Supporters Direct statement - 3/8/13
8/4/2013
Ahead of Tuesday's Capital One Cup match between Leyton Orient and Coventry City, LOFT wishes to express its continued support for the efforts of the Sky Blue Trust in the situation they face. The Football League has acted disgracefully in handing over the club's share to the prospective 'new' owners, who in turn have shown no regard at all for the club's history and community. Below is the latest statement from Supporters Direct on the situation, which LOFT supports: Supporters Direct Statement – Coventry City
3rd August 2013
For immediate release
Supporters Direct notes the decision by The
Football League to grant a transfer of membership of Coventry City Football Club
to SISU [Otium] with a ten point deduction.
This follows their earlier decision to grant the
club permission to play their games outside of the City of Coventry. It is a sad day indeed when a club can be moved
away from its community, its owners can wipe out debts and can act with such
disdain for its fans and the people of the city that have sustained it for the
last 130 years, and these actions can be sanctioned by the authorities who are
supposed to protect the game’s wider interests. It is hard to think of a clearer example of the
failings of governance and leadership that continue to riddle our national game.
The policy upon which this decision was based is not even published. On a day (2nd August) when the football
authorities were originally supposed to report to the Minister for Sport on the
steps they have taken to reform the way the game is regulated, the irony could
not be more telling, and another historic club is eviscerated. We will continue to work with the Sky Blue Trust, and
support them in every way possible to ensure that in its 130th year, the City of
Coventry can have a Club that bears its name, and of which it can be
proud. Football fans deserve better, and we will continue to
campaign for the kind of regulation that the game so desperately needs, and
which fans, politicians and so many others are united in calling
for. End
For further information please contact
kevin.rye@supporters-direct.coop / 07852998542
About
Supporters Direct
· GROWTH: Supporters’
trusts have now been established at over 170 clubs
· MEMBERSHIP: Over 400,000
people are members of supporters’ trusts in the UK
· FINANCE: Supporters’
trusts have now brought in well over £30 million of new finance into football
and rugby league.(This amounts to almost £7 of investment for every £1 of
funding to SD)
· OWNERSHIP: Over 30 clubs
in the UK are in ownership or in control by supporters’ trusts, including
Football League clubs AFC Wimbledon, Exeter City, Portsmouth and Wycombe
Wanderers · PARTNERSHIP: Over 100 supporters’ trusts now have shareholding in
their club
· BOARDROOM: Over 65
supporters’ trusts have directors at their clubs, including Premier League
Swansea City FC
· REACH: Supporters of
nearly 70% of clubs in the top five divisions of football in England, and the
top four divisions in Scotland have established supporters’
trusts
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