After each matchday programme this season, we 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 Bolton Wanderers below:
"Good afternoon and welcome to this afternoon’s match, as we face Bolton Wanderers here at St Andrew’s Trillion Trophy Stadium.
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the fans, players, staff and officials from Bolton who join us for today’s game.
When we faced Bolton earlier in the season, it was in very difficult circumstances for The Trotters and there were doubts about the fixture and ticketing around it. Our sympathies were expressed to the Bolton staff and supporters at the time, and it is pleasing to now see an improvement in their situation. We wish you all the best for the future.
January has been an extremely busy period at the Club, with a busy run of fixtures and the Transfer Window.
At our last home game for the unique FA Cup fixture as we hosted Birmingham City, there was a superb attendance of 21,193 – with over 11,500 of them being Sky Blues fans. It was great to see so many of you here, and your support of the team is much appreciated by everyone at Coventry City.
The atmosphere generated that day was fantastic and contributed to a memorable day. On the whole the day passed without incident as both sets of fans embraced the unique circumstances of the fixture.
We were very sorry to learn of an incident on Cattell Road before the game, when a Sky Blues fan was injured. I have been in touch personally with the family of the supporter, and the Club will continue to support him and his family.
There were reports to us of some overcrowding in concourses and when queuing for toilets in the stadium. These have been raised with the team here at Birmingham City, and will help us both in preparation for any other games of similar attendance so that we can improve this for our fans.
I have to praise the work of the staff at Coventry City, Birmingham City and outside agencies such as West Midlands Police, the Sport Ground Safety Authority and the SAG for all coming together so quickly and working so hard to deliver successfully that game.
Obviously we were disappointed to have been knocked out on penalties in Tuesday night’s replay, but we can all be proud of our two performances against a Championship side and it bodes well for the future and where we are aiming to progress towards.
The January Transfer Window closed last week, and the headline from us was the sale of Sam McCallum. At the beginning of the window it was not our intention to sell Sam, but when the interest from Norwich developed it became cleared that we would find it difficult to resist. Supporters will have noted Mark Robins comments in his press conference on deadline day about agents being “busy”, and from that point it becomes clear, we had a duty to get the best possible deal for the Club while reluctantly selling the player. We felt we did that in terms of the fee now and in the future we will receive for Sam, and the fact that Sam will stay with us until the end of the season. Sam has been a model professional throughout this time and a very humble and likeable young man, and we are sure he will continue to be. It is a great opportunity for him in his life and career, and we hope that he finishes his time with us in the best possible fashion.
This has meant that no one has left the squad, and in fact we have strengthened it with the addition of Ryan Giles from Wolves. He is a very good footballer who has been on the radar of our recruitment team for the last couple of years, and we’re pleased to add him to our squad.
Thank you for your support, enjoy the game. PUSB"
Dave Boddy
Chief Executive
Coventry City Football Club