This is the only trivia book a Sky Blues fan could ever need, packed with facts, stats, anecdotes and history about Coventry City. From cult heroes and extraordinary escapes to FA Cup glory and championships, it's all here – can you afford not to own a copy? FIND OUT . . . Which City star was once allegedly arrested for espionage. How a lick of paint once kept City in the top flight. Which star striker has been busy inventing a whole new sound. How Jimmy Greaves helped City win the FA Cup. Which competition City are unbeaten in for 30 years.
This is the only trivia book a Sky Blues fan could ever need, packed with facts, stats, anecdotes and history about Coventry City. From cult heroes and extraordinary escapes to FA Cup glory and championships, it's all here – can you afford not to own a copy? FIND OUT . . . Which City star was once allegedly arrested for espionage. How a lick of paint once kept City in the top flight. Which star striker has been busy inventing a whole new sound. How Jimmy Greaves helped City win the FA Cup. Which competition City are unbeaten in for 30 years.
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Overview
This is the only trivia book a Sky Blues fan could ever need, packed with facts, stats, anecdotes and history about Coventry City. From cult heroes and extraordinary escapes to FA Cup glory and championships, it's all here – can you afford not to own a copy? FIND OUT . . . Which City star was once allegedly arrested for espionage. How a lick of paint once kept City in the top flight. Which star striker has been busy inventing a whole new sound. How Jimmy Greaves helped City win the FA Cup. Which competition City are unbeaten in for 30 years.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780750983822 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | The History Press |
| Publication date: | 09/01/2017 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 144 |
| File size: | 1 MB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
KICKING-OFF
The Coventry City Football Club that we know today has its origins far, far away from the modern purpose-built stadium that is the Ricoh Arena. Way back in 1883 there were no handy motorway links, no attached retail parks and no underground casinos. What there was though was just as important as any of the modern-day criteria for a new stadium – there was the interest and enthusiasm of a group of people who loved their football.
Led by employee Willie Stanley, a group of workers from the Singer cycle factory met in the Aylesford Inn in Hillfields and it was there that a new football team was formed – Singers FC. In the latter part of the nineteenth century football was taking off; factory workers up and down the country had started to enjoy the new, cheap entertainment that organised football provided. New teams, new stadiums and new loyalties emerged up and down the country and Coventry was no different.
Singers FC tapped into that growing enthusiasm and within ten years of forming they won the prestigious Birmingham Junior Cup in consecutive years – 1891 and 1892. By 1899, the fledgling factory team would become Coventry City Football Club and new chapters were waiting to be written.
HOME FROM HOME
In the 112 years since Singers FC became Coventry City, two home grounds have been used for all but one of those seasons – Highfield Road and the Ricoh Arena. In their first ever season, 1898/99, City called their Stoke Road ground, just off Paynes Lane, home; but it was only a matter of a long goal-kick from the Highfield Road site where they were to stay for more than a century.
The Highfield Road era spanned three centuries, two world wars (one of which damaged the stadium) and oversaw enormous changes – from the first days of the professional game, through to the times of the hard-working, but low-paid players, into the modern era of the generously rewarded, well-drilled teams of athletes. In their 106-year stay, City had played their own version of the Football League's snakes and ladders, first rising in their early days, then falling back; before spectacularly rising to the very summit and enjoying the view for 34 years, only to slip down once more. Many times, it seemed as though those twin imposters of triumph and defeat might have been season-ticket holders!
When the plans for the move to the Ricoh were first announced, it was like watching Tomorrow's World all over again, as the purpose-built stadium of the future, with its retractable roof and sliding pitch, was unveiled. The plans were downgraded a little, but what was left was still an ultra-modern, smart and comfortable stadium. Even fans who missed the more traditional Highfield Road ground began to warm to what the Ricoh could offer: unrestricted views, leg-room and a decent roof! Complete with its on-site hotel and casino, exhibition halls, a restaurant the length of the pitch and even throw-in sponsors – the Ricoh Arena leaves no commercial stone left unturned.
While the grounds and the times have changed, the pleasure of going along to watch has not. Both the old and new stadiums have witnessed most things that the footballing gods could conjure up. Great games, great players, great despair and great joy have been as regular visitors to Highfield Road and the Ricoh Arena as the City faithful themselves, and long may they remain so!
CITY LEGENDS – CLARRIE BOURTON
For a time in the 1930s, Coventry City were one of the highest scoring teams in the country. In four seasons out of five, from 1932 to 1936, City passed 100 league goals in each season and they became renowned for being an exciting, attack-minded team. Manager Harry Storer wanted a team full of goals, and he got one, thanks in no small measure to Clarrie Bourton, who went on to become the club's all-time leading scorer, with 181 goals in 6 years.
Having suffered a broken leg at Ewood Park, and then been in and out of the Blackburn team, Bourton arrived for £750 in 1931. He went on to make a sensational impact in his opening season; netting seven hat-tricks, including five trebles, plus one 4-goal and one 5-goal haul, along the way to a final tally of 50 strikes (49 in the league and 1 in the FA Cup). Incredibly that year, although City hit 108 league goals, they still only finished half way up the table in twelfth place as they conceded a staggering 97 goals – these figures still remain the highest amounts of goals they have ever scored or conceded in a season.
Football in the 1930s, of course, was very different to the modern era – it was much more about attacking and outscoring your opponents, rather then the pressing and percentage games that dominate today. Combining with fellow forwards Billy Lake and the tricky Jock Lauderdale, Bourton was City's star of the 1930s. A strong, quick centre-forward, he had a powerful shot and terrific finishing ability; he was prolific in each of his first five seasons at City, never dipping below 25 goals. Fans feasted on the number of goals they saw and the chant of the time, 'Come on the Old Five' referred to City's handy habit of regularly putting five past their opponents.
Ironically enough it was only when Harry Storer's men finally achieved the club's first ever promotion, from Division Three South in 1936, that Bourton's goals began to dry up. Whether it was the step up to Division Two, or just the aging process taking its toll, Bourton never quite managed to perform as well at a higher level.
Within little over a year, Bourton was leaving for pastures new, but now, almost seven decades later, his legacy as City's most prolific goalscorer remains intact; no-one has ever got within 50 goals of Bourton's total. In the pantheon of City strikers, the Bantams' star man remains head and shoulders above the rest.
OLDEN, BUT GOLDEN
At 43 years of age, Alf Wood became City's oldest ever player. He achieved that distinction in his second spell at the club when, as an assistant trainer, he stepped in as cover to play in an FA Cup defeat against Plymouth. Not too far behind Wood, was City's most famous custodian, Steve Ogrizovic. At 42, Oggy became City's oldest top-flight player when he made his farewell appearance in May 2000 (a 4–1 thumping of Sheffield Wednesday). Ogrizovic's role at the club changed in his last two years on the playing staff, when he became Magnus Hedman's deputy. It was still testament to his outstanding fitness and longevity that he could even be considered for Premiership football at an age when most people are becoming reconciled to the onset of middle age.
Strangely though, the impressive feats of both Wood and Ogrizovic were almost superseeded on the list of Sky Blue Oldies. In the summer of 1995, Ron Atkinson decided City could do with some experienced back up for the injured Ogrizovic and his up–and-coming young deputy, John Filan. Experience was exactly what Atkinson got in the shape of ex-England stopper Peter Shilton, then a veteran of almost 1,000 league matches, and a mere 45 years of age. Shilton kept the subs' bench warm on a glorious August evening against Manchester City, but was never called upon to play competitively, leaving Alf Wood's record in tact.
STRIKING A CHORD
Ex-City striker Dion Dublin has recently added to the many reasons he achieved fame for. Not content with a top-class career spanning two full decades and four England caps, City's leading top-flight scorer has added another string to his bow by planning, designing and producing a completely new musical instrument – the DUBE.
This percussion instrument is proving a hit, with both schools and the RSC employing it. Dublin has long had a well-documented love of music, early in his career he learnt how to play the saxophone while nursing a broken leg at Manchester United! Stories that Dion's love of music came from his Showaddywaddy-based father were, however, wide of the mark – Dion denies any connections with the 1970s hitmakers.
BIGMOUTH STRIKES AGAIN
When Mick Quinn arrived in the autumn of 1992, very quickly goals followed. With 2 against Liverpool and 2 more in a Boxing Day thrashing of Aston Villa, Quinn was left with 10 goals in his first 6 matches – he was the talk of the Premiership. By the end of that season in Sky Blue the big man weighed in with 17 strikes which, combined with his less-than-svelte figure, had helped him achieve a cult status.
Although Quinn hit a brilliant opening-day hat-trick at Highbury the following August (as Arsenal, the double cup winners, were roasted 3–0), his flow of goals, sadly, began to dry up. A year later he left for Greece, but his playing days were all but done. During his initial prolific spell at Coventry, Quinn had also shown himself to be adept at one-liners for the media, labelling himself the 'fastest player over a yard' in the Premiership, and revelling in his 'Sumo' nickname.
Quinn has since travelled a long way from those early days of being a media favourite, via a racehorse training career, to now becoming one of the most recognised and popular voices on national sports radio station, Talksport. His characteristic breezy delivery, quick-fire opinions and ease with the callers, aligned to his footballing knowledge, have made Quinn the pundit a better bet to stay the course than Quinn the striker, who once set the Premiership on fire.
BACKHANDERS
When Coventry City proudly joined the Football League on 30 August 1919, hopes were high. Although things started badly with a 5–0 home reversal against Spurs, no-one could predict quite how bad they were to get. City lost their first 9 games and did not win until their 20th game, on Christmas Day. A longstanding club tradition of desperately trying to avoid the drop was immediately up and running!
With two games left, City were second bottom and re-election was looming large. They played top-six outfit Bury in both of their last two matches and managed a draw and a final-day win. The 2–1 win over the Shakers brought an escape from the dreaded re-election process, but the game was to go down in club history for all the wrong reasons.
On the surface, City had done fantastically well to turn a 1–0 halftime deficit into a status-securing win. However, mumblings about the authenticity of the result turned into rumours, and 3 years later those rumours turned into allegations – at an FA inquiry investigating match-fixing. The inquiry found that City and Bury had indeed agreed to fix the matches and four City officials – two directors, manager Harry Pollitt and skipper George Chaplin – were found guilty and given life bans.
In the whole of the Football League that season, only Division One champions Sunderland scored more league goals than City. The final total of 102 strikes was bolstered by a near-perfect home record. City scored 5 goals or more in 7 different matches that season, including 6–1, 7–1 and 8–1 successes over QPR, Newport and Crystal Palace. For the fourth year out of five, City scored 70+ league goals at Highfield Road and for the fourth year out of five Clarrie Bourton was top scorer once again, as the team and supporters benefited from manager Harry Storer's attack-minded style.
City secured their first ever championship only on the final day of the 1935/36 season. They lay level on points with Luton Town, though with a better goal average as the final matches were played. Luton's 0–0 draw at QPR meant City could have been promoted with just a point of their own, but they went one better and narrowly squeezed home 2–1 against Torquay to make themselves completely sure of the Third Division South title.
Captain George Mason missed the final game through injury and reputedly spent much of it walking around Gosford Green rather than watching the match which would decide City's season. Only when Mason heard the cheers of the crowd at the final whistle did he allow himself back in to share in the celebrations. After finishing second and third in the previous two years, City had patiently gone about their job of steady improvement; their immediate reward was to be Second Division football, but Storer and co. had the top flight in their sights.
City played three full seasons in the second tier before war broke out and final placings of eighth, fourth and fourth suggest that had he had a little longer, Harry Storer might just have got City into the promised land of Division One some thirty years before Jimmy Hill managed to do so.
MINUS POINTS
In March 2013, with City within striking distance of the play-offs, for the first time in their proud history the club were docked points – ten of them – for entering administration. Having seen the relative success of Mark Robins' reign end abruptly barely a month before, the punishment was another slap in the face for long-suffering fans, who were beginning to wonder just how low things could get.
Sadly, within a matter of months there was more to come, as the Football League announced a second ten-point penalty at the start of the new 2013/14 season this time around as the club was facing liquidation. Before the first balls were kicked in August that season City stood ten points adrift of everyone else and already ambition was limited to just surviving another third tier campaign. That City did manage to stay afloat in League One that year is enormous credit to manager Steven Pressley, who faced an appalling set of circumstances with a steely resolve. Pressley would never be drawn on the situation he faced, satisfying himself instead with his own mantra for the press that things were 'far from ideal' – how right he was.
THIRD TIER HIGHLIGHTS & LOWLIGHTS
Since re-joining the third tier of English football after almost fifty years, the Sky Blues have been through some ups and, regrettably, too many downs, here are just a few.
Highlights:
Johnstone's Paint Trophy
When 31,054 fans attended the Johnstone's Paint Trophy Northern Area Final in February 2013, it was just possible to imagine what success could feel like for the Sky Blues. A packed stadium and a semi-final tie to reach a Wembley final were the ingredients for an evening of rare anticipation. City played well too, until Crewe gave a masterclass of hitting on the break as they put three second-half goals into substitute Chris Dunn's net without reply. Forget the result, remember the warm-up!
Home sweet home
After sixteen months and over 500 days away, Coventry City Football Club finally came back home to the Ricoh Arena on 5 September 2014. The occasion will live long in the memory of all Sky Blue devotees as 27,306 supporters filled the air with a cacophony of noise and joy – at last Coventry were back where they belonged.
'We are top of the league'
Tony Mowbray's 2015/16 vintage provided fans with some of the best attacking play seen by Coventry fans for years. Although ultimately Mowbray's team fell short of promotion and even play-offs after a disastrous New Year, things were different before Christmas. A healthy attendance of over 15,000 fans saw City pull November leaders Gillingham to pieces in a savage display of attacking verve, the Gills conceding four goals before the interval. Wide-man Jacob Murphy danced and skipped to a ten-minute hat-trick and City leap-frogged Gillingham that night to top the table.
Checkatrade cheer
When City took on League Two Wycombe to decide a place in a Wembley final, the mood in the Sky Blue camp was decidedly grey. Rooted to the bottom of the league and with only four league wins in over six months, the 2016/17 vintage had not impressed fans. Problems on the pitch had been added to by further off-field unrest, with protests becoming almost a weekly occurrence – things were grim, which made what followed even sweeter for supporters. Two smartly taken early goals from new boy Stuart Beavon and academy boy George Thomas gave City a cushion, but it was one they could not sit on too comfortably when Wycombe scored soon after the restart.
What followed was brutal football; City desperately clinging on under a barrage from Wycombe as their dreamed-for Wembley date came tantalisingly close. Eventually the final whistle blew and for only the second time in the club's 134-year history a final had been reached. Scenes of the rarest kind followed as fans streamed onto the pitch in uninhibited glee; hugging, dancing and maybe even crying. Fans at last, at long, long last, had something to celebrate.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "The Coventry City Miscellany"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Michael Keane.
Excerpted by permission of The History Press.
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