According to the Coventry Observer's Les Reid, Coventry City Vice Chairman Chris Anderson has said that Coventry City's Academy future is very much still under threat.
The Sky Blues' contract to use the Alan Higgs Centre expires in 2017 but Coventry Sports Foundation, seem to be under the impression that the Sky Blues will be moving to somewhere new, something which is not the case.
Speaking about this, Coventry City Vice Chairman Chris Anderson said: “We were delighted that there might be a glimmer of hope. I subsequently wrote to Mr Breed not once, but twice, asking about terms under which the club’s Academy could continue renting the Higgs Centre facilities.
“We have been aware that they have had discussions with Wasps, but we are completely in the dark as to where those discussions are or what they will imply for our tenancy.
“In the meantime, I have yet to receive a reply. I don’t know why. “Let’s take a look at what is actually being communicated. Reading the statement carefully, Mr Breed essentially said that the club had decided to leave the Higgs Centre and the Coventry Sports Foundation therefore had no choice but to look for alternative uses. That is simply not true.
“When you rent a flat, you might at some point think about buying a home. You might even contact an estate agent to see if there’s a piece of land to be bought. That’s not the same as giving notice to your landlord you are about to vacate the flat you’re in. Why would we do that?
“We have not given our landlord notice that we would want to vacate the property when the lease ends. Instead, the football club wants to continue its tenancy at the Higgs Centre to house the club’s Academy and has been trying to discuss a long term tenancy for our Academy at the Higgs Centre beyond 2017.
“I have consistently expressed our view to Mr Breed in person and over email since I first met him last year.
“By the way, Mr Breed has confirmed to me that he is not aware of any correspondence between the football club and the Higgs Trust or Coventry Sports Foundation (CSF) from before my time that we would want to vacate the Higgs Centre.
“In fact, discussions were held with CSF not too long ago about the idea of using the Academy as part of a long term vision for the centre – e.g., the use of the club’s sports science staff as part of the community benefit mission of the Higgs Centre. The recent and costly renovation of the 3G indoor pitch only made sense under the condition that the football club remain at the Higgs Centre for some time to come.
“The Academy is at the heart of our club. I have been deeply concerned privately and now publicly that CSF or the owners of the property have not invited us to have a more formal conversation about future plans for the Centre and our intentions to remain there. We have simply been ignored.
“You can perhaps now understand my confusion at Mr Breed characterising our vacating the Higgs Centre first as a kind of done deal, then saying ‘we are exploring options’ in a press statement, and then not answering my request for information.
“More broadly, we are disheartened at what has transpired and can only surmise that it has been decided that the CCFC Academy – and by implication, Coventry’s youngest and most promising athletes and their families – have no place in CSF’s plans plans for the Higgs Centre, and that this has been the case for some time. This is hard to believe, as the facility was custom designed to house our Academy and has been a terrific home for our youngsters.
“It feels as though Coventry Sports Foundation is effectively ending Coventry City Football Club’s tenancy at the Higgs Centre unilaterally. This is something which I, the football club, our supporters, and I suspect the Coventry community at large, will find difficult to understand."
Full story - http://coventryobserver.co.uk/news/requests-keep-coventry-city-academy-ignored-says-sky-blues-boss/