After each matchday programme this season, we publish the regular column from the Coventry City board on our website. You can read Coventry City Chief Executive Dave Boddy's column from our game against Stoke City below:
Good afternoon and welcome to the Coventry Building Society Arena for today’s game as we face Stoke City in the Sky Bet Championship.
I would also like to welcome the players, staff, officials and supporters who join us from the Potters for today’s fixture. I’d particularly like to welcome their long-serving owner/chairman Peter Coates, who I’ve known for many years.
Today is our Legends Day, which is always a very special occasion in the Sky Blue calendar and one that many people look forward to. The Day, which is organised in partnership with the Former Players Association, sees us invite our players from the past to join us here at the Arena for a pre-match meal in the Premier Lounge and then a re-introduction to the fans on the pitch at half-time. There is a record number of diners in the Premier Lounge for Legends Day this year and we are delighted to welcome a great range of players – with debuts from the 1950s right up until 2017.
I would like to thank and pay tribute to the hard work of the Former Players Committee in making this day possible, as well as the hospitality team at both the Club and also at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
This Football Club has a fantastic history, both in terms of achievements and the great players who have represented us over the years, and it is brilliant to have days like this where we are able to celebrate that history.
Monday will see us host a training session on pitch here at the Arena for our Junior Sky Blues. We have been looking to hold this session since earlier in the season for our Members, so it will be fantastic to see them here on Monday morning and enjoying the unique opportunity to go ‘behind the scenes’ and watch their heroes.
With the growth of the Football Club and our Junior Sky Blues Membership over recent years, we now have over 3000 JSB Members which is fantastic for us now and bodes well for the future of the Club. This has meant that we are now needing to adapt the Membership from how it was when we had 1000 Members – meaning it is not practical or possible to hold the JSB Parties in the same way where we had huge signing sessions that even with the smaller number of members would last for hours.
However, it was still important to us to hold this replacement for the JSB Party and have an event that gave players and fans the chance to interact and engage with each other, as well as other activities too. There will be a mini Family Zone before and after the training session including Arts and Crafts, Table Football, Table Games and FIFA 23 – run by our great team of volunteers. There will also be music and entertainers around the concourse too, plus Sky Blue Sam and the Easter Bunny in attendance - as well and competitions and prizes to be won as well.
It is important for Football Clubs to be proud of their history and also to look forward to their future, and the events here at the Arena over these next few days reflect that for Coventry City.
Dave Boddy
Chief Executive