Alan Higgs Centre Company Secretary Peter Knatchbull-Hugessen has denied reports that he and his fellow Directors of the Higgs Centre Trust who include a number of well known people in the City are attempting to wreck the Coventry City Academy and the good work they have been doing over the years in not only developing footballers but educating young people.
Mr Knatchbull-Hugessen, who has been a Director of The Higgs Centre Trust since March 11th 2003, told the Coventry Telegraph's Andy Turner: “People have accused me of wrecking it and so on.
“It was my initiative to build the centre and no-one would be keener to see the Academy back there with proper arrangements in place. I built the bloody thing – it was my idea.
“I spent a year persuading people that it would be a good thing to do and then did the whole of the build. I have put sweat and blood into it so of course I want to see the Academy there.
“It’s a thankless task sometimes and I resent it, to a certain extent, when people say all we’re trying to do is kill the Academy.
“The people who operate up there, Gregor Rioch and his staff are brilliant. They do an excellent job and work with everyone and are a pleasure to have there.
“The groundsman John Ledwidge and his crew are also brilliant and to have as a group of people playing and working there, they are a great bunch, they really are.
“And you really feel bad when you’re having to stop these people, who are doing a really good job, doing what they do because of their bosses.
“It’s a mess but it isn’t a mess of our making, it’s a mess of their making. They can put statements and press releases out saying how important it is to them. OK, then let’s get an agreement and get them back again.”
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