COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Coventry City's High Court hearing in London has been put back for four days.

Along with owners Sisu, the promotion-chasing League One club were due in court on Friday to face the threat of an administration order.

The application, from Arena Coventry Limited, City's Ricoh Arena landlords, claims that they are owed unpaid rent of £1.3m stretching back a year.

But the hearing has now been adjourned and is now not due to be heard until next Tuesday (26 March).

The delay is due to legal teams wanting to analyse the repercussions of a non-operating subsidiary of the club having been put into administration on Thursday evening, it was announced by Coventry City Football Club Holdings.

A club spokesman said on Thursday: "It is important to stress that the football club itself is not under threat.

"This is merely a property subsidiary which owns no material assets and has no employees, on or off the pitch.

"The club can confirm that all staff wages, PAYE and all other creditor commitments will continue to be met as before by Coventry City Football Club Holdings.

"Unlike other instances of clubs being taken either wholly or partially into administration, there are no HMRC or VAT implications and the football club will continue to trade as normal without interruption.

"Our main objective now is to remain competitive on the pitch and give Steven Pressley and the playing staff our full backing and commitment."

The Sky Blues stand within one victory of the League One play-off places having picked up seven points out of a possible nine under new boss Pressley.

But, if ACL succeed and the club as a whole is deemed to have gone into administration, City would then face a 10-point deduction, which would immediately scupper their bid to return to the Championship at the first attempt.

No statement from ACL will be made at present.

London High Court hearing adjourned again

Coventry City's High Court hearing in London has been adjourned again.

City were due in court last Friday to face an administration order from Ricoh Arena landlords Arena Coventry Limited, over a year's unpaid rent of £1.3m.

But, having first been adjourned until Tuesday, the scheduled 10:00 GMT start time has now been put back to 14:00 GMT after ACL withdrew their application to place the club in administration.

ACL manage the Ricoh Arena on behalf of the stadium's joint-owners.

Coventry City Council own a share of the 32,000-capacity ground, along with the Alan Edward Higgs Charity, who have been made an offer for their share by the Sky Blues' latest prospective owner, US-born global businessman Preston Haskell IV.

The hearing was originally adjourned to allow the respective legal teams to analyse the repercussions of Coventry City Football Club Ltd, the non-operating subsidiary company that held the lease and licence for the Ricoh Arena, going into administration last Thursday evening.

The League One club say that Coventry City Football Club Ltd is just a property subsidiary, with no assets of its own.

But the court hearing should decide whether this subsidiary still owns the Golden Share, which guarantees membership of the Football League.

If it has not been transferred to Coventry City Football Club (Holdings) Ltd, then the whole club would be at risk of being placed in administration.

The club are understood to have been in talks with the Football League, arguing their case for not being docked the statutory 10 points.

Coventry currently stand five points adrift of the League One play-off places but, if ACL succeed with their application and the club as a whole is deemed to have gone into administration, a 10-point deduction would immediately halt their bid to return to the Championship at the first attempt.

Reports have suggested that Coventry might still try to resolve the ongoing rent row by playing home games away from the Ricoh Arena, their base since 2005 when they left Highfield Road, their home for the previous 106 years. And the club took the decision to empty their offices and shop on Friday afternoon.

...the club took the decision to empty their offices and shop on Friday afternoon.

Coventry City to be docked 10 points after High Court hearing

Crisis club Coventry City are facing an automatic 10-point deduction from the Football League after being ruled to be "in administration" following Tuesday's High Court hearing in London.

"An administrator has been appointed," said James Powell, from solicitors Walker Morris, acting on behalf of Arena Coventry Limited.

"That never sounds great." he told BBC Coventry & Warwickshire.

"But it is probably good as it will provide stability for the club."

City had been taken to court to face an administration order from ACL, their Ricoh Arena landlords, over a year's unpaid rent of £1.3m.

The hearing, originally scheduled for Friday, had been adjourned to allow the respective legal teams to analyse the repercussions of Coventry City Football Club Ltd, the non-operating subsidiary company that held the lease and licence for the Ricoh Arena, going into administration last Thursday evening.

The League One club's owners Sisu claim that Coventry City Football Club Ltd is just a property subsidiary, with no assets of its own.

But the court hearing decided that is this subsidiary which owns the Golden Share, which guarantees membership of the Football League - and that effectively meant that they could not avoid being docked the statutory 10 points.

"You have got to look at what state the club was in," added ACL representative Powell. "Our client was getting increasingly concerned that this could end up with the club going into liquidation and then the club would have disappeared.

"The barrister for the administrators even said it was 'a catastrophic insolvency', so you have to ask the question of how it got to that point in the first place.

"That sounds bad but in actual fact it is good and the club may now be able to find a purchaser."

Following ACL's action earlier in the day, Sky Blues chief executive Tim Fisher said: "I acknowledge that ACL has now accepted that it must withdraw its administration application from the High Court notwithstanding the fact that this was an unwelcome and unnecessary distraction.

"I hope all parties will now focus on re-establishing a constructive dialogue for the good of the club and football in Coventry.

"We would like to ensure that Coventry City Football Club can, in the first instance, continue to play its remaining home matches this season at the Ricoh Arena."

Reports had been suggesting that Coventry might still try to resolve the ongoing rent row by playing home games away from the Ricoh Arena, their base since 2005 when they left Highfield Road, their home for the previous 106 years.

And the club took the decision to empty their offices and shop on Friday afternoon.

But their first concern is awaiting official ratification of a 10-point deduction that immediately halts their bid to return to the Championship at the first attempt.

Coventry stood just five points adrift of the League One play-off places on Tuesday morning, but will now drop five places to 15th, once the 10-point penalty has been applied.