fly by night cretins. I will take a chance with this guy if he decides to buy into my team. We need that change of direction if we are ever to get to where the likes of Leicester and Burnley are, just look at the tables above us and tell me I'm wrong.

The most sensible post so far on this subject.