Jim's column 21.9.13

                                                                    Eddie Brown

Coventry City’s 2-1 victory over Gillingham extended the team’s unbeaten league run to six games & lifted the Sky Blues out of the relegation zone. Leon Clarke’s fast goal prompted many to ask when did they score such a fast goal. Most reports timed Clarke’s goal at 56 seconds making it the fastest City goal since December 2008 when Clinton Morrison netted after 37 seconds against Ipswich Town at the Ricoh Arena in a game that ended 2-2.

Leon’s goal is some way off the fastest ever by a City player, a record shared by the late Eddie Brown & Gary McSheffrey at twelve seconds. Brown scored his swift goal in August 1954 in a 2-1 home win over Reading whilst McSheffrey’s speedy effort came in a 3-0 home League Cup win in September 2002. Other fast goals include:

1954/55	Eddie Brown	Reading	H	12 secs	2-1
2002/03	Gary McSheffrey	Colchester (LC)	H	12 secs	3-0
2001/02	Youssef Chippo	Barnsley	H	13 secs	4-0
1982/83	Mark Hateley	Southampton	A	14 secs	1-1
1962/63	Jimmy Whitehouse	Lincoln (FAC)	A	15 secs	5-1
1977/78	Mick Ferguson	Birmingham	H	25 secs	4-0
1981/82	Gerry Daly	Stoke	H	27 secs	3-0
1989/90	Steve Livingstone	Chelsea	H	28 secs	3-2
1948/49	Peter Murphy	Lincoln	H	30 secs	1-0
1953/54	Gordon Nutt	Walsall	H	30 secs	2-0

Callum Wilson failed to find the net against Gillingham but with eight league goals is the joint top scorer not only in League One but in the whole Football League. He shares that honour with Bradford City’s Bermuda-born Nahki Wells (the new Shaun Goater?). Wells has continued in League One where he left off last term in League Two with eight league goals plus one in the League Cup.

Several readers have asked when Coventry last had the leading scorer in a Football League season. The answer is the 1931-32 when the legendary Clarrie Bourton topped the scoring lists with 49 goals in Division Three South – the only time a City player has achieved that feat. Bourton scored 40 goals the following season to top the Third South list again but was pipped to the overall top scorer award by Hull City’s Bill McNaughton who scored 41 goals.

Three other Coventry players have topped the divisional scorers. In 1962-63 George Hudson netted 30 league goals to top Division Three’s list but Tottenham’s Jimmy Greaves netted 37. In actual fact only six of Hudson’s goals were scored for the Sky Blues after his move from Peterborough in April.

In 1966-67 Bobby Gould topped Division Two’s scorers with 24 goals but was easily beaten by Southampton’s Ron Davies (37) & QPR’s Rodney Marsh (30). In 1997-98 Dion Dublin was joint top scorer with Michael Owen in the Premier League with 18 goals but was surpassed by many in the lower divisions including Kevin Phillips & Pierre Van Hooijdonk.

American reader Bob Nelsen wanted to know what playing kit the club used prior to Jimmy Hill introducing the famous Sky Blue kit in 1962. The team wore white shirts with a blue v-neck and white shorts. The short-sleeved version is illustrated in the picture but as the cold weather arrived the long sleeved version, with blue sleeves, came into use.

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