The protest delayed a game as hundreds of plastic toys were thrown onto the pitch due to criticise policy of Coventry City hedge fund Sisu and Charlton chairman Roland Duchatelet. Shortly before the match fans organised a joint march from Charlton railway station, whereas supporters holding banners with slogans as “Charlton fans hate Sisu” and “Coventry fans hate Roland”.
Chants of ‘we want Roland out’ and ‘we want Sisu out’ were sang during clearance of the Valley. Moz Baker, the chairman of Sky Blue Trust, said: “We saw this fixture as the opportunity to try something different”. The event was hyped up on social media and attracted attention even far away from Europe, in USA and Australia.
“People shouting they don’t like the owner has been heard a million times. But we felt if we do this together it will be something that will get us a much wider recognition for what we’re trying to do”, said Baker.
Charlton coach, Rusell Slade, appreciated creativity of fans but claimed that "the focus has got to be that we're delivering on the pitch”.
Charlton succeeded with ease a victory 3:0, what caused that Coventry City is still staying on the bottom of the League One table.
In 2001, two sides encountered each other in the Premier League, yet both have been relegated into the third tier. Charlton after relegation from Championship managed to win only two of their last 11 league fixtures, whilst Coventry broke off negotiations about tenancy agreement of the Ricoh Arena and is likely to play home games miles away from the city.
Supporters of Coventry City claim that protests will be continuing in near future as it seems to be the only one way to communicate with owners of the club. “If the fans’ actions have made a one per cent difference then it has all been worth it. It’s up to individuals what they do, but the most important thing was that we got them back in the city so we can properly get behind the team”, said Baker.
Last Tuesday the Coventry South MP, Jim Cunningham, mentioned about the Ricoh Arena dispute what caused a response by Sports Minister, Tracey Crouch, who is not reluctant to mediate in order to reach an agreement.
Maks Chudzik