Club response to learnings of the Alan Higgs Trust clause...
Coventry City FC are disappointed to learn of the actions of the Alan Higgs Trust, in a recent Coventry Telegraph story.
The club was not aware of a secret clause in the Higgs Centre transfer agreement between the Higgs Trust and the Coventry and Warwickshire Award Trust which would block Coventry City FC from long-term residency past 2017 at the Alan Higgs Centre - a clause which puts the Academy's future under threat.
As previously stated, the club have been residents at the Alan Higgs Centre for a number of years where we have paid high-value rent to produce football players from the Coventry and Warwickshire area.
As is well known, we have repeatedly attempted to engage with Coventry Sports Foundation over a long-term deal at the Alan Higgs Centre, and this clause was never made known to us.
In fact, Coventry Sports Foundation publicly stated on May 19th, 2016 that 'the door is still open' for the club at the centre. Similarly, Wasps said only yesterday that they are 'willing to have talks about keeping both football and rugby at the Higgs Centre site.'
In light of recent developments, it is obvious that the door was never open to a long-term agreement and keeping both football and rugby at the centre was not a sincere offer. Both statements appear to have been designed to mislead the public about the true plans that have been made for the Higgs Centre for some time. We can only question why this clause was kept from the club when it appears that everyone else involved has known about it. If there had been more transparency, it would have given the Coventry City a better position to plan for a potential departure from the Alan Higgs Centre but once again, the club feel deliberately misled.
Whilst there is hostility towards the club's owners from the Trust, it is deeply regrettable that they feel the need to take it out on the football club's youth and put the Academy's future under threat.