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Petition: Without Fans there is no Football



SkyBlueJim

New member
Feb 6, 2014
3
Hi guys,

Coventry City fan here in peace.

In order to bring to light the problem with football governance in our country we are demanding an enquiry by the government into how it came to be that CCFC are playing their matches 35 miles outside the city.

It would be greatly appreciated if you took 30 seconds to sign the petition. Even better if you could share it. If the petition reaches 100,000 signatures it will have to be considered by government.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/59884


I am posting this after hearing of the crazy state of affairs at LUFC recently.

From what I gather, the person fronting the takeover of their club has both previously been convicted of fraud AND once uprooted an Italian club from one side of the country to the other to play out matches in front of 200 spectators.

What with my club also being owned by a private equity firm I’m not surprised to hear GFH are going ahead with this sale in their own interests and nobody else’s.

I find it appalling that, given everything that has happened with not just my club but many others, the football authorities are considering allowing the takeover at LUFC to go through.

Once again they are failing to prevent outside interests from making a mockery of our game and its heritage.

In order for this petition to be effective us Sky Blues rely on the football community coming together in this time of need. Your help is much appreciated.

(For those not aware of the background to the CCFC situation and wanting to know more, the extract below is as short hand as it gets and is taken from a recent Q&A with ArsenalOnline prior to our cup game at the Emirates).

Many thanks




Most people blame our owners, the Sisu hedge fund, and many people suspect their actions over the last two years are all about trying to get ownership of the Ricoh Arena on the cheap.

The Coventry City saga makes Lord of the Rings look short, but here goes –
• Until the mid 1990s we were well run and solvent
• 1996 a new chairman decided to ‘have a punt’ on success
• 2001 relegated from the Premiership with something like £60 million debt
• 2005 after more crises moved from our Highfield Road ground to the Ricoh Arena as tenants with the Arena owned by ACL (Arena Coventry Limited), a joint venture between Coventry City Council and a local Charity
• 2007 CCFC was taken over by Sisu, a hedge fund
• 2010 with the global financial crisis hitting Sisu hard, Sisu’s owner Joy Seppala took direct control
• 2012 Sisu declared the rent being paid to ACL was too high and stopped paying it
• 2012 Relegated to League 1
• 2013 Sisu declared they are going to build a new stadium in ‘the Coventry area’, but not in the City itself
• 2013 club went into Administration
• 2013 Sisu relocated the club to Northampton, approved by the Football League for a period of 3 to 5 years

• Today – CCFC has been described as a basket-case. Currently:

- The crisis continues to be played out in the courts and media, with the next phase being a Judicial Review Sisu has sought against the Council but that won’t happen for months
- Sisu continue to say they will build a new stadium but have not purchased land, engaged in discussions with planning authorities nor submitted a planning application
- Our owner is so secretive there is no publicly available photo of her so we don’t even know what she looks like
- The vast majority of City fans are boycotting games at Northampton and attendances there are hitting record lows with an average of around 2,000 including visiting fans, but there’s been a massive increase in numbers going to away games
- A generation of new football fans is being lost and the heart is being ripped out of our club
- There is no indication of when, if ever, we will return to Coventry
 






Giraffe

VERY part time moderator
Helpful Moderator
NSC Patreon
Aug 8, 2005
26,453
Done, ridiculous the way some clubs are being run into the ground. The FA and the Government have happily watched clubs being mismanaged for 20 plus years now and have done absolutely nothing.
 














B.W.

New member
Jul 5, 2003
13,666
Done. Suggestion to OP. Draw parallels to the Albion's earlier plight, e.g. 150 mile roundtrip to Gillingham when we were exiled. Might get more Brighton fans to sign!
 












Iggle Piggle

Well-known member
Sep 3, 2010
5,281
Done. As a Brighton fan living in Kenilworth, I see the exact similarities between Coventry's situation and ours in the 1990's. The big difference is that there is a stadium sat there doing nothing (well, the odd concert) whilst the team play at Northampton's tinpot stadium

The FL could have put their foot down more re this move but seem to have rolled over. Even more bizarre when you remember the conditions for our Gillingham exile.
 








SweatyMexican

Well-known member
Mar 31, 2013
4,099
Done :thumbsup:
 






glasfryn

cleaning up cat sick
Nov 29, 2005
20,261
somewhere in Eastbourne
Done. Suggestion to OP. Draw parallels to the Albion's earlier plight, e.g. 150 mile roundtrip to Gillingham when we were exiled. Might get more Brighton fans to sign!

This
and signed
 


Wellesley

Well-known member
Jul 24, 2013
4,973
Thankyou for making me aware of your situation. I would like to inform you that your petition is currently under my consideration and I shall let you know of my decision in due-course.
 



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