Saving Coventry City

Unite Community Coventry and Warwickshire branch members have thrown their weight behind a campaign to rescue the beleaguered Coventry City Football Club (FC).

The branch has organised the screening of a new documentary on the club’s loyal followers and a panel discussion on Coventry City FC’s future that will bring together supporter groups, local politicians, the media and other interested parties.

Coventry City FC has been owned by the Mayfair-based Sisu hedge-fund for nine years, a tenure which has seen the side’s fortunes go from bad to worse.

Supporters have accused Sisu of asset stripping the club, a claim the firm denies.

Unite Community Coventry and Warwickshire branch secretary, Carl Jerromes, said, “If things carry on as they are Coventry City will be in danger of going out of business. The club has been driven into the ground and we want to see Sisu in front of a Parliamentary select committee answering questions about their role.”

When Sisu took over in 2007, the former Premier League club was in the second tier of English football, with ambitions to return to the top flight. But under Sisu ownership the club has spent five years in the third division, where it currently sits at the bottom of the table.

In less than a decade the club has gone through seven managers and 17 board members. The side spent a year exiled from it’s own ground because of continuing legal proceedings over Sisu’s claim’s on the Ricoh Arena. The arena used to be owned by the Higgs Charity and Coventry City Council but has subsequently been bought by the Wasps rugby union club.

Under Sisu, Coventry City has been starved of effective investment and, to make matters worse, the future of the side’s academy is under threat and it’s training ground is set to become a housing estate.

Jerromes said, “In fairness to the hedge-fund, Coventry City were in trouble before they bought it, but things have worsened dramatically since then. There’s a feeling that Sisu came in, without giving a jot about the heritage of the club, and tried to make a quick buck by getting their hands on the stadium. That hasn’t happened and now they’re stuck and they seem to have no interest in investing in the club.”

The ultimate aim, said Arley, is for Coventry City to come under new ownership.

He explained, “In the future the plan – if we can get rid of the current owners – is to have part supporter ownership. The bigger picture is that there should be more supporter influence in the way clubs are run, because football clubs stand for more than just money. What’s happened to Coventry City could happen to any club, especially those that aren’t in the Premier League.”

Head of Unite Community, Liane Groves, praised the efforts of Coventry and Warwickshire branch.

She said, “Local football teams are a cornerstone of communities up and down the country, but time and again we see that the interests of ordinary fans are overruled by big business.  “It’s brilliant that the Coventry and Warwickshire branch are working to bring together the different groups who have a stake in ensuring that Coventry City FC has a viable future. Their work showcases how the union’s organisational skills can be used to help further causes that are of benefit to local communities.”

The documentary, Things Fall Apart, which focuses on Coventry City’s yearlong exile to Northampton Town’s Sixfield Stadium, will be screened at The Goldstein Lecture Theatre, Coventry University, at 6.25pm on Thursday June 29. A panel discussion will take place after the film.

For more information please contact Carl Jerromes at cjarley1508@gmail.com.