After each matchday programme, we will be publishing the 'From the Boardroom' article on our website. For Saturday's match against Swindon Town, Coventry City Chief Executive Dave Boddy wrote the column and his article is published below:
"Good afternoon and welcome to the Ricoh Arena as we face Swindon Town here in SkyBet League Two this afternoon.
The away game at Swindon earlier this season was the best game that I have seen this season, so if it is anything like that then we are in for a treat.
I have been delighted with the reaction to the announcement of our Community Day against Accrington Stanley on 10th February. Not only will tickets be £5 in advance for all supporters (or £10 on the day), but Sky Blues in the Community are visiting schools in Coventry to hand out vouchers for free tickets for the game in the North Stand.
We hope to see the Ricoh Arena packed for that match, which would be great and provide a huge boost to Mark Robins and the team in a crucial game in the push for promotion.
We have seen the extent of the Sky Blue Army support for the team once again this week, as we sold out of tickets for our upcoming Emirates FA Cup tie against MK Dons. To sell nearly 8000 tickets for an away fixture without even going on general sale is a huge achievement for any club.
Last season during the Wembley ticket process, there were complaints about queueing times and purchasing online. I’m glad to report that there have been minimal examples of this on this occasion.
We took the decision to reduce the Season Ticket allocation from the normal 6 down to 4. Setting allocations per person is never an easy decision, as fans have different circumstances and in this situation the supply of tickets was never enough to satisfy the demand.
Season Ticket holder’s priority is important, as it is these fans who commit their time and money to the club at the start of each season and who’s loyalty is vital. Saying that, we appreciate not all fans are able to commit, which is where our Memberships and Match Packages come in. These fans also received a priority, with the tickets selling out around 30 minutes into this period.
Just under 3000 Season Ticket holders purchased tickets for MK Dons. This means an average of 2.2 tickets per person. Ultimately, it was not the allocation per person which lead to tickets selling out ‘early’, but the desire of fans to make the trip to Stadium MK to support the team in such a big game, which should be applauded.
We did request further tickets from MK Dons both before selling out and once we did, however following safety concerns regarding previous occasions against other teams that away capacities totalled 10,000 meant that MK Dons could not accommodate this.
I hope you enjoy the game today!"
Dave Boddy
Chief Executive
Coventry City Football Club