A FIRST major demonstration outside the Council House is among measures in a Coventry City fans’ “Vote Them Out” campaign launched today ahead of local elections on May 22, which seeks a return to the Ricoh Arena for next season.
The campaign calls for people to stand as candidates on a Get Cov Back To The Ricoh platform, with nominations opening this week.
In any event, fans are urged to question all parties’ candidates and vote against their councillor of whichever party – if they feel they or the council have not helped the club, and will not help the club in future.
Organisers the Get Cov Back To The Ricoh campaign says the council elections are a unique opportunity for fans, voters and taxpayers to have their say. It is urging a united front among the majority of fans who believe all sides should be held to account for the disastrous dispute which led to the Sky Blues playing in Northampton.
It calls on anyone who cares about the Sky Blues’ threatened future to not only join the demonstration outside Coventry City Council in Earl Street, city centre, on Saturday, May 10, at 1pm – but to call councillors to account at the ballot box for their part in the crisis.
The campaign calls on anyone interested in standing in the local elections on a Get Cov Back To The Ricoh platform to step forward before close of nominations on April 24. Whether or not any individual stands, the campaign also urges voters to contact all parties’ candidates in their wards to ask what they would do to initiate a Ricoh return for next season. If they are not satisfied with the answers, they should use their vote accordingly.
Both the council leader Ann Lucas (Holbrook) and deputy leader Phil Townshend (Lower Stoke) are standing this year, as are Conservatives who as an opposition group have supported the Labour council’s strategy.
Important evidence of the council’s part in the dispute was heard at last week’s High Court hearing brought against Sky Blues’ owners Sisu by the Alan Edward Higgs Charity, the council’s partners in Ricoh Arena management company Arena Coventry Limited (ACL).
Mr Justice Leggatt ruled that private talks in 2012 over a sale to Sisu of the Higgs charity’s 50 per cent share of ACL collapsed because neither side could agree a price for the shares being offered at £5.5million – which was “very significantly above the market value”, according to emails written by council finance officer and ACL director Chris West. The judge also ruled the deal collapsed because the Higgs charity felt it would have been blocked by the council, where the ruling Labour group had “very considerable animosity” to the club’s owners, according to Mr West’s emails disclosed in court. The council instead devised a secret plan to take more control of the Ricoh and scupper any deal with Sisu.
The independent Get Cov Back To The Ricoh campaign – formed last October when over 1000 people signed a petition in a week to urge talks over a sale of the Ricoh Arena to whoever owns the club – maintains selling the Ricoh, based on independent valuations, remains the best prospect of a Sky Blues return to benefit the indebted club, the city’s economy and pride, and taxpayers. It could also represent the best possibility of Sisu ultimately selling the club once the club and stadium are united, believes GCBTR, which was set up to redress the balance in fans’ campaigning.
Last week’s High Court hearing shone a light for the first time on the main stumbling blocks in negotiations over the plan for joint council/club Ricoh ownership following an agreement in principle in June 2012 – which would have provided vital revenues for the loss-making club and make ACL debt-free. The Higgs Charity wanted £5.5million but was unhappy with an offer of £1.5million upfront and the rest paid in deferred payments over 10 years. Sisu later indicated it would be prepared to pay £2million following due diligence which it claimed showed the Higgs shares were worth nothing.
By August 2012, the court heard the council had devised a secret plan to prevent a deal with Sisu, by buying out ACL’s mortgage loan without Sisu’s involvement. Former ACL director Paul Harris swore under oath that Mr West, then an ACL director alongside council chief executive Martin Reeves, had told him Sisu had been informed of the council’s plan. Mr Harris had said that would be “ethical”. In fact, the club’s owners were not informed until after the deal was concluded by councillors in private on January 15, 2013.
Whether that £14million use of taxpayers’ money was lawful will be tested in a Judicial Review in June, after Mrs Justice Thirlwall ruled in December there was a case for the council to answer concerning misuse of public money. High Court documents showed the council’s own evaluation for the Ricoh was much less – at £6.4million.
ACL in March last year began High Court proceedings to place the club in administration over non-payment of rent, although the court heard circa. £850,000 of the £1.3million annual rent was received. Ten League points were lost at the start of administration; and club takeover attempts failed when bidders included ACL and private investors such as Preston Haskell IV who had been in discussions with the council. ACL later refused to sign a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) to bring the club out of administration, resulting in a further 10 League points being lost this season.
Long-standing Coventry City fans Rob Stevens and Stuart Cosgrove, joint organisers of the Get Cov Back To The Ricoh campaign, believe that while fans debate to what extent each party was responsible, most people blame all sides. Most fans think the council and ACL are partly responsible – while the vast majority, above all else, want the club to return to the Ricoh whoever owns either.
Mr Stevens said: “We warned last October that the council ruling out an unencumbered sale of the Ricoh, and insisting that the club could only return as tenants, would leave our beloved Sky Blues playing ‘home’ games 35 miles away for years and years – threatening the club’s future.
“While Sisu must take a good part of the responsibility for that, most people accept the football club needs to own its own stadium to obtain vital commercial revenues. The Sky Blues’ future remains in doubt with £7million further losses last year recently announced. Liquidation remains a threat, whether or not the plan is to build a new stadium in Warwickshire would could take years. The club’s owners have repeatedly said they will not return as tenants, and will not sell the club before acquiring a stadium.
“The council is heavily Labour dominated and the Conservative opposition have supported councilllors’ and council officers’ strategy over the football club. Councillors have also mainly been sworn to secrecy, refusing to speak to fans, voters and taxpayers while hiding behind legal advice.
“This month’s elections are a chance for all voters to have their say on the dispute and demand more action to bring our club back to the council-owned stadium for next season, which was only built because of the football club.
“We are calling on fans to join the demonstration, and contact election candidates in their wards in a search for answers. If they are not satisfied with their councillors’ answers or actions whichever party they belong to, now is the chance to vote them out.
“There has been a lack of transparency and democratic accountability at Coventry City Council. We do not know how much council taxpayers’ money has been spent of legal and PR fees in the dispute; and our call in December at a council meeting with leader Ann Lucas for an economic impact survey into losing the club was ignored.
“We also want the Higgs charity to do the right thing in the interests of the club and city.”
Stuart Cosgrove said: “In October, we held a small demonstration at the Council House on a weekday lunchtime. It was never intended as a mass demonstration, but to present one of the largest petitions the council has ever received. The council leader Ann Lucas broke her silence at the council meeting that day and it lead to talks between her and Sisu’s Joy Seppala.
“This will be the first full demonstration during a weekend for us, when more people are available. We welcome all fans and people who care about the club’s future and want to see a Ricoh return next season, regardless or who owns the stadium or the club.
“If you only blame the club’s owners, this demonstration is not for you. We are not apologists for Sisu. They have made mistakes and we have publicly criticised them. We have supported other fans’ activities. But if you believe all sides should shoulder responsibility, now is the time to hold the council to account, whatever comes from the forthcoming Judicial Review, which may or may not move the situation forward.”