Coventry City Diamond Club Committee Member Ray Stephens has been revealed as the first Coventry City supporter to have met SISU boss Joy Seppala.
Mr Stephens met the Finnish American at 11am on Monday 23rd September, a full twenty four hours before the Coventry Telegraph’s Les Reid became the first journalist to meet the reclusive boss of SISU Capital Ltd, at City’s Ryton Training Ground and in his own words, was the first man off the street to meet her.
Speaking about his meeting which lasted for an hour and a quarter at a Coventry City Diamond Club lunch, an organisation of which Mr Stephens is a committee member, Mr Stephens said that Mrs Seppala was courteous throughout the meeting and when asked if she was doing to City supporters who have been following the club for over fifty years, she looked him in the eye and said: “For that I am truly sorry.”
She said that she was in a corner and could see no way out but yes she would being Coventry City back to the Ricoh Arena but only as the owner.
Mr Stephens stated that Joy Seppala said that she could not get a meeting to discuss the buying of the Ricoh Arena and had been told by a senior Council Officer that they would sell the Arena to SISU over my dead body.
She also said that the Council do not trust her, that a heads of terms agreement had been reached but was told within 24 hours that the deal was off and a triangular piece of land on the edge of Coventry was being looked at for a new stadium.
Interestingly, Joy Seppala fully supports the Keep Coventry In Coventry campaign but does not agree with the SISU Out or Not One Penny More campaigns or the protests outside of her offices in London, whilst Mr Stephens was told that she had no intentions of selling players but every player has their price and any money from players being sold would be put back into the playing budget.