Thanks to everyone who did the poll and for additional comments, and just sorry it’s not possible to reply to every message.
Key points
- There is overwhelming support for the kcic approach
- News on how people are feeling about Coventry City Football Club makes grim reading
- Interest in an alternative 'AFC Coventry'/Phoenix club is lower than in the last kcic poll
- It’s looking like a lot of people have given up on Coventry City Football Club altogether
There were 392 responses so this is a large straw poll not a survey with any statistical reliability.
It is a good indicator of overall views - percentage figures should be read as indicative not as in any way definitive.
The poll was open to all and was advertised widely on social media.
Those responding are people still interested enough to take time to reply - it is likely the poll paints an overly positive picture because people who have already given up are obviously less likely to have replied.
A piece including tables is in the Coventry Telegraph - http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/fans-poll-shows-huge-chunk-6930683 - and this is the full press release:
"We Want An Immediate Return To The Ricoh" is the overwhelming message from Sky Blues fans in an end of season poll conducted by the Keep Cov in Cov (kcic) campaign group - but the poll also makes for grim reading in terms of how supporters are feeling about Coventry City.
The poll saw a massive 94 per cent of those who replied agreeing that: the Sky Blues playing in Northampton is a disaster; the top priority is getting an immediate return to the Ricoh (not endlessly arguing about who is to blame); and the way to do this is by first putting pressure on sisu and its owner, Joy Seppala, to 'make the call' to ACL to say Coventry City FC will return, and then if ACL are obstructive to put pressure on them.
It is already known that a large majority of City fans say that SISU are mainly responsible for the mess we are in but ACL have questions to answer, as do the owners prior to SISU.
There are some people at the extremes who blame everything just on SISU or just on ACL but they are small minorities.
This latest poll emphatically endorses the kcic view as reflecting that of most fans..
But the kcic poll makes for grim reading in terms of how fans are currently feeling. The poll asked people what they intend doing next season. It appears attendances at Northampton are unlikely to improve significantly, with less than 13 per cent of those who took part in the poll saying they will watch Coventry games played there.
Worryingly, only half of those who voted said that so long as CCFC exists it will always be their club. The other half were divided between people saying they no longer consider CCFC to be their club or they may think that in future.
In addition, interest in an alternative 'AFC Coventry'/Phoenix club has fallen compared with previous kcic polls.
There have been several recent stories in the Coventry Telegraph of high profile fans, like ITV's Tom Lowe, saying they are giving up on City and they appear to be expressing the feelings of many other supporters.
There are various reasons behind this. Off the field news about CCFC continues to be dominated by ongoing conflict between SISU and Coventry City Council. Last week saw another court battle, between SISU the Higgs Charity, and the previous week, the Sky Blue Trust were threatened with expulsion from the Supporters Consultative Group.
On the field the season started promisingly but since the sale of striker Leon Clarke, form has dipped badly and the one good bit of news about CCFC has dimmed. It is nearly a year since sisu announced they would build a new stadium but with no site identified, no land purchased and no planning application submitted, many fans are sceptical as to whether it will ever be built.
Some people are fascinated by each court case and every twist and turn in the CCFC saga. But the biggest group of City fans are a silent majority who are interested in football not legal and financial arguments or disputes between supporters groups, and have quietly given up supporting CCFC, now and possibly forever.
With season tickets for Coventry games at Northampton for 2014/15 now on sale, confirming that as things stand that's where CCFC will be playing, it looks like many fans really have had enough.