Christmas Quiz (Picture round)

Answers

1. David Titterton
2. Martin Singleton
3. Kyle Lightbourne
4. Jairo Martinez
5. Alan Miller
6. Chris Hussey
7. Leigh Jenkinson
8. Shaun Jeffers
9. David Bowman
10. Jim Hagan

2013 Christmas Quiz

CHRISTMAS QUIZ 2013

1. THE SEASON SO FAR

1. Who knocked City out of the League Cup in August?
2. Which City player has scored in League, League Cup & FA Cup games this season?
3. Apart from Joe Murphy, which player has started every league & cup game?
4. Which home-grown player made his debut at Crawley in the opening game of the season?
5. Chris Maguire became only the second City substitute to score two goals in a league game. Who was the other?
6. Which striker has made nine appearances off the bench but not started a game?
7. Who is the only City player to get a red card?
8. Which club did Andy Webster play for last season?
9. Name the two opponents to score hat-tricks against the Sky Blues?
10. Which City player missed a penalty at Leyton Orient in August?

2. SKY BLUES HISTORY

1. Who is the last player to score an away league hat-trick for the Sky Blues?
2. Who captained the Sky Blues at Wembley in 1987?
3. Which club were City's opponents in the first league game at Highfield Road in 1919?
4. Which club were City's opponents in the last game at Highfield Road?
5. Who scored City's first league goal at the Ricoh Arena?
6. Who was the first City player to receive a red card at the Ricoh Arena?
7. Which City manager went on to coach Sweden to the final of the 1958 World Cup?
8. Who were City's opponents in Dave Busst's testimonial game in 1997?
9. Which manager succeeded Jimmy Hill in 1967?
10. Who captained City to promotion from Division Two in 1967?

3. WHICH FORMER COVENTRY CITY PLAYER…..

1. …is currently manager of the Scottish national team?
2. …was until recently assistant manager at Sheffield United?
3. …has become a professional boxer?
4. …won his 100^th cap for his country last month?
5. …was the last ex-City player to score against the Sky Blues?
6. …recently resigned as manager of Cowdenbeath?
7. …who played in City's 1970 European campaign passed away this year?
8. …was appointed manager of a Premiership club two days before Christmas?
9. …was manager of Falkirk until February this year?
10. ...is chief scout at QPR?

4. WHICH CLUB?

1. …were promoted from League 1 via the play-offs last season?
2. …did Joe Murphy play for in the Premiership?
3. …were City's first opponents at the Ricoh Arena ?
4. …did Steven Pressley join as a player from Coventry City in 1995?
5. ...defeated City in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy last season?
6. ...were the last beaten by the Sky Blues at the Ricoh Arena?
7. ...does ex-City player Terry Butcher now manage?
8. ...which local non-league side played two FA Cup ties at Highfield Road in 1975?
9. ...signed former City player Steven Jennings this season?
10. ...knocked the Sky Blues out of the FA Cup last season?

5. WHICH CURRENT CITY PLAYER …

1. …is the son of a Welsh international footballer?

2. ..is the nephew of a former British & European Amateur Boxing Champion?

3...was the youngest player to appear in a senior British Cup final in 2008?

4. ..made his 100^th first team appearance for the club recently?
5. ..played for Southampton last season?
6. ..was on Liverpool's books as a schoolboy?
7. ..is the son of a former member of the Animals group?
8. ..was on loan at Northampton in 2011-12?

9...played in the 2000 League Cup final?

10...made his debut at the Emirates Stadium last season?

ANSWERS

Section 1

1. Leyton Orient
2. Carl Baker
3. Franck Moussa
4. Aaron Phillips
5. Bobby Gould
6. Mathieu Manset
7. Carl Baker
8. Hearts
9. Jordan Clarke
10. Leon Clarke

Section 2

1. Lee Hughes (Crewe 2002)
2. Brian Kilcline
3. Tottenham

4.Derby County

5. Claus Jorgensen

6. Claus Jorgensen

7. George Raynor

8. Manchester United

9. Noel Cantwell

10. George Curtis

Section 3

1. Gordon Strachan
2. Lee Carsley
3. Leon McKenzie
4. Michael Mifsud
5. Shaun Jeffers
6. Colin Cameron
7. Geoff Strong
8. Tim Sherwood
9. Steven Pressley
10. Ian Butterworth

Section 4

1. Yeovil
2. West Brom
3. QPR
4. Dundee United
5. Crewe
6. Doncaster Rovers
7. Hibernian
8. Coventry Sporting
9. Tranmere Rovers
10. Tottenham H.

Section 5

1. Aaron Phillips

2. Cyrus Christie
3. John Fleck
4. Jordan Clarke
5. Danny Seaborne
6. Carl Baker
7. Adam Barton
8. Blair Adams
9. Joe Murphy
10. Franck Moussa

JIm's column 21.12.13

Two home games at Sixfields in the last seven days have witnessed pitifully low crowds. City fans have become used to small attendances in their temporary Northampton 'home' but the gates against Crewe Alexandra & Hartlepool plumbed new depths. The 2-2 draw with Crewe was watched by the club's lowest ever league crowd of 1,618 whilst on Tuesday night for the FA Cup replay with Hartlepool there were only 1,214 in the ground, the lowest FA Cup crowd for a home game since records were kept. Low crowds are the norm for FA Cup replays these days. City's last home replay in the completion four years ago, against Premiership Portsmouth, attracted just over 7,500 - less than half than the crowd three days earlier for a league game with Barnsley. Compare that to some of the crowds for home replays in the 1950s & 60 - 23,500 that watched Huddersfield in 1955, 25,000 for Pompey in 1963 & almost 28,000 for Crewe in 1966. The FA Cup just doesn't get the pulses racing like it used to. One record still intact is the lowest home crowd for a competitive game set in 1985 when 1,086 turned up at Highfield Road for a meaningless Full Members Cup tie with Millwall. Who, that night, would have thought that eighteen months later a quarter of a million people would turn out in the streets of Coventry to acclaim the Wembley heroes.

Talking of Barnsley, City's replay victory earned a trip to the Championship club on the first weekend in January and early indications point to a large City following at Oakwell. Barnsley might be struggling in the league but with Danny Wilson appointed as manager this week and an excellent FA Cup pedigree in recent seasons, they will be tough opponents. The clubs have never met in the FA Cup but City's recent record at Oakwell is good. They have lost their last two visits there but before that had registered four consecutive victories.

The Sky Blues travel to Swindon today for a league game & their record at the County Ground does not augur well. Since 1953 City have won just one of 12 league visits to the ground although they have won two FA Cup ties there (1966 & 2001). I can also vividly remember a League Cup tie there in 1968-69 season. Swindon, then a Third Division side, had held First Division City 2-2 at Highfield Road and most City fans relished a trip to Wiltshire to put their lower status opponents back in their place. Swindon, inspired by the irrepressible Don Rogers blew City away and deserved their 3-0 victory. The Robins went on to win the League Cup final at Wembley adding other First Division scalps Burnley & Arsenal on the way to lifting the trophy.

Leon Clarke continued his impressive scoring record on Tuesday night, netting twice to take his season's tally to 14 from 22 appearances. Since making his debut on 1st January he has scored 24 goals in 38 appearances (36 starts & 2 subs). Tuesday's brace was his fourth of the season, equalling David McGoldrick's record last season. The last player to score five braces in a season was Michael Mifsud in 2007-08. It is four years this month since Freddie Eastwood scored City's last hat-trick and maybe Leon can crack that record before the season is out.

Follow me on twitter @clarriebourton

Jim's column 14.12.13

Last week's draw at Hartlepool means that the Sky Blues will entertain the North Easterners in a replay next Tuesday. It will be the first FA Cup home replay for almost four years, since Portsmouth (then a Premiership side) won 2-1 with an injury time goal in extra time. Several followers have asked me what City's record in home replays is like and I have done some research this week.

Since WW2 City have hosted 12 FA Cup replays and lost only three, and two of those after extra time. The only side to beat Coventry in ninety minutes was Bristol City in 2007 – a result which precipitated Micky Adams' departure the next day. Portsmouth (2010) and Huddersfield (1955) both needed extra time to win replays in Coventry, and the latter were also a top flight team back in '55.

The record is pretty impressive and one only hopes the omens are good for the replay on Tuesday. The full list of those post-war home replays is as follows:

1952 Leicester C won 4-1

1955 Huddersfield lost 1-2*

1962 Millwall won 2-1

1963 Portsmouth drew 2-2*

1966 Crewe won 4-1

1974 Sheffield Wed won 3-1

1981 Leeds won 1-0

1984 Wolves (2^nd replay) won 3-0

2003 Cardiff City won 3-0

2007 Bristol City lost 0-2

2009 Blackburn  won 1-0

2010 Portsmouth lost 1-2*

* after extra time

Talking of the FA Cup on Sunday I watched Tamworth put up a plucky display against Bristol City only to be knocked out by the more experienced side and a stunning goal from Jay Emmanuel Thomas. Two former City academy players performed well for Tamworth. In goal Cameron Belford had an excellent game & could not be faulted for the two goals whilst Lee Hildreth gave a good account of himself in midfield.

Belford, spent several years at City but never made it to the first team and was released in 2007. He was at Bury for six years and made 78 league appearances as well as loan periods at Worcester, Southend & Accrington, before joining Tamworth this season.

Hildreth, like Belford a Nuneaton lad, was on City's subs bench for the final game of the 2006-07 season at Burnley and came on for Jay Tabb in the final minute in a 2-1 victory. I am not sure if he even touched the ball but he went down in the record books as the player with the shortest first-team career in the club's history. A few days before that he captained City's reserve team in the Birmingham Senior Cup final against Nuneaton and scored the winning goal before lifting the trophy. Lee was released in 2008 and joined Tamworth before joining the Royal Marines. He has subsequently been in Afghanistan and in periods at home played on a part-time basis for Corby, Brackley and Nuneaton Griff before returning to Tamworth on a part-time basis this season.

Belford & Hildreth were both members of City's 2006-07 Youth Cup team which was not one of the club's strongest youth teams, losing 5-1 at Reading in round four and producing only two first team players (Hildreth & Ashley Cain). Since then of course the influence of Gregor Rioch has transformed the club's academy and for the last 2-3 years it has produced a plethora of young talent for the first team. It was sad to see Gregor leave the club recently but he probably needs a new challenge.

Follow me on twitter @clarriebourton

Jim's column 7.12.13

What a comeback at Stadium MK last Saturday. For the first time in a league game this season the Sky Blues came from behind to win a game. After trailing to a 45th minute penalty the team came out for the second half with a higher tempo & kicking towards the enormous Sky Blue Army, they gave the home side a battering they will remember for a long time. Debutant Chris Dagnall's equaliser was a touch fortuitous and it looked as though they would have to settle for a point until, with the clock ticking into the final minutes, substitute Chris Maguire made it the debut to top all debuts by scoring two phenomenal free kicks from 25 yards. Both goals were out of the the highest quality& sent the City following into ecstasy.

Few players have scored two or more goals on their debut for City, let alone a debutant coming off the bench for 25 minutes. Maguire, who has started just one match for Sheffield Wednesday this season, is the first player to score two goals on his debut since Robbie Keane scored a double against Derby County in  August 1999 following his £6 m move from Wolves. Maguire is only the sixth man In the club's history to have scored more than one goal in their first game in a City shirt and the first to score them in an away game. At the time Mick Quinn scored his double he was, like Maguire, on loan - he signed on permanent terms a few weeks later. The full list is:

1928 Tommy Bowen v Norwich (h) 2

1954. Jack Lee v Crystal Palace (h) 2

1963.  George Hudson v Halifax (h) 3

1992.  Mick Quinn v Man City. (h)  2

1999.  Robbie Keane v Derby County (h)  2

2013.  Chris Maguire v MK Dons (a) 2

Chris's feat also made him only the fourth City player to score twice after coming on as a substitute, and the first in a league game since 1967. The full list is:

1967. Bobby Gould v Nottm Forest (a)  3-3

2002. Jay Bothroyd v Rushden & D LC (h) 8-0

2004. Patrick Suffo v Torquay FAC (h) 4-1

2013. Chris Maguire v MK Dons (a) 3-1

Today City travel to the North East to face Hartlepool in the FA Cup. It is the first time the clubs have met in the competition since 1934-35 when City won 4-0 in Round 2 with goals from Clarrie Bourton (2)' Les Jones & Bob Birtley. A crowd of 13,054, a record for the Victoria Ground at the time, watched the one-sided tie.  The victory earned City a Third round tie at St Andrews but the Cup run ended there with a 5-1 defeat. 

Many readers will be aware that my son Alastair went missing in Nottingham this week. He has been found safe and well and I would like to thank everyone for their words of comfort & their help in getting the message of his disappearance through the social networks.

Jim's column 30-11-13

What a week for the Sky Blues! Flying high after a seven-match unbeaten run in the league and three successive home games in which they had scored three goals, they collapsed to two heavy home defeats to Tranmere (1-5) and Rotherham (0-3). Both games left many City fans frustrated as neither scoreline reflected the games at all & flattered their opponents.

The Tranmere defeat was the heaviest home reverse since West Brom won 5-0 at the Ricoh in an FA Cup fifth round tie in 2007-08 against a City team managed for just one week by the joint management team of Frankie Bunn & John Harbin. Ray Ranson unveiled Chris Coleman days later. The last time the Sky Blues had such a heavy home league defeat was back in 1998-99 against Newcastle when despite Noel Whelan giving them an early lead the Geordies hit five in reply. Alan Shearer gave French defender Jean-Guy Wallemme a nightmare afternoon, scoring twice with the other goals coming from Stephen Glass, Dabizas & the late Gary Speed. I seem to remember that the scoreline flattered Newcastle somewhat.

Only on three occasions have City had heavier home league defeats than that.

1919-20 0-5 v Tottenham

1980-81 0-5 v Everton

1989-90 1-6 v Liverpool

In each of this week's games City were undone by two strikers at the top of their game. Tranmere's Ryan Lowe has been a thorn in City's side before. Last season he scored for the MK Dons in our 3-2 win at Milton Keynes and in 2011 he netted twice for Bury at Gigg Lane in the annual first round exit from the League Cup. Last Saturday he netted a hat-trick, the second in consecutive games against City following Wells' three for Bradford City the previous Sunday. Then on Tuesday Rotherham's Nouha Dicko, making his debut on loan from Wigan, scored a superb goal & had a hand in the other goals.

Several readers wondered if the Sky Blues had ever conceded hat-tricks in consecutive league games & I could find one instance of it. In 1925-26 City, playing their solitary season in Division Three North, lost at home to Chesterfield (2-4) and away to Bradford Park Avenue (0-3) in successive weeks. Chesterfield's Jimmy Cookson netted three goals on his way to scoring 44 goals for the season, at the time a Football League record – not bad for a converted reserve full-back! A week later Ken MacDonald scored all three goals as the Bantams crashed at Park Avenue, who went on to finish runners-up in the division.

Lowe became the first player to score a hat-trick against City at home since Nottingham Forest's Kevin Campbell on the opening day of the 1996-97 season.

Today City travel to Milton Keynes with a following of fans expected to be around 7,000. Last season City took just under 5,000 fans there & they saw a fine 3-2 victory with the team twice coming from behind. As I have written previously there were no official figures for away followings until the last five or so years, so any figures for away followings are estimates. I believe however this weekend's Sky Blue Army at Stadium MK will be the largest for a league game since that vital relegation match at Wimbledon in 1996. An estimated 7,000 Coventry fans trekked to Selhurst Park that day to watch two Peter Ndlovu goals virtually ensure safety. There have been bigger followings for Cup games with around 12,000 travelling to Old Trafford six years ago & 9,000 going to the Emirates last season. Let's just hope the team can give the incredible following at MK something to shout about.

City's average away following after today's game will be around 2,250, their best for many, many years and currently only bettered this season by three Football League sides. Leeds United have by far the best away following with an average of over 3,200, City's League One rivals Wolves are averaging 2,700 and Nottingham Forest around 2,500. In other words more fans are following City than 22 Championship sides including Leicester, Birmingham, Derby & Sheffield Wednesday. City's average is slightly skewed by the fact that they have had most of their local derbies and the final figure is likely to be somewhat lower. The number of away fans is obviously boosted by the large number of fans who won't travel to Northampton  & therefore away trips are there only chance of watching their team.  Today, by the way, Leeds have sold 6,800 tickets for their game at Blackburn.