By Brian Dick, Coventry Telegraph.
March 27 2013

COVENTRY might not have lost on the pitch last Saturday but they certainly lost off it following the postponement of the Esher match – which promised to be a bumper pay day for the National One outfit.

Last week’s snowfall meant the clash at Butts Park Arena had to be called off, which rugby director Phil Maynard estimates cost his club £20,000 in lost corporate entertainment and gate and bar receipts.

And it has proved to be a double-edged sword with Cov now facing the prospect of having to extend their season into May, given the fact they have no free weekends between now and April 27.

While that might sound relatively simple, the fact Cov’s players’ contracts run out on May 1, three days before they may end up playing Esher, gives Maynard and the club board much to think about.

“From a financial point of view the postponement was a bitter pill to swallow,” Maynard admitted. “We had a full Platinum Suite, a full VP Suite and a full Centurion’s Club and 80 people sitting down for a two-course lunch.

“The one consolation is that a few years ago we would have been crippled at losing that but nevertheless we could certainly have done without taking that hit.”

Coventry effectively have two choices, extending the season to May 4 and negotiating with their players to fulfil the fixture, an option that would at least allow them to recoup some of the lost revenue from last weekend.

Or alternatively they could try to shoe-horn the game into midweek, which would be easier to manage in terms of players’ contracts, but far less attractive to the corporate market.

Click here for more on this article.

Coventry left counting £20,000 cost of postponement.

Discussion started by Unofficial Coventry Rugby (IP Logged), 27/03/2013 12:06

Unofficial Coventry Rugby
27/03/2013 12:06

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Geoff Kennedy
27/03/2013 16:55

The club has worked very hard in persuading corporate bodies to entertain their clients on match day. In these hard financial times they have had to work even harder and have given great value to match day guests and sponsors. The success of the staff who work behind the scenes cannot be underestimated and last Saturday's financial loss is a cruel blow. We offer a much better fare than the football club based at the Ricoh.
I hope that the club can come to an arrangement with players to enable the fixture to be played on 4 May, which would give the club a chance to rebook many of last Saturday's clients.

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zinzanh
27/03/2013 21:18

Yes Albie, that has to be the way.

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bigm/ mark harrison.
27/03/2013 23:57

lets not be so smug about the ricoh ,dont forget where we played a game and the circumstances it was played under

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