Looking Forward (1 Viewer)

[PMG64]

This is my first post but as a supporter of some 40 years and season ticket holder for 25 years of those 40 I feel well placed to comment.

CCFC struggle because we don't have a big enough fan base! This is a simple fact, for many years we over achieved in the old 1st Division and Prem Lge, now reality has set in, the attendances are just not high enough to make money for the club.

I would love to see us sign some top players but in all our time in the Championship players we have bought have not brought us success. SISU are not my favourites but they are paying circa £300,000 per month on debts to keep the club afloat, the bank will not lend us any more money and this is a situation that SISU inherited from Robinson and Richardson era.

So if we sell Jukie, Turner and Clingan then so be it, if we only have young players then so be it. Nothing will change the fact that over the last 15 years we have been badly administered.

The main point is that SISU walk away now we go into administration, no assets within the club mean we will go into liquidation, so no CCFC.

BE VERY CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR. SISU may not be spending money but they are keeping our club afloat at the moment, did you know we have the highest debts in Championship and league 1!

 

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[edgy]

Who exactly are SISU paying this "£300k a month" to?

 

[Sub]

i wonder why we have the high debts? not owning our own ground or training facility employing a bunch of clowns on the board for extorionate amount of money not funding a decent team to incite the fans to turn up ??. Any way Welcome :welcome::welcome::welcome::welcome:

 

[ccfcway]

poor Wigan, they struggle with no fans as well

 

[PMG64]

They are the costs of payments on previous transfer deals, paying wages, bills, training ground maintenance all the normal costs, but the biggest is paying bank for loans to buy players in past.

 

[matesx]

of that £300k most of it is servicing the debt

 

[coundonskyblue]

Last season as an example the following teams finished above us in the league but drew in smaller crowds:

Portsmouth
QPR
Swansea
Burnley
Bristol City
Watford
Milwall
Barnsley

I could go back many years but can't be bothered. So you will have to forgive me for not agreeing with you.

The problem with CCFC is that none of our owners have shown enough ambition.

 

[WillieStanley]

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poor Wigan, they struggle with no fans as well

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They were the club going through my head too... Excellent example of a well ran club who keep the dream alive!

 

[Otis]

Last season as an example the following teams finished above us in the league but drew in smaller crowds:

Portsmouth
QPR
Swansea
Burnley
Bristol City
Watford
Milwall
Barnsley

I could go back many years but can't be bothered. So you will have to forgive me for not agreeing with you.

The problem with CCFC is that none of our owners have shown enough ambition.

Yep! Of course we have a big enough fan base. Anyone who was there in 1987 when some quarter of a million people lined the streets and about 100,000 were trying to get tickets to the cup final tells you all you need to know. Chelsea in the cup was another game everyone wanted to come to. Bottom line is, if we had a successful team we would be getting 20,000 + every week without doubt.

 

[ccfcway]

exactly

Its not even the selling off players that annoys me, its the "not running the club properly"

If this week, we sold Juke and Turner, which added to the Dann money bring in, lets say - 3 million (1.5+1+0.5)

and we bought ALF, loaned Simon Cox and bought a nippy midfielder / winger, all at a cost of 750k and SISU said "we need 2.25 million to bring costs down, and here are some new players which may do well, but are young enough to improve and get bums on seats

......but no, sell all of the assets, and bring in an overpriced, overeweight 29 year old with no resale value and no-one to play along side him, into a team that without Juke will have scored ZERO goals this season.

Just doesnt make business sense, and that from a bunch of people who see us as a "business"

 

[skybluesam66]

why would we go into liquidation with no assets? - this makes a takeover even more likely

If total assets were only say £100k -
Any potential acquirer willing to pay £101k could take control of the club - debt free

So admin for me, and then a properly structured club without this money grabbing bunch of clowns who are probably responsible for £1m of the annual losses between themselves

Why do we need more directors, than senior professionals ?

 

[stupot07]

What a load of tosh - we had the 11th highest average attendance in the championship. The problem is the huge rent and lack of income from not owning the stadium.

 

[coundonskyblue]

Yep! Of course we have a big enough fan base. Anyone who was there in 1987 when some quarter of a million people lined the streets and about 100,000 were trying to get tickets to the cup final tells you all you need to know. Chelsea in the cup was another game everyone wanted to come to. Bottom line is, if we had a successful team we would be getting 20,000 + every week without doubt.

Agree 100%. The only season in recent years we did ok was the year we finished 8th. That season pretty much every game was over 20k. I remember a couple going over 26k with nothing even to play for, people went to watch a winning team.

 

[ccfcway]

welcome to the site PMG64

Wrong place at the wrong time chap...

Any thoughts on ALF ?

 

[Platt_The_Donkey]

it makes pefect business sense if you're trying to recoup as much money as you can, before they take us into admin, then bysey bye!!!

 

[wingy]

Not owning ground is the biggest problem .Doesturn fans off,we have no connection to ACL and dont want them thriving out of our demise . The streams it would generate would improve us increase crowds but it would more importantly give us atrue connection to the stadium whichis impressive when full.I do believe whatever u think about previous chairmen we are getting araw deal from ACL and council .We were the fulcrum that drew the investment and alot of public money .The councils net outlay wzas around 30,000,000t, the club should recieve equitable on this if they ever attempt purchase .These current clowns should'nt and god help never get near it.

 

[Nonleagueherewecome]

Their business sense is uncannily similar to that I experienced when my previous company got bought by a hedge fund. They asset-stripped, cut all the overheads and ran the remains as a rump. Sales were very poor, but overheads were so low that that they ran at a very slight profit. That's how they bought a company for a quid, and sold it for a couple of million a few months later for a swift gain.

Sure, the company was wrecked, unable to compete with rivals and entered admin followed by liquidation within a year. But the venture capitalists made a tidy sum, and they don't care about people-just the bottom line.

Sound familiar, anyone? "Saviours", my arse!

 

[ccfcway]

Their business sense is uncannily similar to that I experienced when my previous company got bought by a hedge fund. They asset-stripped, cut all the overheads and ran the remains as a rump. Sales were very poor, but overheads were so low that that they ran at a very slight profit. That's how they bought a company for a quid, and sold it for a couple of million a few months later for a swift gain.

Sure, the company was wrecked, unable to compete with rivals and entered admin followed by liquidation within a year. But the venture capitalists made a tidy sum, and they don't care about people-just the bottom line.

Sound familiar, anyone? "Saviours", my arse!

Happy Days !

now, wheres my rope

 

[Disorganised1]

Happy Days !

now, wheres my rope

They've sold it.

 

[Jack Griffin]

They are the costs of payments on previous transfer deals, paying wages, bills, training ground maintenance all the normal costs, but the biggest is paying bank for loans to buy players in past.

http://www.footballeconomy.com/content/coventry-city-accounts-qualified

Mon, 06/06/2011 - 14:37

The accounts of Coventry City Football Club (Holdings) Limited have been qualified by the auditors. They note that 'the existence of a material uncertainity which may vast significant doubt on the company's ability to continue as a going concern.' This is a relatively unusual event for a football club.

The end of year balance sheet shows net current liabilties of £39,176,891 and net liabilities of £38,048,950. The notes to the accounts accept the existence of a material uncertainty, but the group is confident that it can continue in business for at least next season.

Looking at the business review, the directors are in essence saying that the task in the last season was to avoid relegation. The aim is to become 'established as a successful top half of the Championship team with the potential to reach the play-offs and the Premier League.' In other words, be play off contenders.

But will this be enough to get fans through the gates which is important to the club's financial success given that it does not own the Ricoh stadium? The old ground had many problems, but it generated a good atmosphere which is more difficult at a far from full Ricoh. I know of a few fans who switched their allegiance to the Coventry Blaze ice hockey team (who admittedly have also not had a good season).

Revenue from commercial activities declined from just under £2m in 2009 to £1.66m in 2010. Turnover was also down, although this 'is purely a lower level of management charge to Coventry City Football Club' by Coventry City Football Club (Holdings) Limited. An additional provision of £83,851 had to be made available to cover a shortfall in the pension fund. No director participated in a defined pension contribution scheme or the Football League scheme. However, £228,125 was paid to third parties in respect of directors' services, a similar amount to the preceding year.

The auditors noted, 'The directors of the ultimate parent company, Sky Blue Sports & Leisure Limited, are currently in active negotiations to secure the finance required by the group and company, including additional debt and equity finance. Until additional finance can be secured the company is dependent upon the directors securing other sources of short term finance to meet its liabilities as they fall due.'

As the company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sky Blue Sports & Leisure Limited, the company has taken advantage of the exemption contained in FRS 8 and has therefore not disclosed transactions or balances with entities which form part of the group.

The directors comment in notes to the accounts that it is expected that positive cash flows will be generated from the sale of players. They continue, 'The group also has detailed plans to dispose of non-core trading assets [assumed to be a reference to the training ground at Ryton] and to raise additional debt and equity capital finance.'

However, they warn, 'There is no guarantee that the fundraising will be successful and this in fact indicates the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt upon the group's ability to continue as a going concern and it may therefore be able to realise assets and discharge liabilities in the ordinary course of business.' They add 'The timing of specific cash flows may be uncertain' which could be interpreted as possibly running out of money from time to time.

As a club Coventry face particular challenges, reflected in this post from a Sky Blues fan. The best way forward would be for the club to secure at least a partial stake in the Ricoh which would make it more attractive to potential investors.

However, this comes close to being a Catch 22. Without the Ricoh, it is difficult to attract investors, but until there is a stake in the Ricoh, investors will not be attracted.