Coventry City are not the only lower league club to pay a lot of money to rent their stadium. Bradford City pay £380,000 a year to a company owned by former chairman Gordon Gibb who paid £2.3m for Valley Parade in 2003 to keep the club alive.
Bradford’s troubles started when they secured a second year in the Premiership and then spent big on salaries trying to stay there. This cost them £36m and then they were one of the clubs hit hard by the ITV Digital collapse. A stadium redevelopment was financially draining.
Coventry City are not the only lower league club to pay a lot of money to rent their stadium. Bradford City pay £380,000 a year to a company owned by former chairman Gordon Gibb who paid £2.3m for Valley Parade in 2003 to keep the club alive.
Bradford’s troubles started when they secured a second year in the Premiership and then spent big on salaries trying to stay there. This cost them £36m and then they were one of the clubs hit hard by the ITV Digital collapse. A stadium redevelopment was financially draining.
The Richmond and Rhodes families had been paid dividends of more than £8m in the Premier League years. The Rhodeses paid much of that back and pumped in millions of their own money. Co-chairman Mark Lawn put in about £2m in 2007. Tuesday night’s game against Aston Villa will provide a cash boost.