Football fans invited to debate Premier League after 20 years

Football fans are being invited to take part in a live public debate on the long-term impact of the Premier League later this month to mark 20 years since the competition began.

The Premier League at 20: the saviour of football? will be chaired by ITV’s veteran football commentator Clive Tyldesley and will bring together a panel of eminent football pundits and professionals from around the UK to talk with fans about the country’s top league.

Among the panel of experts will be Dan Johnson, the Premier League’s director of communications; Patrick Barclay, former chief football commentator at The Times; Jim White, sport columnist with The Telegraph; and Dave Boyle, former chief executive of Supporters Direct.

Coventry University and the University of Brighton have joined forces to organise the event and are inviting football fans from across the country to join the debate, which will be hosted at Coventry University’s London Campus on Monday 23rd January at 6pm.

Coventry Students in Electric Grand Prix Podium Success

Three Motorsport Engineering students from Coventry University have finished third in the hotly-contested evGrandPrix in America, a race for pure electric karts which takes place as part of the build up to the iconic Indianapolis 500.

Ryan Colvey (24), Paul Sleight (23) and Andrew Cook (21) teamed up with the University of Sunderland to take part in the prestigious annual event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which encourages students to design, build and race the fastest and most energy-efficient battery-powered kart over 100 laps. The trio, who designed and built the all-electric kart using the CAD and laser engineering facilities in Coventry University’s motorsport workshop, got off to a good start when their kart was voted runner-up in the ‘design’ category, which qualified them second on the grid for the gruelling race ahead of a multitude of universities from across America.

Writes Alex Roache…

Coventry has the experts

When it comes to sports at Coventry University, few others can match the wealth of expertise available at the University.

Dr John Beech, a lecturer at the University, is nationally recognized for his work in football management, providing commentary on over 160 English Clubs covering marketing, managerial and financial issues. His work is internationally recognized and he has been working at the University since 1995.

Speaking to the University, Dr Beech commented on the current situation of the football clubs finances saying: “It is a very testing time for clubs at the moment, especially those that do not have rich backers.”

2007 saw the arrival of a distinguished sports researcher by the name of Professor Simon Chadwick to Coventry University. Professor Chadwick is the founder of CIBS – the Centre for the International Business of Sport at Coventry University. Barcelona, Athletico Madrid and Us Open Tennis are some of the more notable organisations that he has worked with. Writes Artlee Mhlanga…

Coventry Uni basketball team wins Varsity Trophy against Warwick

Hard-earned: The Coventry University side celebrate with the Varsity trophy.

Coventry University’s basketball team followed up last month’s 65-61 Varsity win over Warwick with a disappointing 96-65 defeat in the British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) Championship Cup to Premier League outfit Oxford University last Wednesday.

The defeat at Oxford is a disappointing end to a fabulous season for Coventry that has had American head coach Brian Porth waxing lyrical about the future of the University’s basketball team.

Porth, who coached the university side to eight wins and three losses in all competitions this season, said gaining promotion to the BUCS Premier League from Division 1A has to be the goal for next season after finishing runners-up in their current league for the second year running. Writes Adam Manning…

Crusaders’ double-header weekend

Head coach Roger Payne and assistant Marcus Garvey discussing a winning blue print for this weekend

Coventry Crusaders begin their double-header weekend at home to play off rivals Durham Wildcats this Saturday evening looking for their third straight victory for the first time in two years.

Roger Payne’s men then travel down to the capital to face third-placed London Leopards (4.00pm) less than 24 hours later to play one of their games in hand.

The club’s fortunes on the court have suddenly changed as back-to-back league wins have lifted the club off the bottom of National League Division One and just two wins off the play-off places.

Crusaders captain Michael Gayle, who grabbed the winning points in their recent 78-77 victory over Leicester Warriors last weekend, is eyeing double revenge for the embarrassing defeat to league newcomers Durham last November, and the over time loss to Leopards three weeks ago. Writes Adam Manning…