COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

The meeting comes as the future of Coventry City remains uncertain with its deal to play at the Ricoh Arena due to expire



The Football League has agreed to meet a Coventry MP after she criticised their response to the Telegraph’s questions over the future of Coventry City.

Officials from the Football League will meet Labour Coventry North East MP Colleen Fletcher after she said the organisation’s response to the situation at CCFC was “not good enough” after it refused to answer questions about the club’s future posed by the Telegraph.

The football club’s deal to play at the Ricoh Arena expires at the end of next season and there are fears the club could end up playing outside of the city again unless an extension can be agreed.

Stadium landlords Wasps have pulled out of talks over a new deal citing the “distraction” of legal action by Coventry City owners Sisu over the Ricoh Arena .

There is also no publicly available evidence of progress on plans for a potential new stadium for CCFC talked about by club officials since 2013 when then club chief executive Tim Fisher told fans the vision was that it would be “designed and delivered” within three years.

Mrs Fletcher will meet with Football League bosses on Thursday, October 13 - two days after a debate over the situation at Coventry City will be held by MPs in Westminster. That debate has been organised by Coventry South MP Jim Cunningham .

Mrs Fletcher has also sent a list of questions to Football League bosses which she says they have agreed to answer ahead of that debate.

The MP, who represents the constituency where the Ricoh Arena is based, told the Telegraph: “I am grateful that the Football League have agreed to meet with me next to discuss their role in resolving the issues with CCFC.

“I am also pleased that they have agreed to provide answers to the questions I have posed them prior to the debate that will be taking place next Tuesday.”

Earlier this week Mrs Fletcher and Coventry’s two other MPs pledged their support to the Telegraph’s call for owners Sisu to put Coventry City up for sale.

Debate hears Coventry City owners should abandon 'toxic legacy' after 'running club into the ground'



Coventry City has been “run into the ground” by hedge fund owners Sisu according to a Coventry MP.

Jim Cunningham, Labour MP for Coventry South, made the claim during a debate into the future of Coventry City in Westminster Hall, in the Palace of Westminster, today.

The cross-party debate was organised by the Coventry South MP after the Telegraph called on MPs to intervene in the situation at CCFC and was also attended by the Conservative government’s sports minister Tracey Crouch.

Mr Cunningham also called on Sky Blues’ owners Sisu to put the club up for sale as uncertainty hangs over the club with nowhere to play home matches beyond summer 2018.

Speaking with the protection of parliamentary privilege, which protects MPs from any possible legal action in relation to defamatory statements, Mr Cunningham accused Sisu of ‘running the club into the ground’.

Mr Cunningham went on to demand that Sisu sells the club so that their ‘toxic legacy’ could begin to be undone.

He added: “The football club should not be a way to make a quick buck for faceless unaccountable owners.

“The Football League and the FA must explain how the owners can pass the fit and proper persons test and proceed to run the club into the ground.”

Coventry City’s deal to play games at the Ricoh Arena is due to expire at the end of the 2017/18 season and talks over a long-term extension with stadium landlords Wasps broke down after the rugby club pulled out citing the “distraction” of ongoing legal action over the Ricoh Arena by CCFC owners Sisu.

During the debate sports minister Tracey Crouch said she would be willing to consider mediating in the Ricoh Arena dispute.

She added: “I sincerely hope history doesn’t repeat itself and the club doesn’t end up playing outside the city again.”

Coventry North East MP Colleen Fletcher called on the club’s owners and the Football League to prove there was a long-term stadium plan.

She said: “Nobody has ever believed Sisu’s stadium plans have ever been anything other than a smokescreen. The only viable option to secure Coventry City’s future in the city is to sign an extension to the agreement at the Ricoh Arena.

“If they are incapable of achieving this then they should sell up and go as the Coventry Telegraph has called on them to do so.”

Football governance campaigner, and Department for Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee member, Damian Collins MP was also at the debate today.

He confirmed the situation at Coventry City would be brought up during a meeting with the FA planned for next week.

Coventry City owners Sisu "should come to Parliament and explain what's gone wrong"



An MP wants Coventry City owners Sisu called into Parliament to explain the way they have managed the club.

City MP Jim Cunningham urged the chair of the influential Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee to summon the club’s owners for questioning “to find out exactly what is going on”.

The same Committee questioned newspaper boss Rupert Murdoch in 2011, and other Commons committees have recently quizzed business leaders including former BHS boss Sir Philip Green and Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley, in high-profile hearings.

The request came in a House of Commons debate on the way that the football industry is run, where a number of MPs highlighted concern about Coventry City.

Mr Cunningham, Labour MP for Coventry South, said: “I am not going to rehearse all the arguments about Coventry City football club, but there should be some form of regulation.”

Speaking to MP Damian Collins, the chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Mr Cunningham said: “Would he consider having Coventry’s owners, Sisu, in front of his Committee to find out exactly what is going on?

“There are all sorts of problems at Coventry . . . and we really now have to get to the bottom of this.”

Tory MP Mr Collins told him: “He has been a doughty champion of the fans of Coventry City football club and the people of Coventry regarding the maladministration of their club . It is tragic that a club that was in the top flight for so long has been run into the ground as it has been.

“The football administrators have stood back and watched that happen, and it cannot be allowed to continue.”

He added: “The Committee has spoken about that issue strongly in the past, and it may do so in the future. We speak up for supporters whose clubs are being run into the ground.”

Mr Collins, who represents Folkestone and Hythe, was one of a number of MPs across the country to raise concerns about Coventry City.

Yorkshire MP Jason McCartney praised Huddersfield Town for working closely with fans - adding: “Not all fans are so lucky. Blackpool, Blackburn Rovers and Coventry fans will testify to that. That is why we need reform.”

The Telegraph last year called on Sisu to put the club up for sale after nine years of failure under their ownership. The call was met with widespread support and more than 20,000 people have signed our petition.