Coventry City

by Simon Gilbert

  Chris Robinson said: ‘A fresh perspective can only help. The negotiations were conducted in great spirit between Steve Waggott and I.

  ‘I think there will always be moments when you have doubts. You always have those thoughts, but ultimately we knew we could get there.

  ‘Negotiations can always be tough. But when both people want to achieve success, that makes a huge difference.’

  Steve Waggott even revealed, during the course of negotiations, he went 48 hours without sleep – such was the appetite to ensure the club returned to Coventry.

  He said: ‘Chris Robinson and I started with no hidden agenda but we had lots of disagreements and both had to make concessions before we found a middle point.

  ‘We kept our sights on getting us back to Coventry and I certainly wasn’t going to leave the room until a deal was signed. And I’m delighted, not just for the football club but for the city.’

  But there was only so much Mr Robinson and Mr Waggott could agree on. Any final decision would ultimately be down to the ACL board and Sisu boss Joy Seppala.

  What happened next is somewhat controversial. ACL’s board drew up a list of ‘red lines’ for any deal which would see the club return to the Ricoh Arena. Crucially, the Higgs Charity – as joint stakeholders in ACL – ordered that any deal would only be agreed if all legal action was dropped by Sisu.

  Council officials and Chris Robinson later travelled to London without the permission of ACL’s board to meet Ms Seppala and negotiate a return to the stadium. But, on arrival, they discovered that the right to continue with legal action was also a red line for Sisu.

  It looked as if there would be another stalemate. At this point councillor Phil Townshend, deputy leader of Coventry City Council, stepped in. With leader Ann Lucas out of the country on annual leave, he had been thrust into the hot seat.

  In a candid private conversation at the time, the late Cllr Townshend revealed to me that he had threatened to resign from the council if officers didn’t agree a deal for a return – and that Sisu must be allowed to continue legal action.

  Council officers subsequently rubber-stamped the deal – with no pre-requisite for legal action to be dropped.

  But not everyone was entirely happy, and the consequences of that red line being crossed are still being felt today.

  Peter Knatchbull-Hugessen, Higgs Charity clerk and then ACL board member, told me: ‘The charity had clear red lines. One of those was that legal action must be dropped. No more legal action could be started on anything already open.

  ‘Then the chairman of ACL, Chris Robinson and Chris West from the council [also a director of ACL] went down to London to meet Joy Seppala and Alex Carter-Silk [one of Sisu’s legal team] without the ACL board’s permission.

  ‘Against the board’s approval, and directly against our red lines, they negotiated a return to the Ricoh Arena. People were deliberately excluded from those conversations.

  ‘We could have avoided further legal action and JR1 would have ended.

  ‘But it was excellent that they came back. The club was back where it should be.’

  Chapter 14

  Sting in the tail

  ON 5 September 2014, one of the greatest wrongs in the history of Coventry City – and possibly English football – was righted when the Sky Blues returned to the city which gave the club its name, its history and its passion.

  More than 27,000 supporters flocked to the Ricoh Arena to see the Sky Blues take on Gillingham and sneak a 1-0 victory. The short notice of the return had caused obvious ticketing issues, otherwise every seat in the house would have been filled. In the days preceding the game, thousands of fans had queued for hours to get their hands on tickets – but nobody cared about this when the game kicked off. Coventry City were back where they belonged. Coventry City were home.

  The importance of Coventry City returning to their home city was summed up by the story of terminally ill Steve Grant.

  The 66-year-old, from Ash Green, feared he would never see his beloved Sky Blues play again after being diagnosed with inoperable cancer the previous year.

  But, on that night, his dying wish was granted when his team returned to their home city.

  He could barely hold back the tears as he explained what the team’s return meant to him – and thousands of others.

  He said: ‘What can you say? I’m speechless. I’m over the moon, it really is fantastic.

  ‘I didn’t think I would ever see it. Not many things can brighten your life up when you’re in a situation like mine, but this really has.

  ‘I couldn’t understand rhyme or reason why we were in Northampton.

  ‘You can’t call them Coventry when they are playing in Northampton. I felt we had been robbed.’

  It was a day to look forward, rather than back, as differences were set aside and former foes became friendly.

  Jacky Isaac, chief executive of Ricoh Arena operators ACL, said: ‘It is brilliant, we are absolutely delighted. We are delighted with the atmosphere and the crowd.

  ‘It is fantastic for the fans and it is great that they have come out in such huge numbers to support the Sky Blues.

  ‘All of a sudden it has become very familiar. It’s almost like we are back to how we were.’

  The message of reconciliation was also pushed by newly appointed Coventry City chief executive Steve Waggott.

  He said: ‘It feels right that we have reunited the club with Coventry and the Ricoh Arena for all the right positive reasons. It is the first step to moving the club forward.

  ‘To get the response we have had, from the time Chris Robinson [ACL chairman] and I signed the agreement to 28,000 fans turning up, it makes the work of the teams at CCFC and ACL worth it. When we see the people coming in buzzing, it is everything that football should do to unite a community. The partnership we have with ACL, it has been a really positive new start to the relationship, and long may it continue. We are working for the mutual benefits of the club, ACL and the Coventry community.’

  The return was obviously a special time for the management team, which had endured huge tests over the previous season. Team manager Steven Pressley admitted the scale of the occasion had overwhelmed him at times and he was even moved to tears.

  He told me: ‘I was very emotional that night. I actually cried that night because it was so emotional.

  ‘My staff and I had gone through such turmoil, so many challenges and to come back that night and play in front of a crowd of that level, with that support and that passion to watch us as a team was hugely emotional for us. It was a difficult night.’

  Although he was delighted to be back in Coventry, Pressley said returning had actually been a disaster from a football perspective. He also emphasised how unprepared the stadium seemed to be for the club’s return.

  He said: ‘It didn’t look likely. The truth is in the first season there had been no investment in the Northampton pitch. In the second season, the club made an investment along with Northampton to bring the playing surface up to a better standard.

  ‘It looked very much like we would be at Northampton for another season. Then things moved very quickly.

  ‘In a very short period of time, there had been a complete change and it looked like the club would return.

  ‘The biggest problem we found was that we were a team that really wanted to play and pass and the Ricoh Arena, when we returned – I can’t tell you how bad the playing surface was.

  ‘There had been no preparation work. There had been an event held on the pitch just weeks before we were coming to play fixtures there. It had completely ruined the surface.

  ‘It was great to return to the Ricoh, because it was so important to the club and the city, but from a football perspective it was a disaster.

  ‘Because the pitch wasn’t being used on a regular basis for top-level football, there was very little in the way of ground staff.

  ‘An incredible thing happened before one game, it may well have bee
n Yeovil at home. We turned up and the grass hadn’t been cut.

  ‘My own fitness coach Pete Tierney, along with the one member of ground staff, had to cut the pitch prior to a League One game.

  ‘The pitch dimensions were also something like five metres wider than we had requested. All of these things were far from ideal. I’m not here making excuses, but the fine details are really important and all these things were missing and were not ideal for our preparation.’

  He added: ‘Another disappointment is that I think the Ricoh is such a big stadium that it’s a problem when you don’t get such a large crowd.

  ‘What they’ve done recently in terms of moving the supporters into one area is hugely beneficial. That’s vital, they’ve made a really positive step in that respect.

  ‘I know many supporters have had their seat since the Ricoh opened, but if you’re talking about what’s best for the football team itself, it’s that they create a more intensive atmosphere.’

  CCFC Academy graduate Jordan Clarke said the return to play football for his home club in his home city was a day he would never forget – although he also shared the view that, football-wise, it was hugely disruptive.

  He told me: ‘I remember hearing about the return to the Ricoh [in] the weeks leading up to it.

  ‘At the time, the general feeling was that we are used to Sixfields now and we quite enjoy it there.

  ‘But obviously Coventry was our home town and we were all pleased to go back there.

  ‘It was a case of: we need to adapt to this pitch again, because we used to play on a smaller pitch at Sixfields.

  ‘It was a bit frustrating being moved back and forth but other than that, overall we were pleased to be back.’

  He added: ‘The pitch at the Ricoh always was not that great. It was generally more sand than grass and during the winter months it was horrendous really – bobbly and just not good.

  ‘It was not the best because we had just got into our rhythm and we were happy playing there, but it’s obviously much better to have your home club in your home town.

  ‘It was great for the city and great for the fans to be able to come to the games again because there were a lot boycotting it.

  ‘It was unbelievable. It is the best atmosphere I played in at Coventry City. Having a stadium filled to the brim for a League One game was unbelievable.

  ‘I got a chance to play in that, and I remember when Frank Nouble got the goal, and it was just an amazing feeling because I’ve never heard the Ricoh that loud before.

  ‘That first game back I didn’t feel any pressure at all. It was more of a buzz.

  ‘After that the crowds got lower, but there was still a lot more than Sixfields.

  ‘As long as you try and play your best and perform at the end of the day, the fans will be happy. Pressure is always there in football.

  ‘The only difference was all of our pictures were gone from the tunnel. The changing room was starting to look bare.

  ‘It wasn’t the same look and feel as it was before we left. It was more homely before with our badges everywhere, our quotes on the walls, but when we came back it was pretty much stripped of stuff.

  ‘It was a bit frustrating, but it was just material things.’

  Carl Baker, who was club captain when we first left the Ricoh Arena, had moved on before the club’s return to the stadium. But the midfielder told me he was delighted for the fans.

  He said: ‘I finished playing my Coventry football at Sixfields.

  ‘Personally, probably in a selfish way, I was a little bit disappointed and gutted that I wasn’t going to be able to play there again.

  ‘It would have been nice for me to lead the team out that season at the Ricoh.

  ‘But from the club’s point of view, I was pleased as it gives them a better chance of progressing.

  ‘When they went back to the Ricoh, I was absolutely delighted for everyone involved with the club – especially the fans. I knew how much it meant to them and I knew how passionate they were about it.

  ‘When I heard they were going to go back, I was absolutely buzzing that the football was going to be back in the city where it belonged.’

  But as fans revelled in the Sky Blues’ return to the stadium, in typical fashion, a sting in the tail soon emerged.

  The hope was, now that the club had returned, perhaps a deal for stadium ownership might not be too far off.

  I had asked deputy council leader Phil Townshend about this possibility at the time and he told me: ‘I think we should take one day at a time and not get ahead of ourselves and use this period to rebuild trust.

  ‘All parties concerned need to learn to open the door for one another as opposed to allowing it to slam in other people’s faces.

  ‘There’s been too much personal criticism in the past. A conciliatory approach is in the best interests of all parties concerned.’

  Weeks later, I had a concerned phone call from Cllr Townshend, who sadly passed away in 2015.

  Few would question Mr Townshend’s loyalty to the council leadership at that time, but he felt it necessary to tip me off about secret talks going on behind the scenes in relation to the Ricoh Arena.

  The council was on the verge of agreeing a deal with Premiership rugby club Wasps to secure the local authority’s stake in ACL – with a view to immediately taking the charity’s share and therefore complete ownership of the Ricoh Arena firm.

  I made enquiries, and sources connected to the football club and the charity confirmed they also had knowledge that Wasps were preparing a takeover package. A prospectus was being floated around the financial elite in London, which had alerted Coventry City officials.

  Within 24 hours of first hearing of this development, we broke the news exclusively on the Coventry Telegraph website. Nobody would go on the record about the story, and there were borderline denials from some involved – but the cat was now out of the bag.

  Had the Coventry Telegraph not broken this story, there was every chance the deal for Wasps to take over ACL could have taken place almost entirely in private and away from public scrutiny. It’s largely thanks to Cllr Townshend’s conscience that the public had an opportunity to voice any opposition to the takeover prior to it being completed.

  Over the next few weeks, we revealed further details of the bid, including its value.

  The rugby club would pay £2.77m for the council’s share of the Ricoh Arena firm and the same amount for the Alan Higgs Charity’s share. The sale would represent a major loss for the charity, which had initially invested £6.5m to secure the share in 2003.

  Wasps would also take on the remainder of ACL’s £14.4m loan from the council and the company’s lease would be extended from 50 years to 250 years as part of the deal.

  The council’s share of ACL was sold to Wasps on 7 October 2014 after a unanimous vote in private – less than a month after the club had returned to the Ricoh Arena.

  Responding to discontent over a lack of transparency and public information about the talks prior to the sale, council leader Ann Lucas said: ‘We are charged with representing you and I’m sorry that each and every decision we make can’t have a referendum, but that’s what democracy is about.

  ‘You elect us and then decide whether or not we have made those decisions in your interests. We don’t take our responsibilities lightly. In a decision like this, we serve the interests of the people of Coventry.’

  Council officials, previously adamant that ACL’s business performance had been up to scratch, admitted after the sale that the company hadn’t been washing its face since the club left the stadium.

  Councillor Ann Lucas told me: ‘We said that ACL was profitable without the football club. The accounts show different. I fully accept that.

  ‘The actual reality of not having the football club there for that year meant ACL couldn’t wash its face.

  ‘But we never had a problem with the company repaying its loan and they have never come to the council
requesting more money.

  ‘Would they have if we hadn’t sold the company to Wasps? Who knows?’

  The issue of the loan repayment was resolved shortly after the sale, with Wasps repaying the council debt in full after raising £35m through a bond scheme – a move which seriously reduced any assumed risk to the taxpayer as a result of the deal.

  Wasps’ acquisition of the Higgs Charity’s share in ACL a few days later was slightly less straightforward. It was unclear if the football club’s ‘first option’ to purchase the charity’s share still existed following the liquidation of CCFC Ltd. To be sure, the Higgs Charity invited the club to also lodge a bid for the share – although this seemed disingenuous at best.

  The club did submit a bid for the Higgs share – but the bid of almost £2.8m ultimately failed as the charity accepted a similar bid of £2.77m from Premiership rugby club Wasps, which also included a share of future ticket income.

  The club had offered to invest heavily in community and educational projects as part of the deal in a vision it labelled a ‘communiversity’.

  A statement from the Higgs Charity explained why the organisation had turned down the club’s bid.

  It read: ‘Notwithstanding the history of Sisu’s behaviour, the Trustees considered carefully the offer to purchase made by Otium through the Joint Liquidators of CCFC Ltd.

  ‘In addition to the financial aspects of the offers, the Trustees considered all other factors.

  ‘Amongst other factors considered, the Wasps offer was unconditional; the Otium offer was conditional. The Wasps offer requires in effect nothing of the Trustees other than the transfer of the shares.’

  Many supporters and club officials felt betrayed at the Wasps deal. There was a strong suggestion the club had been lured back to the Ricoh Arena under false pretences.

  Such was the anger within Sisu that the football club’s owners filed an application for a second judicial review into the Wasps deal, perhaps with a view to unravelling it at some point in the future.

  Others sympathised with ACL’s shareholders after the company had been heavily distressed in recent times. There had also been repeated statements from the former anchor tenant that it planned to build a new stadium and permanently leave the Ricoh Arena – something which left a huge question mark over the future of the venue and its long-term viability.