Coventry City Ladies Football Club had the supporters of the Sky Blues to thank this weekend, after they helped donate just under £1000 for the club.
Players and staff of the Ladies team were involved in a ‘bucket shake’ outside the Ricoh Arena before the men’s team kicked off against Bury in the npower League One tie on Saturday, with £936.14 eventually being raised to help run the club for the current campaign.
The financial problems of the team have been well documented in the past few weeks, amidst uncertainty over backing for the current season, which subsequently raises questions marks over how the club will pay for the necessities, such as transport for away fixtures, and hire of the training pitches and stadium, amongst many others. Recent figures revealed that it cost the Sky Blues around £37,000 to run the club last season, and manager Paul Cudby was extremely appreciative of the outpouring of support the club received.
‘’Firstly, I would like to say to all the fans, thank you, thank you, thank you! We're all fully aware of how tight times are for everyone, so to have such a generous response was fantastic and enormously welcome.’’
Travelling costs take up the biggest chunk of the club’s expenditure, with the point proven a day after the event, by the team making a 250 mile round trip to play an away fixture against Leeds United, with further away trips to Sunderland, Portsmouth and Barnet on the horizon.
Cudby went onto signal the importance that the contribution will make to the club, he said: ‘’this kind of money will make a massive difference, our travel costs alone cost somewhere in the region of £8000 to £10,000 per year, so this is a good step towards covering that. One or two more bucket shakes again will help too.
‘’The bottom line is that if the club fail to raise the funds necessary, by events like this, and recruiting further corporate sponsorships, the club will have to cease to exist in the form that we currently run. We hope that we can actually grow as a club to the point where we might be able to put a significant application in for an FA Women’s Super League place. To do that, we need more help with local businesses willing to put their hands in their pockets and support us, and to help save Coventry City Ladies Football Club.’’
Everyone at Coventry City Ladies would like to thank both Coventry City Football Club for giving the club the opportunity to raise funds for such a cause, and fans of both Coventry City and Bury for their donations throughout the day.