Sky Blues In Administration Again
Coventry Evening Telegraph 1st April 2014
Already relegated Coventry City are likely to be deducted 10 points next season by the Football League after Otium, the company that owns the club entered administration yesterday.
Paul Appleton, who acted for the owners of the club when it was last in administration, has again been appointed administrator. Appleton says that he will listen to all bids for the club before he makes his decision to hand it back to another SISU company, Diddleum, which was registered just last month in Somalia.
A spokesperson at SISU’s new head office in Peckham said owner Ms Joy Seppala was unavailable for comment as “she is on a working holiday in Nigeria”.
The club, who last year agreed a deal to ground share at Northampton's Sixfields Stadium for three seasons, have been struggling all season in front of some the lowest crowds ever witnessed for Football League matches.
Last week, they parted company with their ninth manager of the season, Ken Dulieu. An ex chief executive of the club, Dulieu made a surprise return last month but was unable to lift the Sky Blues from off the bottom of the table. His three games as manager all ended in defeat.
As Dulieu was the only remaining member of the coaching staff, managerial duties for the remaining games of the season have been taken over by the most senior member of the current playing squad, 19 year old Jordan Willis.
The club have also to secure a ground to play their last three matches of the season having departed Sixfields after a dispute over rent. Northampton chairman, David Cardoza, said Coventry have refused to pay any rent since last September claiming it was too high and that they had no access to profits from food, drink and other stadium income. “We did offer them a rent reduction and the entire profit from the three pies that are sold for their home matches, but they insist on having access to our gate receipts”.
Otium’s chief executive, Tim Fisher, who is also chief executive of Diddleum, has said that the club had no option but to leave Sixfields.
"Without accessing all the revenues from a stadium there isn't a snowball's chance in hell of becoming a sustainable business and that is the problem
“There is a real risk that the football club just spirals down and down. Unless you get to a sustainable business model, there is absolutely no way this club will ever pick up.”
He revealed that they are in negotiations with three clubs in the East Midlands about the possibility of ground sharing next season and that they are closing in on a deal for a new stadium.
Fisher, who plans to bring a fan on board for full consultation, added: "The model is Evesham United’s stadium, it's a great stadium. It's modular so it grows as the club grows.
"Attendance? Around 2,000 and I will argue that 2,000 is enough. Then if things go well over time, it grows.
Also, it will have a car park and this is where the real value is. The income from monthly boot fairs and release fees to unclamp illegally parked cars will help us with FFP”.
A season ticket holder, who did not wish to be named, said that he would welcome the move. “Sixfields had become like a morgue, so it is a good idea to move to a more compact stadium. It was the lack of atmosphere and the unreasonable demands for rent by Northampton that led to our relegation this year”.
A deal to return to the Ricoh Arena has been ruled out as this is now the home ground of a new club founded by the fans and a consortium of local businessmen led by Gary Hoffman. The new club, which has the backing of Sky Blues legend and new President, John Sillett and all members of the former players association, has so far sold 4,000 season tickets for their first season in the Midland Combination.
Coventry Evening Telegraph 1st April 2014
Already relegated Coventry City are likely to be deducted 10 points next season by the Football League after Otium, the company that owns the club entered administration yesterday.
Paul Appleton, who acted for the owners of the club when it was last in administration, has again been appointed administrator. Appleton says that he will listen to all bids for the club before he makes his decision to hand it back to another SISU company, Diddleum, which was registered just last month in Somalia.
A spokesperson at SISU’s new head office in Peckham said owner Ms Joy Seppala was unavailable for comment as “she is on a working holiday in Nigeria”.
The club, who last year agreed a deal to ground share at Northampton's Sixfields Stadium for three seasons, have been struggling all season in front of some the lowest crowds ever witnessed for Football League matches.
Last week, they parted company with their ninth manager of the season, Ken Dulieu. An ex chief executive of the club, Dulieu made a surprise return last month but was unable to lift the Sky Blues from off the bottom of the table. His three games as manager all ended in defeat.
As Dulieu was the only remaining member of the coaching staff, managerial duties for the remaining games of the season have been taken over by the most senior member of the current playing squad, 19 year old Jordan Willis.
The club have also to secure a ground to play their last three matches of the season having departed Sixfields after a dispute over rent. Northampton chairman, David Cardoza, said Coventry have refused to pay any rent since last September claiming it was too high and that they had no access to profits from food, drink and other stadium income. “We did offer them a rent reduction and the entire profit from the three pies that are sold for their home matches, but they insist on having access to our gate receipts”.
Otium’s chief executive, Tim Fisher, who is also chief executive of Diddleum, has said that the club had no option but to leave Sixfields.
"Without accessing all the revenues from a stadium there isn't a snowball's chance in hell of becoming a sustainable business and that is the problem
“There is a real risk that the football club just spirals down and down. Unless you get to a sustainable business model, there is absolutely no way this club will ever pick up.”
He revealed that they are in negotiations with three clubs in the East Midlands about the possibility of ground sharing next season and that they are closing in on a deal for a new stadium.
Fisher, who plans to bring a fan on board for full consultation, added: "The model is Evesham United’s stadium, it's a great stadium. It's modular so it grows as the club grows.
"Attendance? Around 2,000 and I will argue that 2,000 is enough. Then if things go well over time, it grows.
Also, it will have a car park and this is where the real value is. The income from monthly boot fairs and release fees to unclamp illegally parked cars will help us with FFP”.
A season ticket holder, who did not wish to be named, said that he would welcome the move. “Sixfields had become like a morgue, so it is a good idea to move to a more compact stadium. It was the lack of atmosphere and the unreasonable demands for rent by Northampton that led to our relegation this year”.
A deal to return to the Ricoh Arena has been ruled out as this is now the home ground of a new club founded by the fans and a consortium of local businessmen led by Gary Hoffman. The new club, which has the backing of Sky Blues legend and new President, John Sillett and all members of the former players association, has so far sold 4,000 season tickets for their first season in the Midland Combination.