Small attendances, poor form, ownership protests - is Coventry City a dying club?

They've won the FA Cup and spent 33 consecutive years in the top flight, but fans say Coventry City is a "dying club".

On the pitch, they're in their worst position for nearly 50 years - the bottom of League One.

Off it, attendances have plummeted and supporters have staged eye-catching protests over the way the owner, Sisu, is running things.

But the club's chairman Timothy Fisher insists the hedge fund "does care".

Part of the problem is the Ricoh Arena, where Coventry play their home games.

"We don't own our ground," explains 19-year-old Matt, who's been a fan since he was younger.

Matt thinks the club won't have anywhere to play soon

"When the lease runs out next year, personally I think we'll be kicked out and we won't have anywhere to play."

It's a real fear for fans. In the 2013-14 season, after an argument over rent, the Sky Blues had to play all their home games in Northampton.

That's a 60-mile round trip and it's affected attendances.

Fans protest over Sisu's decision to move Coventry's home games to Northampton in 2013

A recent cup match attracted just 1,338 fans in a stadium that seats more than 30,000.

As the number of fans decreases - so does the money.

There are also fears over the future of the club's academy and its training ground.

Fan protests have ranged from throwing blow-up plastic pigs, staging pitch invasions and even a mock funeral procession.

Several games have had to be stopped and, in one instance, loud whistling from the stands led to Coventry conceding a goal.

Coventry aren't alone.

In the past couple of years clubs like Charlton, Hull City and Blackpool have all protested against their respective owners, with the common gripe that they don't have fans' interests at heart.

Coventry's chairman Timothy Fisher admits there are problems.

"I wouldn't say it's a dying club but I would say it's at real risk of having a downward spiral," he's told Newsbeat.

"I think the challenge here is to put the handbrake on and turn it around."

But he says fans need to understand that Sisu does care.

"Of course they care about the fans and they care about football. But they are a hedge fund not a benefactor model.

"So I wouldn't confuse caring for the football fans with wanting to run a breakeven business, it's very different."

We tried to contact Sisu for a comment but they haven't got back to us.

Moz Baker, who's the chairman of the club's biggest supporter group - the Sky Blue Trust - thinks that's typical.

The glory days: Coventry City as 1987 FA Cup winners

"There has been a lack of investment and a lack of engagement with the fans," he's told Newsbeat.

"A lack of interest and idea about what the football club is all about.

"Many fans have said to me that they won't be renewing their season tickets next season - which is a sad state of affairs.

"There's only so much longer this can carry on. That is why we've had a series of protests."

George Baker on the site of Coventry City's old ground, Highfield Road

His son, George, feels the same.

"Coventry City is my life and it's what I've known since I was a young boy so I don't know what I'd do if they folded.

"Who would I even follow? It just wouldn't be the same without them."

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