Coventry United Ladies may have been saved from the clutches of liquidation, but the reality is that their near demise could cause long-lasting damage to the women’s game.
The club have officially been handed a 10-point deduction and there are other obstacles to overcome, including the contracts of players – who were free to negotiate with new employers after being told their deals had been terminated.
That bombshell was delivered two days before Christmas during a Zoom call with one of the club’s owners, along with the news that they would not be paid for December.
Coventry United (green) have been saved from liquidation by businessman Lewis Taylor
But on January 4, the day Coventry were due to go into liquidation, Lewis Taylor, chief executive of Energy Angels, a Midlands-based energy company, agreed a deal to save the club and is willing to invest between £200,000 and £250,000.
Taylor claims that players’ contracts remain valid and that the squad have been ‘positive’ and are ‘ready to compete’, but there are likely still legal issues that will need to be ironed out.
While Taylor’s purchase of the club is a welcome lifeline for staff, manager Jay Bradford and the players who had been jobless, this situation has exposed the flaws and vulnerabilities that remain in the women’s game.
This was a full-time, fully professional Championship club – yet they were hours away from ceasing to exist. There is no guarantee that this will not happen again and that there will not be another Coventry in a year or two years’ time.
There are still several unanswered questions as to how the club found itself in this position and there has been a wall of silence from the former owners and shareholders.
Here, Sportsmail tries to make sense of how the club got to this point and the serious consequences their brush with liquidation could have.
Becoming Coventry United, investment from Hycolin and turning professional
The women’s team was originally founded as Coventry City in 1991…
Source : dailymail
