Sky Blues leave Alan Higgs Centre training facility after row over unpaid bills (1 Viewer)

Sub · Jul 4, 2013

http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/sky-blues-leave-alan-higgs-4870037

Charity told football club they would have to leave the facility unless they paid more than £12,000 for the maintenance of equipment

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The Alan Higgs Centre
Coventry City appear to have pulled their Academy out of the Alan Higgs Centre for good.

Office equipment has been removed and club signage taken down at the purpose-built Allard Way training facility after a row over unpaid maintenance bills came to a head.
The Centre, which is owned and run by the Alan Higgs Trust, told the football club that they would have to leave the facility unless they paid more than £12,000 for the maintenance of equipment that had been damaged and fallen into disrepair over the last two years.

The Trust say that efforts to recoup those costs have been ignored and that they are now looking at opening up the leisure facility to the community, while the club seek a new base.
The club’s Under-18s are currently training at Ryton but all other age groups, who were due to start training on Monday, are yet to return from their summer break.
City were using the University of Warwick at the tail end of last season when they first moved out of the Higgs Centre and that would appear the most likely alternative although, in the long term, there are concerns that could affect the Academy’s category two status which is subject to various facilities being provided.

“We’ve done ten years as an Academy and now it’s going to be a different life for the building,” conceded Peter Knatchbull-Hugessen, chairman of the Alan Higgs Centre Trust and the man behind building the £11million facility back in 2002 in order for it to house the club’s Academy.
“My sadness is the same as every fan has. The pain that is caused by all of this really can’t be measured. It’s individual people hurting because the club that they love is in such a state.
“Ten years ago the club had no money and was about to lose it’s Academy status so we had to get it up quickly.

Sub · Jul 4, 2013

There was no way any charity was going to give a commercial club money to go and build an academy, so what we did was built a community sports and leisure centre that also had the Academy in it, which was a cost effective way of doing it.
“They got the grass pitches for nothing but they had to maintain them and they used our equipment to do that. These mowers are very expensive bits of kit and the capital cost of the equipment there was £100,000.

“They paid rent for the offices and the all weather pitches they paid a discounted rate because they paid quarterly in advance.
“It couldn’t have been better for them. There’s no capital recovery, no fee for use of pitches and it would have cost them more if they owned it.
“They wouldn’t pay for pitch renovation so they consume and use and don’t pay, and as a charity, which is what The Higgs is, that can’t go on. I don’t understand; presumably they know what they are doing.”

The Trust have always maintained their original agreement of use was with CCFC Ltd, the company currently in administration, and insisted that City were in breach of that agreement when they said the Academy came under the remit of CCFC Holdings
“We had an agreement with Ltd and not Holdings and they breached that by suddenly saying it’s Holdings you are dealing with,” said Knatchbull-Hugessen who explained that affected the Centre’s insurance cover for players using the facilities.

“People coming out of the Academy all have potential to be professional players and any injuries or accidents sustained by them could be quite serious in terms of cost of compensation, therefore it was absolutely vital we had the proper insurance.
“Therefore to ensure the insurance was valid we made sure that the same company we had the agreement with employed the people and would insure the people, otherwise we would be open to all sorts of liability. But we found that actually, without telling us, they had changed all that. One of the things we would have had to do was get it all back and regularise it.”

Sub · Jul 4, 2013

He added: “The equipment that they used was ours and they were meant to maintain it but they had done no maintenance for two years so the machinery was just collapsing. The sticking point, though, was when they said ‘well it’s Ltd that owe you that money.”
So what now for the Higgs Centre?
“We are not going to sit and brood, we will look at what the facility can do for the wider population of Coventry,” said Knatchbull-Hugessen who revealed that the Centre will still welcome Dave Busst and the Sky Blues in the Community.

“We are now looking very hard at how that facility can best be used for the benefit of people in Coventry on two levels.
“Firstly the local area of Whitley, Stoke Aldermoor, Ernesford, Binley and Willenhall, and on a larger scale, how it fits into the provision of sports for the city as a whole.
“Our groundsman, John Ledwidge, is working on the pitches to bring them back to standard and we aim to see how that facility can work best for all clubs across Coventry without upsetting the balances that are around, because putting that sort of facility straight into a first come first served basis would not really be the best way of meeting everyone’s needs.

“So Paul Breed from Coventry Sports Foundation is looking at it and it may be that some of the bits that have been used for football in the past cease to be used for football.
Hockey, athletics and even a swimming pool are thought to be among the options being considered.
“That’s all in the mix because we have to see how it can best benefit as many people as possible and needs to fit in the overall strategy for provision in the city,” he said.
“It’s a bit like when people open lots of fitness centres. There are only so many people who need them and if you have a great glut of them none of their attendances are good enough to keep them going so some of them go out of business. That’s a chaotic situation so what we need to do is use Paul’s expertise and oversight to make sure that facility is put to the best possible use.
“Now that the football club are departing it means – taking your Sky Blue hat off – it will be 100 per cent used for the community, and it’s great to have a facility like that.”

covcity4life · Jul 4, 2013

sadness continues

The Penguin · Jul 4, 2013

Hah, taking our bat and ball and going home over 12 000 quid.

I'm almost speechless :facepalm::facepalm:

Sub · Jul 4, 2013

awfull news this the club is being ruined from top to bottom and the FA / FL just stand by and let it happen absolute disgrace !!

ccfcmad1 · Jul 4, 2013

might sound sad from a grown man but actualy feel like i could cry the C**ts are destroying us bit by bit and all we can do is watch

sweeno70 · Jul 4, 2013

and still people will defend our owners !!!

The Penguin · Jul 4, 2013

Sub said:
awfull news this the club is being ruined from top to bottom and the FA / FL just stand by and let it happen absolute disgrace !!

What do they care? As long as there's eleven blokes to fulfill fixtures they don't give two shits.

Sub · Jul 4, 2013

they have 30 million for a new stadium outside coventry and nearly half a million to pay for a administrator but not 12,000 quid for bills on equipment they have used :facepalm::facepalm:

Sub · Jul 4, 2013

The Penguin said:
What do they care? As long as there's eleven blokes to fulfill fixtures they don't give two shits.

they might not care but they are the ones that will decide our future!

Danceswithhorses · Jul 4, 2013

SISU screwing over a charity for £12000...just how low are these sub humans ?

Spionkop · Jul 4, 2013

PKH sounded almost lost for words on CWR earlier today. I'm not surprised. SISU had a brilliant facility and like everything else they wanted something for nothing. It reminds me of that 'share' thing when they had just taken over. Fans were asked to hand them over or the takeover wouldn't happen - it should have set the alarm bells ringing.
Another calamity today. How bad can it get?
PKH didn't seem to have an answer.

BrisbaneBronco · Jul 4, 2013

sweeno70 said:
and still people will defend our owners !!!

That's what annoys me.
Lets all get on the SISU train to Sixfields

Unfuckinbelievable.

wingy · Jul 4, 2013

I don't think any barr about 1% are defending the owner ,Its more that they just cannot see carrying on Is more harmful than not.:thinking about:

James Smith · Jul 4, 2013

So we've now left a facility that was purpose built to such a high standard for us by the charity, so not content with screwing over the current squad by moving to a tiny ground so FFP really bites us, we're also doing it to the future squad - Brilliant :facepalm:
Or are we moving to Category one facilities?

Brighton Sky Blue · Jul 4, 2013

James Smith said:
So we've now left a facility that was purpose built to such a high standard for us by the charity, so not content with screwing over the current squad by moving to a tiny ground so FFP really bites us, we're also doing it to the future squad - Brilliant :facepalm:
Or are we moving to Category one facilities?

Warwick Uni has been mooted I believe.

James Smith · Jul 4, 2013

Brighton Sky Blue said:
Warwick Uni has been mooted I believe.

So no, not category one then :facepalm::facepalm: I feel sorry for the Charity, must be wondering why they bothered in the first place now. Still an asset to the local community though looking on the brighter side.

Brighton Sky Blue · Jul 4, 2013

James Smith said:
So no, not category one then :facepalm::facepalm: I feel sorry for the Charity, must be wondering why they bothered in the first place now. Still an asset to the local community though looking on the brighter side.

This is barely a football club and won't be in Coventry. At least 'shitty' is kind of close to 'city' though.

lordsummerisle · Jul 4, 2013

Isn;t this exactly the same story as from months ago?

PWKH being a bit disingenuous, think that the club offered to pay through Holdings, but Higgs insisting on being paid through Ltd, which is of course in administration now, so not at all sure how that is supposed to happen?
From what I remember they didn't even send an invoice for the £12,000.

There are many, many things that Sisu can be done down for, they are a disaster, but overegging the pudding a bit on this one.

This is from before:

http://www.skybluestalk.co.uk/threads/29474-Rioch-calls-out-Higgs-PWKH?highlight=higgs+centre

Evo1883 · Jul 4, 2013

fact is they are a charity , they are owed 12,000 which is alot of money so anybody making out that they can do without is a prat.also the higgs trust has been good for ccfc and provide cracking facilities , more fails from SISU ,when will it end:facepalm:

lordsummerisle · Jul 4, 2013

CraigSBA said:
fact is they are a charity , they are owed 12,000 which is alot of money so anybody making out that they can do without is a prat.also the higgs trust has been good for ccfc and provide cracking facilities , more fails from SISU ,when will it end:facepalm:

PWKH seems to think that they can do without by not invoicing it or accepting any payment from anybody except a company that is in administration.

Think that the rental was always paid up front quarterly, and as far as I'm aware, never any arrears on that.

DazzleTommyDazzle · Jul 4, 2013

lordsummerisle said:
PWKH seems to think that they can do without by not invoicing it or accepting any payment from anybody except a company that is in administration.

Think that the rental was always paid up front quarterly, and as far as I'm aware, never any arrears on that.

Don't want to misrepresent what you're saying - but is it that you believe that SISU (to use a generic term for the companies) have made all reasonable efforts to pay the Higgs all amounts that are reasonably due, but that the Higgs are/have manufactured spurious reasons to avoid receiving the money?

sw88 · Jul 4, 2013

Do Northampton have an academy? Maybe we could share with them :thinking about:

lordsummerisle · Jul 4, 2013

DazzleTommyDazzle said:
Don't want to misrepresent what you're saying - but is it that you believe that SISU (to use a generic term for the companies) have made all reasonable efforts to pay the Higgs all amounts that are reasonably due, but that the Higgs are/have manufactured spurious reasons to avoid receiving the money?

From before it does seem that, and even in his own words today looks like he won't take money if it's from holdings, only from Ltd, which as i think we all know is still in administration.

“They paid rent for the offices and the all weather pitches they paid a discounted rate because they paid quarterly in advance.
“It couldn’t have been better for them. There’s no capital recovery, no fee for use of pitches and it would have cost them more if they owned it.
“They wouldn’t pay for pitch renovation so they consume and use and don’t pay, and as a charity, which is what The Higgs is, that can’t go on. I don’t understand; presumably they know what they are doing.”

"The Trust have always maintained their original agreement of use was with CCFC Ltd, the company currently in administration, and insisted that City were in breach of that agreement when they said the Academy came under the remit of CCFC Holdings"

Sky Blue Pete · Jul 4, 2013

lordsummerisle said:
PWKH seems to think that they can do without by not invoicing it or accepting any payment from anybody except a company that is in administration.

Think that the rental was always paid up front quarterly, and as far as I'm aware, never any arrears on that.

Ochums razor! Sisu or Higgs? Who on earth should we believe? Let me think? One the charity run to assist the opportunities for local children or Sisu holdings that buy businesses chop them up and sell them on for profits??? Um ..............

James Smith · Jul 4, 2013

lordsummerisle said:
PWKH seems to think that they can do without by not invoicing it or accepting any payment from anybody except a company that is in administration.

Think that the rental was always paid up front quarterly, and as far as I'm aware, never any arrears on that.

I can understand the insurance bit completely...

first post/PWKH said:
“We had an agreement with Ltd and not Holdings and they breached that by suddenly saying it’s Holdings you are dealing with,” said Knatchbull-Hugessen who explained that affected the Centre’s insurance cover for players using the facilities.

We just had an internal auditor round recently and as a result of that we have had a new notice up explaining that we are covered for employer liability or some such thing. Specifically mentions which company we are I assume for the avoidance of any doubt, also had to have no smoking signs despite no one being a smoker etc. There is also one explaining that we are covered for buildings and contents, and if we had another shop or business use part of our premesis, we would have to change that to reflect the other business.

I can also see that they might have been pissed off by the tactics SISU have employed and there might be an element of "work to rule" in this.

SkyblueBazza · Jul 4, 2013

lordsummerisle said:
PWKH seems to think that they can do without by not invoicing it or accepting any payment from anybody except a company that is in administration.

Think that the rental was always paid up front quarterly, and as far as I'm aware, never any arrears on that.

Some things dawn on us after a while...maybe they rejected payment from anyone other than CCFC Ltd as at that time they would have simply been adding credibility to Holdings claim to be the club. And now maintaining that stance perhaps for the greater good in the long term.

letsallsingtogether · Jul 4, 2013

At the end of the day they seem to hate everything Coventry and want to destroy us if they do buy the Brandon site then they will destroy another sports club in the City that people have supported for decades, but yes people will still go it a fucking disgrace,,,,,,,,,, Need to wake up because one day they will have took it all away

lordsummerisle · Jul 4, 2013

SkyblueBazza said:
Some things dawn on us after a while...maybe they rejected payment from anyone other than CCFC Ltd as at that time they would have simply been adding credibility to Holdings claim to be the club. And now maintaining that stance perhaps for the greater good in the long term.

Rejecting payment but at the same time pulling the "We're a poor charity" line and saying that they are owed £12,000 just looks more like point scoring than legitimate.

letsallsingtogether · Jul 4, 2013

Look at the End of the day Sisu don't like paying just look at the history stick up for them all you want they are just Scum.................................:blue::blue::blue:

lordsummerisle said:
Rejecting payment but at the same time pulling the "We're a poor charity" line and saying that they are owed £12,000 just looks more like point scoring than legitimate.

lordsummerisle · Jul 4, 2013

letsallsingtogether said:
Look at the End of the day Sisu don't like paying just look at the history stick up for them all you want they are just Scum.................................:blue::blue::blue:

Not particularly sticking up for them, just that PWKH is being disingenuous on this one, they have always been paid upfront for the Academy rental(as he says himself), they haven't been paid for the £12,000 "damages" because he refuses to get paid by Holdings as the contract is with Ltd which is in administration(as he says himself).

He could of course just have taken the money from Holdings(or Gregor Rioch who offered to pay it himself), and don't really know why he would deny a charity the £12,000 on spurious insurance grounds especially as they aren't actually using the Higgs Centre at the moment.

Still, it plays well to the gallery.

skybluehugh · Jul 4, 2013

ccfcmad1 said:
might sound sad from a grown man but actualy feel like i could cry the C**ts are destroying us bit by bit and all we can do is watch

I know just how you feel, every time I look on here or read the telegraph email it just gets worse and worse. I really do not know how there will be any club called Coventry City playing anywhere at the halfway point of next season

bigfatronssba · Jul 4, 2013

lordsummerisle said:
Not particularly sticking up for them, just that PWKH is being disingenuous on this one, they have always been paid upfront for the Academy rental(as he says himself), they haven't been paid for the £12,000 "damages" because he refuses to get paid by Holdings as the contract is with Ltd which is in administration(as he says himself).

He could of course just have taken the money from Holdings(or Gregor Rioch who offered to pay it himself), and don't really know why he would deny a charity the £12,000 on spurious insurance grounds especially as they aren't actually using the Higgs Centre at the moment.

Still, it plays well to the gallery.

Why doesn't holdings give the money to Ltd to pay the bill then?

skybluehugh · Jul 4, 2013

lordsummerisle said:
From before it does seem that, and even in his own words today looks like he won't take money if it's from holdings, only from Ltd, which as i think we all know is still in administration.

“They paid rent for the offices and the all weather pitches they paid a discounted rate because they paid quarterly in advance.
“It couldn’t have been better for them. There’s no capital recovery, no fee for use of pitches and it would have cost them more if they owned it.
“They wouldn’t pay for pitch renovation so they consume and use and don’t pay, and as a charity, which is what The Higgs is, that can’t go on. I don’t understand; presumably they know what they are doing.”

"The Trust have always maintained their original agreement of use was with CCFC Ltd, the company currently in administration, and insisted that City were in breach of that agreement when they said the Academy came under the remit of CCFC Holdings"

They also said The equipment that they used was ours and they were meant to maintain it but they had done no maintenance for two years so the machinery was just collapsing. The sticking point, though, was when they said ‘well it’s Ltd that owe you that money.

So the trust put in a bill and were told to sod off, way to go owners

Sky Blues leave Alan Higgs Centre training facility after row over unpaid bills (1 Viewer)

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