Message to the Football League (1 Viewer)

[ps1948]

Just thought I would share an e-mail I've just fired off to the Football League.....will wait with non-baited breath for a reply!

"Hello,
I wonder how long someone in power at the Football League will take to realise that the people who control my Football Club - Coventry City - have absolutely no interest in returning the Club to Coventry. The Football League, in agreeing to allow SISU/Otium to move the Club's home games for the indefinite future has shown itself to be a spineless, insipid and uncaring steward for a large section of our National game.

On a local radio programme today, the Chief Executive of CCFC, Tim Fisher, who I suspect is one of the people who promised the Football League that they would be returning to play in Coventry, categorically stated that there is no way the new ground (not the Ricoh Arena, which coincidentally still appears as the home ground of CCFC on the Football League website!!!) will be located within the City boundary.

I would also like to refer to the "Roles and Values" page of the Football League website, where it says that you are "responsible for administering and regulating the Football League" - no sign of that in your dealings with Coventry City, who still haven't provided anything to back up their promises to you, in exchange for permission to move to Northampton.
It also says "we encourage all parts of the community to enjoy league football by watching matches" - not something that over 8000 Coventry City fans who attended a charity match at the Ricoh Arena did yesterday, as we exercised our right NOT to travel to Northampton (where we wouldn't have all been able to get in) to watch our team win what was obviously a fantastic game of exciting league football.
You finish the page by relating your "values" - Community - "we are at the heart of 72 communities across England and Wales, and share the pride and heritage of each" - clearly not the footballing community of Coventry.
"Progression" - includes the phrase "always striving to improve.......the experience for fans" - clearly not including the fans of Coventry City.
"Inclusion" - "we are committed to making the game accessible to people of all backgrounds" - clearly not the poorer people of Coventry who could afford to travel to Northampton to see their team, even if they wanted to!
I finish by pondering what the definition is of the Football Associations' "bringing the game into disrepute" charge is, because, in my opinion, the Football League is guilty as charged.

I look forward to some sort of generic facesaving and completely pathetic non-answer in reply,

 

---

[jimmyhillsfanclub]

^ ^ That's just a blur...

 

[jimmyhillsfanclub]

BTW....I've also got a message for the football league...

...You're a bunch of hypocritical spineless c-units!

 

[ps1948]

I considered that comment, but thought I might have a better chance of getting a reply with what I wrote

 

[jimmyhillsfanclub]

I considered that comment, but thought I might have a better chance of getting a reply with what I wrote

Good to see you've tidied up the initial post now too.....

 

[Karl87]

Good work! I too have been going for the polite and formal anger approach:

I sent this last Monday:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing once again to express my disgust at the way your organisation has mishandled the situation with my club, Coventry City.

In a previous email (from your Customer Services Administrator Amanda Craig, dated 11/07/13) I was told:

"Otium must provide a Performance Bond of £1m with The Football League as an assurance of the club’s commitment to return to the Coventry area. In addition, the Board's approval remains entirely conditional on the Club ultimately exiting administration in accordance with The Football League’s conditions and achieving a successful transfer of its League share. "

Can you please explain to me how Otium still have your board's "approval" now that the CVA was not succesfully signed, and how you can justify the transfer of the League share to them? How have they passed your Fit and Proper Person's Test?

I have previously had contact with Andrew Pomfret and Amanda Craig from your Customer Services team and would like to thank you for taking the time to respond to me, however as an organisation the Football League has an obligation to act far beyond merely replying to fans' emails. Action is needed, not only to save my club, but to save future clubs and restore fans' faith in your power and abilities as an organisation. Don't kid yourselves, you have failed the supporters you claim to represent and there won't be a single person in the Coventry area joining you in celebrating your 125th birthday.

Karl

And then this one just now:

Dear Sir/Madam,

It has now been exactly 1 week since I sent the email below and I have not as yet been given the respect of a reply. Clearly this issue is slipping further and further down your priorities list as you have not even found the time to send a copy & paste response.

To clarify, the questions I seek an answer for are:

1. How can you justify the transfer of the League share to Otium Entertainment?
2. How have Otium passed your Fit and Proper Person's Test?

I would now like to add the following questions to this list:

1. What proof have you received that Coventry City will be returned to a location in Coventry?
2. Should Coventry City not be returned to a location in Coventry then how do you intend to "encourage all parts of the community to enjoy league football by watching matches"?

Yesterday afternoon I joined 7000+ Coventry City fans in attending a Former Players' Association match at the Ricoh Arena, while my team played 35 miles away in Northampton. You now shoulder a huge amount of responsibility for this and as such have an obligation to answer for it.

Happy birthday Football League. I can only wonder what state you will be in another 125 years from now.

Karl

 

[RichieGunns]

I wasn't so tactful lol

-------------------------------------

Dear Sir/Madam,

The Football League and the Football Association are a disgrace! How you can claim to be an integral part of 72 footballing communities I don't know. You've systematically flaunted your own rules, ignored the voices of several fan bases and allowed several clubs to go under, be turned into franchises (Wimbledon FC) or are moved by their owners out of the city they serve, destroying peoples lives and their businesses in the process.

And now your allowing Coventry City to be taken out of Coventry and you claim you know what your doing? You are a bunch of spineless, insipid good for nothing idiots who allow money to control your actions. Your statement about encouraging people to go to football matches and having the best interests of the fans at your heart is a pile of steaming wank!

You care for nothing more than yourselves and you'll step on any fan and club in your attempt to line your own pockets. I hope you have a dire 125th birthday anniversary (for which no Cov fan will be celebrating it with you) and I hope that many other fan bases from all the clubs you have screwed over also boycott your stupid little birthday.

You deserve nothing more than every fans contempt and hatred for the things you are doing to our beloved club (and the many other clubs you've hurt) and I urge you to grow a pair, find yourself a spine and a decent backbone and start punishing those that deserve to be punished, aka the hedge funds and billionaires who see football as a business and not as a sport to be enjoyed!

It's time you stepped up to the plate and did the right thing or football will become a meaningless playground for the rich and the insane while the true fans, the ones you claim to stand for, will disappear until there are none left. Think on that one and consider what it'll do to football as a whole and maybe you'll realise it's about time you started practicing what you preach.

The fans are your priority, not the rich and most definitely not SISU!

Yours Sincerely,

A disgusted Sky Blues fan.

 

[hopesprings]

Good work! I too have been going for the polite and formal anger approach:

I sent this last Monday:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing once again to express my disgust at the way your organisation has mishandled the situation with my club, Coventry City.

In a previous email (from your Customer Services Administrator Amanda Craig, dated 11/07/13) I was told:

"Otium must provide a Performance Bond of £1m with The Football League as an assurance of the club’s commitment to return to the Coventry area. In addition, the Board's approval remains entirely conditional on the Club ultimately exiting administration in accordance with The Football League’s conditions and achieving a successful transfer of its League share. "

Can you please explain to me how Otium still have your board's "approval" now that the CVA was not succesfully signed, and how you can justify the transfer of the League share to them? How have they passed your Fit and Proper Person's Test?

I have previously had contact with Andrew Pomfret and Amanda Craig from your Customer Services team and would like to thank you for taking the time to respond to me, however as an organisation the Football League has an obligation to act far beyond merely replying to fans' emails. Action is needed, not only to save my club, but to save future clubs and restore fans' faith in your power and abilities as an organisation. Don't kid yourselves, you have failed the supporters you claim to represent and there won't be a single person in the Coventry area joining you in celebrating your 125th birthday.

Karl

And then this one just now:

Dear Sir/Madam,

It has now been exactly 1 week since I sent the email below and I have not as yet been given the respect of a reply. Clearly this issue is slipping further and further down your priorities list as you have not even found the time to send a copy & paste response.

To clarify, the questions I seek an answer for are:

1. How can you justify the transfer of the League share to Otium Entertainment?
2. How have Otium passed your Fit and Proper Person's Test?

I would now like to add the following questions to this list:

1. What proof have you received that Coventry City will be returned to a location in Coventry?
2. Should Coventry City not be returned to a location in Coventry then how do you intend to "encourage all parts of the community to enjoy league football by watching matches"?

Yesterday afternoon I joined 7000+ Coventry City fans in attending a Former Players' Association match at the Ricoh Arena, while my team played 35 miles away in Northampton. You now shoulder a huge amount of responsibility for this and as such have an obligation to answer for it.

Happy birthday Football League. I can only wonder what state you will be in another 125 years from now.

Karl

 

[theferret]

I wasn't so tactful lol

-------------------------------------

Dear Sir/Madam,

The Football League and the Football Association are a disgrace! How you can claim to be an integral part of 72 footballing communities I don't know. You've systematically flaunted your own rules, ignored the voices of several fan bases and allowed several clubs to go under, be turned into franchises (Wimbledon FC) or are moved by their owners out of the city they serve, destroying peoples lives and their businesses in the process.

And now your allowing Coventry City to be taken out of Coventry and you claim you know what your doing? You are a bunch of spineless, insipid good for nothing idiots who allow money to control your actions. Your statement about encouraging people to go to football matches and having the best interests of the fans at your heart is a pile of steaming wank!

You care for nothing more than yourselves and you'll step on any fan and club in your attempt to line your own pockets. I hope you have a dire 125th birthday anniversary (for which no Cov fan will be celebrating it with you) and I hope that many other fan bases from all the clubs you have screwed over also boycott your stupid little birthday.

You deserve nothing more than every fans contempt and hatred for the things you are doing to our beloved club (and the many other clubs you've hurt) and I urge you to grow a pair, find yourself a spine and a decent backbone and start punishing those that deserve to be punished, aka the hedge funds and billionaires who see football as a business and not as a sport to be enjoyed!

It's time you stepped up to the plate and did the right thing or football will become a meaningless playground for the rich and the insane while the true fans, the ones you claim to stand for, will disappear until there are none left. Think on that one and consider what it'll do to football as a whole and maybe you'll realise it's about time you started practicing what you preach.

The fans are your priority, not the rich and most definitely not SISU!

Yours Sincerely,

A disgusted Sky Blues fan.

Two things stand out from that:

1. Pile of steaming wank.
2. The call for them to get a spine AND a backbone.

May I suggest the phrase 'pile of steaming wank' is included in every letter to the FL from this point forward. Great stuff.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

And now your allowing Coventry City to be taken out of Coventry and you claim you know what your doing? You are a bunch of spineless, insipid good for nothing idiots who allow money to control your actions. Your statement about encouraging people to go to football matches and having the best interests of the fans at your heart is a pile of steaming wank!

I do like that phrase at the end. My mission this week is to incorporate it into one of my many meetings.

 

[lordsummerisle]

To be fair to the Football League they can't really force any team to play in a particular place.

If they had a rule thata football team had to play in the town/city they are from, in a place with a specified capacity and facilities otherwise they can't play in the Football League, then any landlord could charge whatever they wanted(if a monopoly,as has been the case with The Ricoh) and the club could have no say in the matter.

A good future rule would be that all clubs and grounds must come under the same umbrella of ownership.

No third parties, no hiving off to different companies, one club, one ground, one owner for both.

 

[RichieGunns]

Two things stand out from that:

1. Pile of steaming wank.
2. The call for them to get a spine AND a backbone.

May I suggest the phrase 'pile of steaming wank' is included in every letter to the FL from this point forward. Great stuff.

Well my theory is that the FA and FL aren't human as no decent human being would allow something like this to happen to any club (and the community and fans it serves) that they claim to support and care for.

So therefore, a spine AND a backbone made sense...they'd need two just be able to function lol

And "a pile of steaming wank" is tame in comparison to some of the stuff I could have said

 

[chiefdave]

To be fair to the Football League they can't really force any team to play in a particular place.

This is true but if they had followed their own rules they would have refused the club permission to play outside the city. If they had done that where do you think we'd be playing?

 

[Mary_Mungo_Midge]

To be fair to the Football League they can't really force any team to play in a particular place.

If they had a rule thata football team had to play in the town/city they are from, in a place with a specified capacity and facilities otherwise they can't play in the Football League, then any landlord could charge whatever they wanted(if a monopoly,as has been the case with The Ricoh) and the club could have no say in the matter.

A good future rule would be that all clubs and grounds must come under the same umbrella of ownership.

No third parties, no hiving off to different companies, one club, one ground, one owner for both.

The latter points are just fine; which would also rule out state-participation is stadiums - either directly, or via indirect organisations such as ACL.

One of the issues with this debate has been comparisons against other stadiums where there's council involvement, such as Hull, Ipswich, Peterborough, etc. One local authority will have different priorities with regard redevelopment, and therefore any such comparison is impossible.

And whichever view you take on the £1.3m rent applied to the Ricoh, the reality is that a £30m+ stadium - including financing costs - will cost significantly more than that over a reasonable term. And should a privately owned private company have a right to be funded or subsidised by the 90% of the population who don't go to games?

A situation whereby teams are suppoed to compete equally, and there's such a mixed bag of funding for their primary asset - their home ground - across private ownership, state ownership and various mixtures between simply can't be right in any context

 

[lordsummerisle]

This is true but if they had followed their own rules they would have refused the club permission to play outside the city. If they had done that where do you think we'd be playing?

Which is where the problem with a monopoly(and not owning your own ground)lies really.

Think that most problems with clubs going into administration, apart from overspending, are in the seperation of ground and club.

 

[lordsummerisle]

The latter points are just fine; which would also rule out state-participation is stadiums - either directly, or via indirect organisations such as ACL.

One of the issues with this debate has been comparisons against other stadiums where there's council involvement, such as Hull, Ipswich, Peterborough, etc. One local authority will have different priorities with regard redevelopment, and therefore any such comparison is impossible.

And whichever view you take on the £1.3m rent applied to the Ricoh, the reality is that a £30m+ stadium - including financing costs - will cost significantly more than that over a reasonable term. And should a privately owned private company have a right to be funded or subsidised by the 90% of the population who don't go to games?

A situation whereby teams are suppoed to compete equally, and there's such a mixed bag of funding for their primary asset - their home ground - across private ownership, state ownership and various mixtures between simply can't be right in any context

Always tried to avoid the comparisons argument myself, as you say, too many different factors to be taken into consideration for real comparisons to be made.

Would prefer no government(local or otherwise) involvement in grounds anywhere at all, hidden subsidies all over the place, and no level playing field(a bit like Manor Road back in the day!), but then you get into the fact that we wouldn't have a ground to play in if the council hadn't come in at the last moment to complete the project.

That is the time the Football League should have stepped in.

 

[SIR ERNIE]

Good work! I too have been going for the polite and formal anger approach:

I sent this last Monday:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing once again to express my disgust at the way your organisation has mishandled the situation with my club, Coventry City.

In a previous email (from your Customer Services Administrator Amanda Craig, dated 11/07/13) I was told:

"Otium must provide a Performance Bond of £1m with The Football League as an assurance of the club’s commitment to return to the Coventry area. In addition, the Board's approval remains entirely conditional on the Club ultimately exiting administration in accordance with The Football League’s conditions and achieving a successful transfer of its League share. "

Can you please explain to me how Otium still have your board's "approval" now that the CVA was not succesfully signed, and how you can justify the transfer of the League share to them? How have they passed your Fit and Proper Person's Test?

I have previously had contact with Andrew Pomfret and Amanda Craig from your Customer Services team and would like to thank you for taking the time to respond to me, however as an organisation the Football League has an obligation to act far beyond merely replying to fans' emails. Action is needed, not only to save my club, but to save future clubs and restore fans' faith in your power and abilities as an organisation. Don't kid yourselves, you have failed the supporters you claim to represent and there won't be a single person in the Coventry area joining you in celebrating your 125th birthday.

Karl

And then this one just now:

Dear Sir/Madam,

It has now been exactly 1 week since I sent the email below and I have not as yet been given the respect of a reply. Clearly this issue is slipping further and further down your priorities list as you have not even found the time to send a copy & paste response.

To clarify, the questions I seek an answer for are:

1. How can you justify the transfer of the League share to Otium Entertainment?
2. How have Otium passed your Fit and Proper Person's Test?

I would now like to add the following questions to this list:

1. What proof have you received that Coventry City will be returned to a location in Coventry?
2. Should Coventry City not be returned to a location in Coventry then how do you intend to "encourage all parts of the community to enjoy league football by watching matches"?

Yesterday afternoon I joined 7000+ Coventry City fans in attending a Former Players' Association match at the Ricoh Arena, while my team played 35 miles away in Northampton. You now shoulder a huge amount of responsibility for this and as such have an obligation to answer for it.

Happy birthday Football League. I can only wonder what state you will be in another 125 years from now.

Karl

Karl: great post. You are asking the questions that get right to the heart of the question of why SISU are still in charge of our football club. And the only people who can answer that are the FL. The fact of the matter is that according to their own rules, Otium should not now be in charge of the club. I have posted on a NOPM thread that the pressure on the FL needs to be massively increased and I reckon an online petition to the FL signed by thousands and given publicity on SkySports would be something the FL just wouldn't be allowed to ignore when Otium folds and the FL have to go through the process again.

That's our big chance; when Otium folds.

 

[Seymour_East]

As seen on google:

[h=3]Real Football Real Fans | THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE | OFFICIAL SITE[/h]www.football-league.co.uk/‎

May 29, 2013 - Welcome to the OFFICIAL website of The Football League - fixtures results, League tables and live match scores.‎Championship - ‎League 1 - ‎Npower League 2 - ‎Match | Fixtures



Real fans.....so Coventry fans who have made numerous statements about what is going on at your club....maybe we have been sent to.......

 

[ps1948]

As I put in my initial message, the Football League website still shows directions to the Ricoh as our home ground......enough said!