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 Doncaster Rovers below:
Good afternoon and welcome to this afternoon’s game, as we host Doncaster Rovers here at St Andrew’s Trillion Trophy Stadium.
I would like to welcome the fans, players, staff and officials from Doncaster who join us today, for what I hope will be another great game.
With the unbelievably sad demise of Bury Football Club, we were left without a fixture last Saturday as we were due to visit Gigg Lane. With the absence of a fixture, we took the opportunity to give the players and football staff a mini-break, which we felt was important. The football season is intense for anybody involved in it and having already played 12 games in the last 8 weeks, everybody needed the opportunity to refresh.
In my last notes, I spoke about the departure of Richard Stevens as Academy Manager and his outstanding achievements in his twelve years at the Club. We have formally advertised the post of Academy Manager earlier this week, and we have already been impressed by the quality of applicants. However, we will not be rushed into making an appointment because we feel the importance of getting such a key appointment right deserves lots of consideration.
During the last few weeks both myself and Chairman Tim Fisher have been asked on numerous occasions about the potential new stadium that our Owners have spoken about.
When they are in a position to give a substantial update I’m sure they will, and it would be wrong to drip out snippets of information at this stage. However, I can confirm that they have employed land agents who are currently looking to identify potential sites and have drawn up a long list.
The Supporters Club model that was initially established by the Leamington and Warwick Supporters Club, who are now in their third season, has become popular in other locations. Last season Bedworth and Nuneaton, and Southam, successfully established their groups and during the Summer a Coventry Supporters Club was formed, based out of the old Supporters Club in Freehold Street near to Highfield Road.
Last week, there was a wide-ranging discussion on social media regarding their membership policy, which they have since changed. We have this week sat down for our first meeting with the Supporters Club to begin a formal relationship with the Supporters Club which we hope will now prosper like the other clubs have done.
We have received further interest from groups in the East Midlands and Leicestershire, and whilst all groups remain independently run, the Club will support them where possible. I would encourage any potential new groups to contact and meet with the Club first before launching.
Thank you for your support as always – enjoy today’s match… Play Up Sky Blues.
Dave