Coventry In Trouble After MD Quits - 07/10/2007

Former Coventry City managing director Paul Fletcher has stated that his resignation was due to the failure of the proposed takeover of the club. This has been a prolonged saga, but Fletcher has now revealed that all five potential investors withdrew their interest which led to his departure. He stated, 'The failure to agree acceptabe terms has meant that the club has little prospect of regaining the traditional income streams. Potential investors also seem to have realised this. The football club cannot survive in the current situation, something has to give.' Coventry are currently around £28m in debt, but they have no tangible assets as they are tenants at the Ricoh Arena. This was built as part of attempts to regenerate North Coventry and is a splendid stadium with excellent conference and hotel facilities. However, it is only about two-thirds full for most home matches. Coventry were once a third level side, but rose to the top flight along with growing prosperity in the city as a home of volume car production. Now the car industry has gone although sustained efforts have been made with some success to reinvent the city as a hi-tech and services centre. The football club is a flagship for the city (along with its ice hockey team), and the City Council will not want to see it go under, but the immediate future poses real challenges.