Joy Seppala?

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Benhall-Robin
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I saw her name mentioned on Twitter, allegedly seen at Whaddon Road on Saturday.

I haven't followed her Coventry City story, interesting that she was thought to be seen, potential new investor/owner?
PCrobin
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Joined: 05 May 2023, 10:56
a quick Google led to a few discussions about her on Coventry fan forums & local newspaper pages. Not universally loved, to put it politely....wouldn't fill me with much optimism for the future..
Fuller
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Sure I saw JP say on Facebook that name was definitely not in the mix?
Si Robin
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If it's the post on the Cheltenham Town forum on Facebook, then that was JP saying it definitely wasn't Steve Bisciotti - the owner of the Baltimore Ravens.

If it is Joy Seppala/SISU then I'd be very underwhelmed and very concerned.
PCrobin
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Si Robin wrote: 04 Mar 2025, 13:26 If it's the post on the Cheltenham Town forum on Facebook, then that was JP saying it definitely wasn't Steve Bisciotti - the owner of the Baltimore Ravens.

If it is Joy Seppala/SISU then I'd be very underwhelmed and very concerned.
Yep we could end up in a groundshare with FGR or Bristol Rovers :shock:
Robin
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Based in London and a billionaire, still close to Coventry ownership but officially sold her ownership to a local businessman who is also a close friend of hers. So it looks like she has the deep pockets we need to move forward but reading about her time at Coventry it was very turbulent.
CS85
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Si Robin wrote: 04 Mar 2025, 13:26 If it's the post on the Cheltenham Town forum on Facebook, then that was JP saying it definitely wasn't Steve Bisciotti - the owner of the Baltimore Ravens.

If it is Joy Seppala/SISU then I'd be very underwhelmed and very concerned.
Pretty sure you're a big fan of our board si? From what I've heard on the pod anyway.
Do you think the ctfc even entertain the idea of her being involved in a takeover/buyout of bad things people say are true?.....personally I think they'd have told her to bugger off on sight if she was a bad un.
Fuller
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Si Robin wrote: 04 Mar 2025, 13:26 If it's the post on the Cheltenham Town forum on Facebook, then that was JP saying it definitely wasn't Steve Bisciotti - the owner of the Baltimore Ravens.
Ah yes.
Someone on X said there was a lady that looked like her sat in the directors section on Saturday.
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Ihearye
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Si Robin wrote: 04 Mar 2025, 13:26 If it's the post on the Cheltenham Town forum on Facebook, then that was JP saying it definitely wasn't Steve Bisciotti - the owner of the Baltimore Ravens.

If it is Joy Seppala/SISU then I'd be very underwhelmed and very concerned.
You would think if he knew who it wasnt, he should be able to say who it was?
Si Robin
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CS85 wrote: 04 Mar 2025, 17:12
Si Robin wrote: 04 Mar 2025, 13:26 If it's the post on the Cheltenham Town forum on Facebook, then that was JP saying it definitely wasn't Steve Bisciotti - the owner of the Baltimore Ravens.

If it is Joy Seppala/SISU then I'd be very underwhelmed and very concerned.
Pretty sure you're a big fan of our board si? From what I've heard on the pod anyway.
Do you think the ctfc even entertain the idea of her being involved in a takeover/buyout of bad things people say are true?.....personally I think they'd have told her to bugger off on sight if she was a bad un.
I'm not necessarily a fan of the board, I just don't think half the grief they get is warranted. I also don't agree with personal attacks on the chairman when all decisions are made by a majority vote - he has 1 vote but gets all the grief.

I'm firmly of the belief that all those currently on the board have the best interests of the club at heart. I also believe that we could find ourselves in a much worse place if not for the current board. It doesn't mean they don't have their shortcomings and haven't made errors in the past though.

As for the Joy Seppala link, I agree with you that I think they wouldn't be so naive to allow her to be involved in any takeover, but I could be a million miles off that.
Jerry St Clair
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We should run a mile from any SISU, or people connected with SISU, having any involvement whatsoever with our club.
Robin
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Jerry St Clair wrote: 04 Mar 2025, 19:49 We should run a mile from any SISU, or people connected with SISU, having any involvement whatsoever with our club.
If it is indeed her we need to understand why she is seemingly being welcomed with open arms, is it that the board/owners trust her to look after the Robins having learnt from Coventry or are they being lured in by her deep pockets and gift of the gab.
Warwickshire Robin
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Robin wrote: 05 Mar 2025, 10:48
Jerry St Clair wrote: 04 Mar 2025, 19:49 We should run a mile from any SISU, or people connected with SISU, having any involvement whatsoever with our club.
If it is indeed her we need to understand why she is seemingly being welcomed with open arms, is it that the board/owners trust her to look after the Robins having learnt from Coventry or are they being lured in by her deep pockets and gift of the gab.
100% agree Robin. I work with a Cov fan and he suggests we start a protest movement against SISU now even if the rumour proves false🤣
Benhall-Robin
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Jon Palmer confirms she was there and she is interested in a takeover of the club.

The club have declined to comment.
CTFCfan99
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The fact that she supposedly saved Coventry from oblivion and is still seemingly universally disliked by Cov fans is quite concerning.
Robin
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There used to be Chelt fan who also supported Coventry on here, I wish he was still around to give us more perspective. I do feel this is risky on the outside but I do not know too much about her time at Coventry other than they had to play out of the city and dropped down the leagues before stabilizing and coming back up again.
CTFC.Harry
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Location: The Shire
Get her in.
Si Robin
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This is genuinely the most concerning news I've heard in a good while
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Ihearye
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We certainly seem to have a few folk on here who must know a lot about this company SiSU, to have such a low opinion of them. I tend to wait to hear what people have to say and then make my own mind up about them. As opposed to listening to a bunch of fans whose club has had years in the doldrums and seem to have blamed everyone but themselves for it
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Ihearye
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Si Robin wrote: 05 Mar 2025, 13:47 This is genuinely the most concerning news I've heard in a good while
Can you expand on why exactly this is so concerning? The general mood on investment, if I am reading this forum correctly was that we are in good hands and they will run the eye over any potential investors.
Jim
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Ihearye wrote: 05 Mar 2025, 13:47 We certainly seem to have a few folk on here who must know a lot about this company SiSU, to have such a low opinion of them. I tend to wait to hear what people have to say and then make my own mind up about them. As opposed to listening to a bunch of fans whose club has had years in the doldrums and seem to have blamed everyone but themselves for it
Yep, it's about time Coventry fans took a good look in the mirror and took responsibility for their club nearly being driven into oblivion.
Si Robin
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A lot is going from memory, so I'm waiting on some information from elsewhere to confirm my issues.

From what I recall though, yes they cleared Coventry's debts and without them Coventry would have gone bust. However, from there they seemed to be at constant loggerheads with Coventry City Council over the stadium. Be that rent, ownership, who is the main user (Wasps bought the stadium from the council whilst Coventry were a tenant). Coventry were forced to play in Northampton and Birmingham because of these constant rows and frivolous lawsuits (I don't think they won a single one).

It begs the question - what, if anything, does she (and her associates) see in Cheltenham that could make them successful when they failed so badly at a club like Coventry City? A club who were an established Premier League team less than 30 years ago, and have a much larger fanbase than ours.
paperboy
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Clearly Sisu didn't save Coventry from administration because they felt sorry for them, but they spent 30 million achieving very little and it all went downhill from there.
Sobering article here from a few years ago.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... icoh-arena

I'll try and be optimistic and dream that Sisu will invest, build a new stadium elsewhere combined with a hotel and retail outlets in a better location and we'll be a L1/Championship yoyo club.
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Ihearye
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Si Robin wrote: 05 Mar 2025, 13:55 A lot is going from memory, so I'm waiting on some information from elsewhere to confirm my issues.

From what I recall though, yes they cleared Coventry's debts and without them Coventry would have gone bust. However, from there they seemed to be at constant loggerheads with Coventry City Council over the stadium. Be that rent, ownership, who is the main user (Wasps bought the stadium from the council whilst Coventry were a tenant). Coventry were forced to play in Northampton and Birmingham because of these constant rows and frivolous lawsuits (I don't think they won a single one).

It begs the question - what, if anything, does she (and her associates) see in Cheltenham that could make them successful when they failed so badly at a club like Coventry City? A club who were an established Premier League team less than 30 years ago, and have a much larger fanbase than ours.
Well one thing is for certain, they are not here to strip us of our assets!
Robin
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paperboy wrote: 05 Mar 2025, 14:33 Clearly Sisu didn't save Coventry from administration because they felt sorry for them, but they spent 30 million achieving very little and it all went downhill from there.
Sobering article here from a few years ago.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... icoh-arena

I'll try and be optimistic and dream that Sisu will invest, build a new stadium elsewhere combined with a hotel and retail outlets in a better location and we'll be a L1/Championship yoyo club.
We don't need a new stadium though, build a 4000 seater stand with good facilities and we increase crowds and can become established in league one. Championship only happens with some investment or we get a lucky season.
Robin
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Ihearye wrote: 05 Mar 2025, 14:49
Si Robin wrote: 05 Mar 2025, 13:55 A lot is going from memory, so I'm waiting on some information from elsewhere to confirm my issues.

From what I recall though, yes they cleared Coventry's debts and without them Coventry would have gone bust. However, from there they seemed to be at constant loggerheads with Coventry City Council over the stadium. Be that rent, ownership, who is the main user (Wasps bought the stadium from the council whilst Coventry were a tenant). Coventry were forced to play in Northampton and Birmingham because of these constant rows and frivolous lawsuits (I don't think they won a single one).

It begs the question - what, if anything, does she (and her associates) see in Cheltenham that could make them successful when they failed so badly at a club like Coventry City? A club who were an established Premier League team less than 30 years ago, and have a much larger fanbase than ours.
Well one thing is for certain, they are not here to strip us of our assets!
If they take the training ground and ground where does that leave us?
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Ihearye
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Robin wrote: 05 Mar 2025, 15:25
Ihearye wrote: 05 Mar 2025, 14:49
Si Robin wrote: 05 Mar 2025, 13:55 A lot is going from memory, so I'm waiting on some information from elsewhere to confirm my issues.

From what I recall though, yes they cleared Coventry's debts and without them Coventry would have gone bust. However, from there they seemed to be at constant loggerheads with Coventry City Council over the stadium. Be that rent, ownership, who is the main user (Wasps bought the stadium from the council whilst Coventry were a tenant). Coventry were forced to play in Northampton and Birmingham because of these constant rows and frivolous lawsuits (I don't think they won a single one).

It begs the question - what, if anything, does she (and her associates) see in Cheltenham that could make them successful when they failed so badly at a club like Coventry City? A club who were an established Premier League team less than 30 years ago, and have a much larger fanbase than ours.
Well one thing is for certain, they are not here to strip us of our assets!
If they take the training ground and ground where does that leave us?
Take our ground for what???? From who???? Training ground for what. You would have to believe that an international hedge fund is interested in building a handfull of houses on whaddon road. I believe this would not be allowed on the training ground(?)
I don't know, but do find it slightly implausibe
Si Robin
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I'm always sceptical of what a hedge fund would want with a League 2 club, and not a particularly big one either.

It does look like they saved Coventry initially, but everything after that was a complete mess.

From what I can see, they wanted to get the ground on the cheap and when they couldn't they ended up creating frivolous lawsuits, which they were constantly beaten in. They basically left Coventry in the exact same position they found them in, in the Championship and in a shed load of debt. In that time they were relegated twice, played at 4 different grounds (Ricoh, Sixfields, St Andrews and the Pirelli Stadium) and then struck gold with a manager who cared about the club who managed to get them back up.

Naturally, this is only early stages and we don't know if they're the only interested parties, etc... but I'm very sceptical about them.
horlickfanclub
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Ihearye wrote: 05 Mar 2025, 15:33
Robin wrote: 05 Mar 2025, 15:25
Ihearye wrote: 05 Mar 2025, 14:49
Well one thing is for certain, they are not here to strip us of our assets!
If they take the training ground and ground where does that leave us?
Take our ground for what???? From who???? Training ground for what. You would have to believe that an international hedge fund is interested in building a handfull of houses on whaddon road. I believe this would not be allowed on the training ground(?)
I don't know, but do find it slightly implausibe
Just up the road from the training ground building companies are preparing to build the largest housing estate seen around Cheltenham for years. Multi million pounds of public money is being spent on Junction 10 and Tewkesbury Road. With a Government committed to building on every green space possible the training ground is a prime target for building in the next tranche of permissions.. It is a valuable asset. If the bank has lent a lot of money with a charge on the lease and land it is clear from the accounts that we have assets to cover the loan. We are an attractive club for investors.
paperboy
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Robin wrote: 05 Mar 2025, 15:25
paperboy wrote: 05 Mar 2025, 14:33 Clearly Sisu didn't save Coventry from administration because they felt sorry for them, but they spent 30 million achieving very little and it all went downhill from there.
Sobering article here from a few years ago.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... icoh-arena

I'll try and be optimistic and dream that Sisu will invest, build a new stadium elsewhere combined with a hotel and retail outlets in a better location and we'll be a L1/Championship yoyo club.
We don't need a new stadium though, build a 4000 seater stand with good facilities and we increase crowds and can become established in league one. Championship only happens with some investment or we get a lucky season.
Well maybe my imagination is running away with me, but I did say it was just a dream.
I can't see anyone spending 10 million quid on building a new stand in our backstreet location which might increase our attendances by a couple of thousand.
Someone like Sisu would have bigger ambitions than that.
Robin
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paperboy wrote: 05 Mar 2025, 16:28
Robin wrote: 05 Mar 2025, 15:25
paperboy wrote: 05 Mar 2025, 14:33 Clearly Sisu didn't save Coventry from administration because they felt sorry for them, but they spent 30 million achieving very little and it all went downhill from there.
Sobering article here from a few years ago.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... icoh-arena

I'll try and be optimistic and dream that Sisu will invest, build a new stadium elsewhere combined with a hotel and retail outlets in a better location and we'll be a L1/Championship yoyo club.
We don't need a new stadium though, build a 4000 seater stand with good facilities and we increase crowds and can become established in league one. Championship only happens with some investment or we get a lucky season.
Well maybe my imagination is running away with me, but I did say it was just a dream.
I can't see anyone spending 10 million quid on building a new stand in our backstreet location which might increase our attendances by a couple of thousand.
Someone like Sisu would have bigger ambitions than that.
Playing devils advocate say they come and want to take us to the Premier league. Whilst that may seem laughable the Wrexham owners have stated that's their aim so it may have a tiny slither of credibility. That means new stadium, at least 15,000 capacity and all seated, where are we building that? Are they willing to pay £30million or so that it would cost and would the council approve it knowing it's very unlikely we ever reach the Premier league but maybe we could reach the Championship.
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Shade
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I'm not being funny but with the land potentially available around the PRE from Prestbury Road to Wyman's Road, and with a big new main stand, two large all-seater stands could be built if there's enough money that would take the overall capacity to around 15000. I'd prefer terracing behind at least the goal, though, personally. A full length main stand the size of Crewe's big one would be an extra 5000, and a stand behind the goal the size of Exeter's terrace is just under 2000 more. Those two would take capacity to 14000. I wouldn't say either of those were complete pie in the sky, even if I don't think Crewe's stand has boxes, etc.

Infrastructure to host that many in Whaddon, however, is a different proposition. It took an age getting out of there last Tuesday with an extra few hundred Walsall fans trying to get back to the M5.
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Malabus
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Someone, business or persons that have an interest and an ounce of a vision to improve this football club has always been harshly attacked by the usual doom-mongers on here and on other platforms.
Coventry City was a whole different situation, the primary dissatisfaction was the stadium, fact, end of.
We cannot let this opportunity slip away and any ugliness would come from the haters wanting the football club to return and fester into non-league forever

This is great for the club and we must grasp it.
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Shade
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Malabus wrote: 05 Mar 2025, 18:18 Someone, business or persons that have an interest and an ounce of a vision to improve this football club has always been harshly attacked by the usual doom-mongers on here and on other platforms.
Coventry City was a whole different situation, the primary dissatisfaction was the stadium, fact, end of.
We cannot let this opportunity slip away and any ugliness would come from the haters wanting the football club to return and fester into non-league forever

This is great for the club and we must grasp it.
Whereas I agree to an extent, there is supposedly at least one other interested party, and they might be a better option entirely. Either way, it's up to the current owners who they sell to, assuming they pass the fit & proper persons balls. But I fully trust that they, and their advisors/the board have the clubs best interests at heart.
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Malabus
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Shade wrote: 05 Mar 2025, 18:21
Malabus wrote: 05 Mar 2025, 18:18 Someone, business or persons that have an interest and an ounce of a vision to improve this football club has always been harshly attacked by the usual doom-mongers on here and on other platforms.
Coventry City was a whole different situation, the primary dissatisfaction was the stadium, fact, end of.
We cannot let this opportunity slip away and any ugliness would come from the haters wanting the football club to return and fester into non-league forever

This is great for the club and we must grasp it.
Whereas I agree to an extent, there is supposedly at least one other interested party, and they might be a better option entirely. Either way, it's up to the current owners who they sell to, assuming they pass the fit & proper persons balls. But I fully trust that they, and their advisors/the board have the clubs best interests at heart.
True...
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