Coventry City defaults on £100,000 Ricoh Arena rent

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Coventry City have defaulted on the rent for using the Ricoh Arena.



The Telegraph understands the Sky Blues are in arrears over last month’s £100,000 rent to Arena Coventry Ltd (ACL).

The non-payment comes after the football club complained its £1.2million annual rent for the stadium was too high.

The Telegraph also understands that the rent may have been withheld to try to force new talks over the payments.

The Ricoh is owned jointly by Coventry City Council and the Alan Higgs Trust, but run by ACL.

Hedge fund Sisu, which owns the club, has often stated its desire to own the 32,609-seater stadium.

The issue has been a bone of contention for a number of years – with the council insisting its stake in the Ricoh is not for sale.

Council leader John Mutton said yesterday: “I don’t think the future looks very promising for the football club.

"I haven’t really got details I can go in to, but if there has been a default, I think Arena Coventry Ltd will do what we would do with any other business in a similar position. That is issue a notice and demand payment.”

News of the arrears comes after a miserable Easter weekend which saw the Sky Blues drop in to the Championship relegation zone.

Monday’s 3-1 defeat at fellow strugglers Bristol City saw them leapfrogged in their battle against the drop – and four points adrift.

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Players wages to blame for Coventry City money woes not rent, say ACL

WAGES are the biggest cause of Coventry City’s financial difficulties not the Ricoh Arena rent, according to the head of the company running the stadium.

ACL - the company that runs the Ricoh - are staying tight-lipped on the non-payment but insist that the Sky Blues' highly paid players are the reason for the club's ongoing financial woes.

David Allvey, chairman of Arena Coventry Ltd, said: “We have no comment to make because this is a private matter.

“It has never been our policy to discuss commercially sensitive business within the public domain.

"However as we have previously stated, the rent paid by the football club is not its biggest issue.

"Its rent is only five per cent of the club’s cost base and its biggest single issue remains the wages paid to players.

"We have worked hard with the club’s owners and board of directors to continue to help them to resolve their financial difficulties and that will not change.”

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Coventry City will not be offered cheaper rent option for Ricoh Arena, says council

HOPES of a financial lifeline for the relegated Sky Blues through lower rent payments for the council-owned Ricoh Arena appear in tatters today.

Coventry City Council leader Coun John Mutton, speaking to the Telegraph, poured cold water on Sky Blues’ chief executive Tim Fisher’s hopes for a renegotiation of rent to management company Arena Coventry Limited (ACL) – which is jointly owned by the council and Alan Higgs Charity, and has a long lease on the council-owned stadium site.

The council’s leader also indicated any hope of the deficit-ridden Sky Blues buying a stake in the stadium and its profit-making commercial activities remained extremely unlikely.

Mr Fisher – speaking on Saturday evening after Coventry City Football Club suffered a further multi-million pound financial blow by being relegated to the third tier of English football for the first time in 48 years – confirmed the club had not paid its £100,000 rent this month.

In outlining a draft financial plan to “bounce back” to the Championship to be put to the club’s owners, London-based private equity firm Sisu, Mr Fisher added: “As part of our planning and of understanding what our finances are, the rent is not currently affordable. That’s a fact.

“However, the discussions we’ve had with ACL, the council and Higgs Charity have been constructive. I’m hoping there will be some flexibility there.”

But Labour council leader Mutton, a Sky Blues fan of 57 years, renewed his public attack on unpopular owners Sisu, and said the council would expect the full rent to be paid.

He said: “There have been talks, not negotiations, which are nothing to do with the council. It’s been an ACL thing. I was with the chairman of ACL David Allvey on Saturday. I’m advised that while work is still ongoing to enable ACL to make more profit which may be able to benefit the football club, there has been no discussion about decreasing rent.

“There is a legally binding contract and that would be expected to be paid.

“If for certain reasons there is future negotiation, that would be a decision for the full council to take as a shareholder as to whether we would be prepared to accept that.

“At the moment, there seems to be more threats than negotiation – the threat to put the club into liquidation. It really is time for Sisu to realise Coventry doesn’t bow at the knee to threats.”

Asked about any prospect for future negotiations about the football club buying into the stadium, he said: “It’s public money that went into building the Ricoh Arena, and public money for us to remain a 50per cent shareholder.

“It’s not for the public purse to subsidise organisations like SISU.

“The council’s 50 per cent for the foreseeable future is not for sale and possibly never will be.

“The purpose of the investment into the former Foleshill gasworks site was to regenerate that north-east area of Coventry and create jobs.

“If any organisation or individual came forward that would not only invest in Coventry City Football Club but in the land around it, building the hotels and so on, we probably would not stand in the way of them purchasing the 50 per cent which the Higgs Charity owns.

“There is every possibility the council would not use its powers of veto as long as they could make an agreement with the Higgs Charity. They’ve been good partners since 2002 when the decision was made to build the Ricoh.

“We would have to make certain it’s not just words, and that they would invest in infrastructure and jobs.”

He said that would remain the council’s position in the event of any takeover of the Sky Blues, for example by any future consortium led by former Sky Blues directors Joe Elliott and Gary Hoffman.

Of Coventry City’s relegation, he said: “I was at the match on Saturday. Throughout the season I don’t think many people could criticise the players for effort, but I didn’t see a lot of it on Saturday. It seemed they had accepted they were down and that it was no longer in their hands.

“I blame Sisu. When the fans were chanting ‘SISU out’ I was on my feet singing it with them.

“Sisu have destroyed the club I’ve supported for 57 years, since I was seven. They’ve sold the best players or let them leave on free transfers to reduce the wage bill. They let the whole spine of the team go.

“They don’t give a damn about the football club or the city. They simply saw it as a way to make money. The sooner they go, the better.”

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Coventry City confirm talks with council bosses over Ricoh rent

COUNCIL leaders have met Coventry City owners Sisu over its ongoing rent dispute.

The football club hailed Tuesday’s “highly constructive” meeting with Coventry City Council.

Coventry City Council leader John Mutton had backed Arena Coventry Ltd’s demand for payment.

He said: “We need to find a way forward for them because they are quite desperate”.

“Sisu recognise that the rent is only a minor issue in the bigger picture.”

It follows claims any cut in rent would reduce ACL dividends potentially available to the council - and be seen as taxpayers bailing out Sisu’s shareholders.

Councillor Kevin Foster, Coventry’s Conservative party leader, said: “The Ricoh is an asset for the taxpayer.

“If Sisu were just given it, it would just go to service debt and we wouldn’t see a penny going towards players and the club.

“But I think the council has to be realistic and hard line rhetoric isn’t going to get us anywhere.

“How far are we willing to push this if the club can’t pay? If the club goes bankrupt how much is that contract going to be worth?”

The club issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon, saying the meeting was part of the "extensive work" being done to restructure the club's finances after its relegation to League One.

It stated: "As part of this process, representatives, including SISU's Joy Seppala, held a highly constructive meeting with Coventry City Council Leader, John Mutton, Deputy Leader, George Duggins, and Chief Executive, Martin Reeves to discuss the club's tenancy at the Ricoh Arena and to explore different options for moving forward.

"The club has committed to providing the City Council with further details of its plans for next season and discussions with the City Council are expected to continue over the course of the next week."

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Coventry City withhold Ricoh Arena rent for second month

A DISPUTE between Coventry City and the owners of the Ricoh Arena could result in “mutual destruction” unless the club’s rent is cut, the Sky Blues’ chief executive has warned.

Tim Fisher issued the stark warning as the football club withheld its £100,000 rent from Arena Coventry Ltd (ACL) for a second month running.

The rent default has sparked a fierce debate about the club’s future after the Sky Blues were relegated to the third tier of English football for the first time in 48 years.

The club wants to lower its £1.2 million annual rent and access other stadium revenues such as matchday food and drink sales.

The 32,609-capacity venue is owned by Coventry City Council and charity the Alan Higgs Trust, but run by ACL.

Responding to claims the club is deliberately in breach of its contract, Mr Fisher said: “If this is what it takes to focus people’s minds to ensure that the football club and the Ricoh Arena both move to a mutually beneficial position – then I will do it.

“Going down to League One will mean the revenue will crash down. Suddenly the rent becomes a big number.

“This isn’t a case of us saying ‘we’re not paying it’.

"There has to be detailed discussions about what access to revenues the club should have and whether it’s achievable without breaking the ACL model.”