‘I prepared myself to go to the charity game with the former players at the Ricoh Arena, but I had followed the club all over the country and the players who were there at the time, it wasn’t their fault.
‘I thought “I support Coventry City Football Club” and I ended up buying my ticket two days before the first game at Sixfields.
‘I felt I had to continue to follow the football club. ‘Unfortunately, that was at Northampton. I hated going there. The first three or four matches had a large feeling of guilt. But when the players came out on the pitch, I just felt like I was watching my football team.
‘I felt guilty because the majority of people felt it was wrong to go to Sixfields.
‘I have been a member of the Sky Blue Trust for many years and the majority of the members there, and the majority of fans, thought it was wrong to go.
‘I want Sisu to go probably more than anyone. But I was always of the opinion, even before we went there, that the only way we would get new owners was to support the football club in large numbers and make it a more tangible prospect. I don’t see Sisu just walking away.
‘Most people had the view that it was up to the individual whether they went or stayed away.
‘You had to decide for yourself, but the people I knew who shouted the loudest and had the strongest opinions were the ones who felt the only way to get rid of Sisu was to ignore them and not give them any money. I felt the total opposite.
‘But I could never forgive Sisu for what they did to my club. To me, that was an unforgivable act.’
Asked if the low crowds and the 70-mile round trip ever put him off attending, he said: ‘I was behind the goal and if you had 100 people there, that was it. After a while, you would recognise quite a lot of those 100 people.
‘The people I spoke to had a similar sort of feeling to me. They were still our football team.
‘Although we weren’t happy to be there, it was still Coventry City Football Club.
‘One game, the groundsman turned to us and said “I don’t know why you don’t like coming here, the football is great!”
‘He was right, the football there was fantastic. You have to give credit to the players at the time.
‘But it never felt like home. Our home was still the Ricoh.’
He added: ‘My wife used to say, “that’s just you, it’s just what you do.” I used to drive and it didn’t take very long.
‘Some of my closest friends who used to go wouldn’t travel to Sixfields and they still haven’t gone back to this day. They won’t while the current owners are there.
‘But I said I just wanted to support my football team. We don’t talk about football any more, which is a shame, but we haven’t fallen out or anything like that.’
Some fans expressed their frustration by attending at arms length – taking up position on a hill behind one of the goals at Northampton’s ground. That hill became affectionately known as ‘Jimmy’s Hill’ by those who decided to make it their permanent base.
Alan said: ‘I used to walk across the bottom of the hill and I could see the people up there. For the first few games, I couldn’t bring myself to look at them. I had this feeling of guilt about doing it.
‘After I had been to a few games I did look up at them but, because I was in the stand that backed on to the hill, once I was in the ground I couldn’t hear or see them.
‘The first game there was people saying, “don’t go in with signs and things”, but we never had any sort of abuse or anything like that directed at us.’
One of the ringleaders of ‘The Hillers’, as some referred to them, was Sky Blue Trust chairman Steve Brown. The supporters on the hill formed a special bond and earned the respect of many for enduring all types of weather in order to make their feelings about the move to Sixfields known.
He told me: ‘I was on the hill at Northampton and I’m proud to have been one of only two people who went to every single game.
‘We probably averaged 20 to 25, but we had 250 for one game, and there was always at least ten to 15 of us.
‘We tried to make as much noise as we could because some people used to say they couldn’t hear us.
‘We had a World War II siren and we must have got through about three drums. We even had a double decker bus to bring people over for some matches.
‘It was so cold some nights. My wife used to make me a flask of coffee to get me through it.’
He added: ‘I never thought we would actually end up at Sixfields. I thought it was just all pie-in-the-sky nonsense. I didn’t think it would ever happen and I didn’t believe they ever had any intention of it actually happening.
‘The day it was confirmed, I got a phone call saying they were moving to Northampton. Straight away, a group of us jumped in our cars and headed to Northampton to take part in the first demonstration against the move.
‘I was disappointed and really angry that we had left the Ricoh Arena, which was built for us. It was not a nice feeling.
‘We all had every intention of demonstrating for the first couple of games. It was pretty obvious they had this hill, so we decided to protest on there for a couple of games. Then it just became a habit.’
But there was obvious division among fans. Some supporters adopted a Not One Penny More stance, feeling the best way to force a return was to cut off the club’s income by non-attendance. Others believed the best method was to support the club and make the business strong enough for Sisu to be able to sell it as an attractive proposition.
Steve said: ‘We had a lot of hassle. We were abused literally every game.
‘As people were going in, they would ask us why aren’t we going in. They said we were killing the club.
‘Some people would stand on the bottom of the hill and shout abuse. It was very sad and it will take a while to get over it for some fans.
‘At the time, I was disappointed in those who were going in. At first, I was really angry because I thought if nobody went in it would be over really quickly.
‘But then you hear from people who want their kids to watch Coventry City or didn’t want to get involved in the politics and just wanted to watch their team – and I can understand that now. But at the time, it felt like they were scabs. I was on the hill then, and I would do it again if they ever went back. But I won’t knock anybody who went in.’
He added that the actions of protesters inevitably caused some division between the Sky Blue Trust and the club.
‘The reason the club fell out with the Sky Blue Trust was that we had been asked to support the move by Tim Fisher, but 99.9 per cent of our members said they were against it,’ he said.
‘We could not back Tim Fisher. They accused us of not helping the club. But we felt if we just walked away, this thing would slowly kill the club. We had to make a statement.’
The vast majority of supporters simply could not bring themselves to make the trip to Sixfields, even if they could avoid entering the ground itself by taking refuge on the hill.
It was the biggest boycott of an English team by its supporters since Wimbledon had been allowed to relocate from London to Milton Keynes in 2003.
During the 2013/14 season, the average attendance at ‘home’ matches for Coventry would be 2,364 – the Football League’s fourth lowest, above only Accrington Stanley, Dagenham & Redbridge and Morecambe, all in League Two.
That represented a drop of 78 per cent from the average of 10,938 attracted by the club in the previous season at the Ricoh Arena and emphasised the strength of feeling among the club’s supporters.
The home attendances were the lowest in the club’s Football League history – surpassed only during the team’s Birmingham League days of 1905/06. The club hit rock bottom during a midweek game in February 2014, when only 1,603 attended the Carlisle game. It was the lowest league crowd in the club’s Football League history.
But the support was clearly still there, with the Sky Blue Army’s average away game attendance rocketing by
25 per cent in the same period – up from 6,895 to 8,651.
One of the stay-away supporters was Daniel Gill, who had held a season ticket every season since the 1991/92 campaign. But that all changed in 2013.
He said: ‘I had been a season ticket holder since I was six and could count on one hand the number of home games I had missed since the 1991/92 season.
‘I started going with my dad and granddad and have always been with my dad.
‘The decision not to buy a season ticket was tough. It was what we had been doing my whole life. It was my life.
‘But we could not support or agree with what was happening – picking up the club and moving them more than 30 miles just to score points in an argument.
‘It was hard to decide not to buy a season ticket in some ways, but looking at the facts it was actually pretty easy.
‘Nobody actually thought it would happen. We had heard all the quotes and interviews but even when the march happened I don’t think anybody believed it would actually happen.
‘It wasn’t until the first game of the season that I actually believed it. That’s when it was real.
‘I respect the decisions of everyone who did go. It was difficult for everybody.
‘It divided City fans. There was a horrible split between people who were going and people who would not go. It was terrible division and I would say it is still there to a certain extent. I don’t think the fanbase has ever fully recovered.
‘It’s definitely still in my mind. I don’t think I can ever forgive everyone involved for what happened. A lot of people probably feel the same, especially while there’s still uncertainty over the future.’
He added: ‘It was hard to fill the void. It was what I had been doing since I was a child. I would stay close to the radio or go out shopping. But it was strange.
‘Anger was really the overriding emotion at the time. Everyone involved in the argument – at the club, ACL and the council – had let it get to the point where it actually happened.
‘I would say it was fair to compare the sense of loss to that of losing a loved one. It was a real empty feeling that something I had since I was so young, and was a huge part of my life, had been taken away from me by other people’s decisions.
‘It could have been avoided. Egos and individual characters took over and the fans just got completely forgotten about.’
One of the most striking shows of unity among Coventry City supporters came in the form of a sort of guerilla protest involving large amounts of Sky Blue ribbons and lots of willing volunteers.
Hundreds of ribbons were put up on prominent buildings across the city centre, including Coventry Cathedral, the Council House and the Coventry Telegraph. Major routes were also lined with the ribbons as supporters undertook one of the most visually striking protests of the entire saga.
The ‘Tie A Sky Blue Ribbon’ initiative was aimed at drawing attention to the fans’ plight and was based around a 1973 chart-topping single Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree by the band Dawn, which highlights a convention in some countries to tie a yellow ribbon around an oak tree when a loved one is away for a prolonged period of time.
Some mischievous campaigners even plastered the club’s Ryton training ground with the ribbons and wrote ‘Sisu Out’ on the gates in ribbon before it was hastily removed by club officials.
Even the London headquarters of Sisu and the Football League got the ribbon treatment as supporters found increasingly inventive ways to voice their displeasure.
Such was the almost poetic nature of the expressions of pain and anguish felt by City supporters that one documentary maker decided to produce an artistic record of what had occurred during the team’s spell at Sixfields.
Duncan Whitley created the piece called Not A Penny More: the Benefactress’ Tale, which told the story through images and music alone. The dreamlike piece was supposed to give the impression that the saga was being seen through the eyes of a time-travelling Lady Godiva.
He explained: ‘It’s about football fans and the football movement. It’s about how football is becoming more and more out of reach of the people whose heritage it is.
‘It’s also about faith. I see a lot of faith in the group known as The Hillers who went to every game in Northampton come rain or shine. To me, that’s real faith.’
But it wasn’t just supporters who were suffering from the situation. Those who played a direct role in creating the club’s illustrious history spoke out against what they saw as a direct betrayal of the club’s heritage.
One such player was Ronnie Farmer, the former City midfielder once voted as the club’s greatest ever player. He had played for the Sky Blues in all four divisions in the 1950s and 1960s and still lives in Tile Hill.
With tears in his eyes, the then 78-year-old told me he feared he may never see his beloved Sky Blues play again.
He said: ‘I was sad when we left Highfield Road and now I wish we had never left. The situation at the club is a farce.
‘At my age I have realised I may never get to see them play again. It makes me very sad.
‘I used to go to games but I won’t go to Northampton because I class that team as Northampton reserves. It is not a Coventry team if they are not playing in Coventry.’
Another former player who boycotted games was former defender Dietmar Bruck.
The then 69-year-old said: ‘It is frustrating and annoying that we have two different groups who are behaving like kids and won’t negotiate. They are like little babies.
‘The worrying part about all this is that, because it is going on so long, people are finding other things to do instead of watching Coventry City and we are going to lose generations of supporters.
‘There’s no way, as an ex-player, I will go to Northampton.’
Former Northern Irish winger Willie Humphries, who was Jimmy Hill’s first signing in 1962, said: ‘It is very sad to see where they are now.
‘When I left Coventry City and went back to Northern Ireland, the first result I would always look for was Coventry’s.
‘I was very upset to hear they had moved out of the city and the sooner they get back to Coventry, the better.’
Unfortunately for Willie, and the thousands of Coventry City supporters who had decided to stay away, it would be some time before the Sky Blues would be back where they belonged.
Chapter 12
Theatre of broken dreams
COVENTRY City being unceremoniously ripped from the heart of their community and dumped into the less-than-glamorous surroundings of Sixfields clearly had a massive impact on the supporters.
But how did going from playing in the impressive surroundings of the Ricoh Arena to the home of then League Two Northampton Town impact the team?
Players and management understandably toed the party line at the time of the Sixfields saga. But many have since moved on to new clubs and, with the passage of time, have decided they are able to talk more openly about what was one of the most turbulent periods in the clubs history.
The man tasked with gluing the team together was then manager Steven Pressley, who had replaced Mark Robins as manager less than six months before the ground-share deal was struck.
Speaking about the build-up to the Sixfields move, he said: ‘Before I took over, when I first met with them to discuss the position of management, there were whispers then that there could be problems in regards to the lease of the Ricoh Arena.
‘In discussions then, I was aware that there was an outstanding issue with that.
‘Although it was not definite we would be moving away, they were quite transparent prior to me coming that there was the possibility of a breakdown between the club and ACL.
‘I always hoped it would be resolved. The last thing you want as a manger, going into a new environment and coming down to England for the first time, is having to deal with some of the issues we had to deal with.
‘We were always in hope it would never come to what it did.
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‘It was far from ideal. Initially, there had been talk of us moving to Walsall. That looked a more likely option in the early stages, but that fell through.
‘The Northampton situation arose and it wasn’t what we wanted. But the reality was my coaching staff and I had to put on our brave faces to ensure we didn’t create a negative environment going there.
‘The most important thing for us was, in that particular season with what we had to endure, surviving in the league – and the survival of the club.
‘We had to appear reasonably positive, but the reality was it was far from ideal.’
There was a feeling among many Coventry City supporters that, perversely, playing in front of reduced crowds at Sixfields might actually have benefited City’s young squad, especially as the team started the 2013/14 season well. Pressley agreed there was a degree of truth in that.
He said: ‘Initially, in the summer months when the pitch was good and there was a good feeling when the sun was shining, the reality of the situation was not as severe.
‘I also think the squad was very young at the time. In regards to the performances of some of our younger players, there was maybe not the same degree of pressure playing at Northampton than there was playing at the Ricoh – especially when we were blooding so many young players at the time.
‘Even if you look at the bench at the time – in fact some of them made appearances – some of them are no longer involved in football at any level.
‘The situation was reliant on so many young players, and probably playing at Northampton took a degree of pressure away from them. In hindsight, it was maybe easier to blood them.
‘But the reality was, once the honeymoon period of the summer months passed by, running out on a cold rainy January in front of just over 1,000 supporters is far from ideal.’
Having joined a club which boasted the Ricoh Arena as its home, only to see it descend into turmoil and engulfed by a toxic atmosphere fuelled by animosity over the move to Sixfields, it would be easy to understand if the manager had seriously considered walking away at any point. But he insisted that it never crossed his mind.
Coventry City Page 19