After each matchday programme this season, we will publish the regular column from the Coventry City board on our website. Read Coventry City Chief Executive Dave Boddy's column from Saturday's game against Gillingham below:
Good afternoon and welcome to this afternoon’s game against Gillingham.
I would like to welcome all of the Coventry City fans here today, as well as the players, staff, officials and supporters from Gillingham.
It has been a busy start to the season on and off the pitch, and after a long Summer the football season really is underway.
Last week saw our second league fixture here at St Andrew’s, and a great win against Bristol Rovers. Between the first and second home fixtures this season, there were some changes around matchday arrangements – some you will have noticed, other you may not have.
The move of Cash Turnstiles to the Tilton Road corner of the Kop Stand made the process for fans buying on the gate much quicker, and admission for fans with Season Tickets and pre-purchased tickets more efficient too. The attendance was similar as for the first game, but with considerably less queuing and inconvenience for supporters.
Additional kiosks were opened in the concourse too, which we hope improved the matchday experience for fans, and we’ll continue to work closely with our colleagues at St Andrew’s about this and other areas of our matchdays.
One of the notable bits of positive feedback, among many the team here have had, is about how welcoming and friendly all of the staff at Birmingham have been, and it really has helped to create a good atmosphere around the stadium on our matchdays.
Last week we launched an offer for 2018/19 Season Ticket holders to ‘Try Before You Buy’ and get a match ticket at the Season Ticket rate, for either last week’s game against Bristol Rovers or today’s match. The take up of the offer has been very good, and we look forward to seeing more familiar faces here to support the team today. We will continue to work hard behind the scenes to encourage more supporters to attend our ‘home’ games this season, while always appreciating the commitment made by Season Ticket holders and maintaining the great value you get from that commitment.
You will have noticed on the back of the players’ shorts this season a new logo. The Exams Office as new home and away shorts sponsors for the 2019/20 season. The logo of The Exams Office will be on the Sky Blues players home shorts this season, while the Exams Training logo will be on the away shorts. The Exams Office – which incorporates Exams Training – is an organisation which supports Exams Officers in schools and colleges across the UK and overseas. I would like to thank them for their support and in particular Juggy Chima, who many fans will know from the Leamington and Warwick Supporters Club and his regular slots on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire too!
Speaking of kit, we’re pleased that the Home Shirt is now back in stock. I think we have an absolutely fantastic kit this season, both for home and the away, and it is a view I know many of our fans share. In fact, it is something shared by the wider football world, with plaudits from numerous websites, Twitter accounts and the respected football magazine Four Four Two, who named our kit among the best in the world!
Of course having such a popular kit does bring its own challenges in terms of fulfilling demand, but we will work closely with our new retail partner Elite Group to make sure they are meeting that demand from our fans.
Now we look forward to today’s game against Gillingham and hopefully continuing our unbeaten start to the season, before our Carabao Cup tie at Watford. It is a great chance for us to test ourselves against Premier League opposition and a match fans will be looking forward to as well – with strong ticket sales for the Sky Blue Army so far despite the short sales period.
Thank you for your support both here at St Andrew’s and at our recent away games too – enjoy today’s match.
PUSB
Dave