Announcing the news, Football League chairman, Greg Clarke, said: ‘The Football League believes that clubs should play in the towns and cities from which they take their name. Nonetheless, from time to time, the board is asked to consider temporary relocations as a means for securing a club’s ongoing participation in our competition.
‘With no prospect of an agreement being reached between Otium and ACL, the board was placed in an unenviable position, with the very real possibility of Coventry City being unable to fulfil its fixtures for next season. This would inevitably call into question the club’s continued membership of the Football League.
‘The board did not take this decision lightly and it remains a matter of deep regret that the two parties involved cannot come to an agreement.
‘I urge both Otium and ACL to continue to explore every possible opportunity to resolve this dispute for the good of the City of Coventry, its football club and people living in the local community.’
Tim Fisher welcomed the news on behalf of the club, saying: ‘We are very pleased that the Football League has found our plans acceptable.
‘Nobody wanted this day to come, but we feel we have no choice but to take this course of action and that the only credible future for the club now lies in owning its own stadium.
‘Building a stadium that is ours in the Coventry area, and which will generate revenues we can put on the field of play is necessary to ensure the club can succeed under the FIFA fair play rules.
‘If there had been an economic option which would have allowed us to stay at the Ricoh, we would have pursued it. There was no proposal on the table in time for us to make realistic plans for the coming season. We could not wait any longer.
‘Over the last month or so – through a series of forums – we have made it clear this move is not a game of brinkmanship or a negotiating strategy, it is the only credible option. If our plans did not show a clear path for returning to the Coventry City area, they would not have been approved by the league.’
Speaking about the deal, Northampton chairman David Cardoza said: ‘This helps out a fellow club who came to us and asked for our assistance and it is a much-needed additional revenue stream for Northampton Town Football Club.
‘We totally understand that the majority of Coventry fans feel their club should be playing in their city and we are sorry they are not, but the issues about whether or not they could use the Ricoh or any other venue in Coventry are not ours to discuss.
‘Coventry City Football Club felt the only option was to move outside of the city, and our first involvement in this process was when we were approached by Coventry City asking us to help a fellow football club. There wasn’t any plan for us to try and tempt another club away from their local community for our financial gain.
‘We are simply helping a fellow football club at their request.’
James Whiting, who was then financial director at Northampton, revealed how the move had come about.
He said: ‘The arrangement we had for Coventry to play here; they obviously came to us as a club needing to have somewhere to play – and in a very short period of time because of the issues they were facing at the time.
‘We had to come to an agreement with them on that and we didn’t really have an opinion as to whether it was right or wrong.
‘We saw it as being better that the club has somewhere to play than not at all.
‘We wanted to help out a fellow club.
‘From the time the deal was signed, all the games that Coventry City played here, the impact on us was minimal.
‘Really, they rocked up into town on the day, played their games and disappeared.
‘From our staff and supporters’ point of view, there was very little impact, to the point that you wouldn’t really notice they were here.’
Ricoh Arena bosses did not take the announcement lightly. They immediately launched a legal threat to Northampton Town FC, accusing the club of essentially luring their tenants away and causing damage to their business.
The action was subsequently dropped after Mr Cardoza insisted the Cobblers ‘would not be bullied’ by the stadium firm.
I asked ACL director Peter Knatchbull-Hugessen if, three years on, he regretted that the stadium firm had taken that action.
He said: ‘It wasn’t unfair on Northampton. It is what you do in business. It was a strategy to protect our interests.
‘You are stuck as a director to see someone damaging your company financially, and you have lawyers saying this is what you should be doing to recover that business.’
The day after the ground-share deal was announced, suspended life president Joe Elliott announced he would resign his position.
He told me: ‘I resigned as life president because I didn’t agree with our beloved Sky Blues being taken out of the city it plays in.
‘It wasn’t a difficult decision. When the Gary Hoffman Chinese takeover attempt came up in 2011, Ken Dulieu [then CCFC chairman] asked me to resign and then I was suspended.
‘When they went to Sixfields, I thought that is it and I resigned. I wouldn’t go to Sixfields but I would attend all the away matches.
‘My emotions as a fan during the time were just very sad. I was upset I could not go and watch my team, along with many other supporters.
‘I couldn’t believe it, I never thought it would get to that point.’
What can only be described as panic began to takeover the Coventry City fan base. This was a distressing time for many supporters of the club – many of whom had a financial and emotional connection with the Ricoh Arena.
There was the memorial garden at the stadium where the ashes of deceased Sky Blues fans had been scattered.
And, as the stadium was being built, many supporters had paid for bricks bearing their names or the names of loved ones to be placed in the walls of the stadium building. With the passage of time, some of these Sky Blues supporters had also passed away.
Now there was a threat that the only remaining connection these supporters had with their club was about to be ripped away. It was nothing short of harrowing.
Then, another ray of hope emerged as former vice-chairman Gary Hoffman made an offer to cover the club’s rent.
He said: ‘My proposal is this: I raise the money to pay the rent for the next three seasons. I assume £400,000 per season as that is the number speculated
‘Otium has to pay nothing towards it. They save the costs of the deal on Northampton, excluding any break clause costs, which we would pay too.
‘ACL get their rent. The casino benefits, the hotel benefits. In fact, everyone benefits. No losers
‘I assume that the attendance at the Ricoh would be at least 5,000 per game more than at Sixfields. This is undoubtedly conservative. So, 5,000 at an average £15 per ticket for 25 games. £1.875m extra revenue. Otium can take half of this upside for trading purposes. The people who put the money up with me would take a return to cover financing and other costs. But kept to a reasonable sum. The rest should be invested in the academy.
‘Forget the long term for the time being. If Otium want to build a new stadium, that is up to them.’
But the offer was apparently rejected out of hand by Sisu. Club officials suggested the deal wasn’t as good as it was presented and that there were charges which could be levied depending on attendance targets being reached and other similar clauses.
On 20 July 2013, there was one of the greatest displays of Sky Blue unity in the club’s history.
Hundreds were expected, but thousands stood shoulder to shoulder as Coventry City supporters marched on the city centre in protest at the decision to allow the club to leave its home city.
The march was organised by supporters’ group the Sky Blue Trust and attracted an estimated 5,000 people who marched from the site of the original home of the club, Gosford Green, to Broadgate in the city centre.
There were scenes the likes of which have not been seen for a generation as Coventry suppor
ters turned the streets Sky Blue and ground the city centre to a halt.
The last time Coventry witnessed anything similar was when the club lifted the FA Cup in 1987, but fans were now taking to the streets for a very different reason.
It was a rare moment of pride and passion the likes of which would be few and far between for many supporters over the coming months.
Jan Mokrzycki, spokesman for The Sky Blue Trust, explained the success of the march was in the sense of unity it provided at a time when Coventry City’s fanbase had been split and grown weary after months of hyperbole and arguments which had damaged the reputation of their club and put its future in jeopardy.
He said: ‘It was just one of those ideas that evolved from a brainstorming session.
‘The night before, we had a meeting with the police and we didn’t know whether we were going to get 20, 200 or 2,000. The police thought we would get about 500.
‘The next day we were standing in Gosford Green and we were just absolutely astonished as people kept on coming. It was just brilliant. It proved the club wasn’t dead.
‘It was a chance to show that the people of Coventry cared about the football club and send a message to all of those involved in taking our club out of the city.
‘This had never happened before; a club being taken out of their city over a rent dispute.
‘It was the fans who were going to suffer.
‘But at the time, most people thought “surely they can’t mean it’ and that it would not happen.”
He added: ‘I think the march was a real positive. People were divided over who was to blame, whether to go and so on, while others just wanted to watch their team.
‘This march united them all. They all wanted the team to be kept in Coventry. Football is a way of uniting people. It unites people of different religions, people from different ethnic backgrounds, people with different political beliefs.
‘That day showed that people of all backgrounds were united in their love of the Sky Blue shirt.
‘The numbers were overwhelming. Everybody who took part that day should be proud.’
But club officials remained unmoved in their stance that the club must leave Coventry.
Speaking after the march, Tim Fisher said: ‘We completely understand the frustration and the passion that was shown at the march. I have seen it each time I have met supporters at forums or individually. It is a position I have unequivocal respect for.
‘Our fans do not want us to ground-share but it is not an option we have pursued lightly or with any relish. The decision was taken to ensure we could fulfil our fixtures and safeguard the future of the club.’
Political pressure to prevent the move continued through Bob Ainsworth MP, who again brought the issue to the attention of Parliament with just days to go until the club kicked off the season 35 miles away from Coventry.
He revealed a letter from Andy Williamson, the Football League’s chief operating officer, which defended the decision to allow the Sky Blues to leave their home city.
The letter read: ‘In order to keep the club alive, the Football League board agreed to offer the Otium Entertainment Group the club’s share in the Football League, providing it accepted various entry conditions, including a commitment that it meet the financial offer made to creditors under the proposed CVA.’
It stated the league, in considering whether to allow the Northampton ground-share, was placed in an ‘unenviable position as a consequence of a commercial dispute between the club and its landlord’.
It added: ‘The league understands this situation has caused great distress for many supporters of Coventry City... We will now continue with our endeavours to get the club playing in its home city at the earliest opportunity, though this will be against a backdrop of the club having had ten points deducted for failing to achieve a CVA due to the actions of its former landlord.
‘For the record, it is categorically not the case that the Football League has failed to apply its own rules as the board retains the right to permit clubs to move ground at its discretion.’
Bob Ainsworth told me he was unimpressed by the Football League during the entire length of this saga, dissatisfaction which had begun when he summoned top officials to Westminster in a bid to prevent the move to Northampton.
He said: ‘I arranged a meeting with the Football League at the House of Commons. I had also had lots of written exchanges with them.
‘The meeting was in the summer just before they went to play at Sixfields.
‘At that meeting, Paul Harris [Alan Higgs Charity trustee] produced an offer of lower rent and asked them to take it to Sisu.
‘Sean Harvey [chief executive of the Football League] was there and they also had a secretary and a lawyer.
‘The Football League backed the club that the rent was too high. But I felt they were pretty weak and, with the offer, had hoped they would do more.
‘They were basically saying, “can’t you do something about this?’’’
But it appeared nobody could do anything about it and on Sunday 11 August at 3pm, Coventry City Football Club played its first ‘home’ game outside of its home city – 35 miles away in Northampton. It was an unforgivable betrayal of the club’s illustrious and proud history in the eyes of the vast majority of Coventry City supporters.
The sense of repulsion was underlined by a paltry attendance of just 2,204 – just 908 of whom were Coventry supporters. That figure would almost exactly represent the average crowd the club could expect during its time at Sixfields. So much for the 6,000–7,000 per game Mr Fisher had confidently predicted just weeks earlier.
Chapter 11
Jimmy’s Hill
THE day Coventry City played their first game at Sixfields, many fans were left with a strange sense of loss and emptiness.
It was made all the more surreal by the fact a team of Sky Blues legends were lining up for a charity match at the Ricoh Arena, which got under way shortly before Coventry kicked off against Bristol City for the club’s first ‘home’ fixture in Northampton.
The charity match, organised to celebrate the 130th anniversary of Coventry City Former Players’ Association (CCFPA), had become an unofficial protest for Sky Blues fans to express their discontent at the switch to Sixfields.
Billy Bell, vice-chairman of the CCFPA and organiser of the fixture, said: ‘It was never done deliberately as a confrontation, but now the people of Coventry will vote with their feet.
‘We’re hoping for a large, large crowd to show the football world that Coventry people are not happy with what is going on at our club.’
And people did vote with their feet as just 908 Coventry City supporters attended the club’s first game at Sixfields compared with more than 7,000 who attended the Ricoh and enjoyed the nostalgia of seeing the likes of Darren Huckerby, Noel Whelan and Terry Gibson perform in Sky Blue once again.
But it was bitter-sweet for Coventry fans, who felt they had no choice but to stay away from Sixfields.
Those who did decide to attend were able to feast on football excitement as City edged out Bristol 5-4 in a thrilling encounter.
Alan Poole, of the Coventry Telegraph, summed up the events of that day.
He said: ‘By universal consent, this was one of the saddest days in the history of Coventry City. But against the odds and pretty much all expectations, it threw up one of the most exhilarating matches their supporters have witnessed in those 130 years of spectacular highs and lows.
‘Leading 3-0 at the interval, the City youngsters’ self-belief was sapped by two streaky goals and they were unaccountably pegged back to 3-3 when new recruit Andy Webster blemished his impressive debut with a glaring, ring-rusty error.
‘Having regained their advantage inside a minute, they suddenly found themselves at 4-4 with 15 minutes to play. But they again responded instantaneously and then held their nerve through an agonising added-time period that was scheduled for six minutes and stretched to nearly eight.’
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He added: ‘It’s clear that however people choose to support Coventry City this season, they’re in for a hair-raising ride.
‘It will certainly stretch their nerves to the limit – how unbearably, inexcusably sad that they are being forced to question their lifelong loyalties.’
In conversations with supporters, the sense of sadness was repeatedly summed up to me by likening the disappearance of the Sky Blues to Northampton to that of the death of a relative. The pain and anguish Coventry City fans felt during this period was very real. It was completely unforgivable that it had come to this.
Fans dealt with the situation in different ways, but it impacted them all and the hurt they felt was very real.
One Sky Blues fan vowed to go on a 24-hour hunger strike every time Coventry City played a ‘home’ match away from the Ricoh Arena next season.
Nigel Warren insisted he’d rather go hungry than watch his beloved team in action outside the city limits.
He told the Coventry Telegraph: ‘Football and the Sky Blues are my life – I eat, drink and sleep it – so if they take my club away from the Ricoh, I will not eat for the 24 hours of each and every home game.
‘It may sound silly but what Sisu and Tim Fisher are planning really hurts.
‘The fans are really annoyed and disgusted at the way we are being treated and maybe something like this will make the club sit up and listen.’
For those fans who did decide to follow the team to Sixfields, it was obviously a painstaking decision.
One such supporter, who decided to renew his season ticket despite the move, was Alan Payne, who has been a supporter since the mid-1950s and is a former Coventry shareholder.
He said: ‘The Sixfields period was, without any question at all, the worst thing I have ever seen at the club.
‘I’ve heard people say before they are not going because of this player or that manager and this felt like an extension of that. Before the season started, I was really beating myself up in terms of what to do.
Coventry City Page 18