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 Sunday's game against Sunderland below:
"Good afternoon and welcome to today’s game, as we face Sunderland here in SkyBet League One in front of the Sky Sports cameras.
I would like to welcome all supporters to St Andrew’s for the game today, including those who have made the long trip from Sunderland for this early kick-off.
I would also like to welcome the players, staff and officials from Sunderland too. In particular, I would like to ‘welcome back’ Lee Burge and Jordan Willis. Jordan played over 200 games in total for the Club, while Lee played 160 times for the Sky Blues. Both are Academy graduates and were part of our League Two promotion winning team, and I hope that our supporters give them a warm reception today, as they were excellent servants of the Club.
Today’s game is the second in another busy week for us. We were delighted with the bumper Tuesday Night Football attendance as we faced Rotherham on Tuesday night. 8,990 was our biggest League attendance at St. Andrews this season, it was also the highest number of home supporters and the biggest “walk up” we have had for many seasons. This in itself created problems for us as a large number began queueing in the final 15 minutes before kick-off and while we appreciate the circumstances of different people, especially midweek, and fans needing to travel further, we would urge supporters where possible to arrive earlier for matches. We will be addressing operational issues it has brought up for games where there is a similar walk up, to try and avoid a repeat of the situation.
We have another Tuesday Night Football offer for our game against Wycombe later this month in what will be another important game in the run up to the end of the season, and we hope that there will be a similar take up for that game, of what is a really good offer to see League One football for only £15 for adults.
In our continued efforts to improve the matchday experience, we have introduced a new reporting line on matchdays. Any issues of racism, homophobia, discrimination, abusive behaviour or general safety issues can now be reported to the Club on matchdays at St Andrew’s using the new phone number – 07395 932 164.
Using other tools that are available meant that some reports of this nature did not reach us until after the game, which was not helpful for dealing with incidents efficiently and making sure fans could enjoy their matchdays without issues. While obviously we do not want any issues like this, hopefully now when they do occur we can deal with them quickly there and then.
You can also report any incidents via our stewards too. We have received some really good feedback about our stewards this season from both home and away supporters, and I would like to thank them for the vital role that they play on our matchdays.
Pre-orders of our new official lager Sky Blue Army, developed in collaboration with Dhillons Brewery, have been really strong since we unveiled it last week. We are looking forward to our launch night later this month, when the Leamington and Warwick Supporters Club, Bedworth and Nuneaton Supporters Club and Southam Supporters Club will all be in attendance, along with other supporters and members of the squad.
The Leamington and Warwick Supporters Club are sponsors of today’s game, the third time they have done so this season. It is important the relationship of mutual support that we have developed with these Supporters Club and other long-established Clubs such as the London Supporters Club and the Irish Supporters Club, who do an excellent job and credit must go to those who run the Clubs in their spare time with huge dedication for the benefit of their fellow Sky Blues fans.
We are very grateful for the backing of these Supporters Clubs and their members, and that of all supporters. Despite the difficulties we have faced, the link between fans and their Club has strengthened hugely over the last few years through the work of these Supporters Clubs, the players, Management, Family Zone and Sky Blues in the Community, plus others, and I hope that this bond will continue to strengthen.
Enjoy the game. PUSB
Dave
Dave Boddy
Chief Executive
Coventry City Football Club