Sell Coventry City FC to The Gary Hoffman Consortium

Takeover offer to buy Coventry City fronted by the Championship club’s former vice-chairman, Gary Hoffman, was unexpectedly withdrawn on Friday afternoon amid concerns over the provenance of its funding and the possible involvement of a businessman with links to West Ham manager Sam Allardyce.

Coventry’s chairman, Ken Dulieu, subsequently released a statement indicating that the club still had “many questions” about the bid — including the identities of Hoffman’s investors, as yet undisclosed - despite detailed talks with the former Northern Rock chief executive in Burton-on-Trent last week.

Dulieu confirmed that Ken Bruce, a retired lawyer and a former chairman of the investment vehicle Investing in Sport, had been present at that meeting.

Bruce is listed as a director of both Game 8 Ltd and its subsidiary Cuju TV Ltd at Companies House.

Allardyce, manager of Coventry’s Championship rivals West Ham, is also listed as a director of both companies. Under Article 86 of the Football League’s rules, it is not permitted for “a person, or any associate of that person, who is interested in a Club” to be “at the same time interested in any other football club.”