Three men who played
key roles in Jimmy Hill's Sky Blue revolution in the 1960s have sadly
passed away in the last week. Former players Peter Hill, aged 83, and
Ken Hale, 75, and Alan Leather, the club secretary from 1966-1968,
died aged 83.
Ken Hale was born in
Northumberland at Blyth in September 1939 & joined Everton as an
apprentice on leaving school in 1955. His stay on Merseyside was
short & he soon returned home when Newcastle, the club he had
supported as a boy, wanted to sign him. A talented goal-scoring
inside-forward, Ken made his first team debut at White Hart Lane as
an eighteen-year old at Christmas 1957. He combined his football
career with an apprenticeship as an electrician with the National
Coal board. Competition for places at St James' Park was tough
however and in four seasons he made only eight appearances in First
Division games, scoring two goals. It was only in 1961-62, after
Newcastle had been relegated to Division Two that Ken got a longer
run in the first team scoring seven goals in 11 games playing
alongside luminaries such as Ivor Allchurch & Ken Leek. Joe
Harvey took over as manager of Newcastle in 1962 & although Ken
had scored six goals in 11 games (including two past former City
'keeper Arthur Lightening making his debut for Middlesbrough) Harvey
was happy to let him join the Sky Blues for £10,000 just before
Christmas. In total he scored 16 goals in 35 games for the Magpies.
When he arrived at
Highfield Road one City player already knew Ken well – Mick Kearns
had played in the same British Army representative side whilst doing
their National Service. Ken & Mick went on a tour of the Far East
with the Army & Ken played for a very strong Army XI against City
in early 1962.
Blond-haired Ken made
his bow for City at Notts County on 15 December 1962, replacing Hugh
Barr in a 1-1 draw, but his appearances were restricted by an
Achilles injury in that weather-battered season that saw the Sky
Blues reach the FA Cup sixth round. On his home debut the following
week he scored City’s second goal against Colchester but the game
was abandoned at half-time because of fog & the goal didn’t
count. He scored his first ‘official’ goal in the home win over
Barnsley 'a booming shot' and scored the late equaliser (a ‘screamer’
according to Nemo in the Coventry Telegraph) in the 1-1 draw at
Portsmouth in the fourth round. The following season Hale was
first-choice at inside-forward and netted 16 league goals, 13 of them
before the turn of the year, as City marched to the Third Division
title. His understanding with winger Willie Humphries and
centre-forward George Hudson seemed telepathic at times & he was
undoubtedly one of the best players in the division that season.
In Division Two Ken did
not look out of place and netted nine goals in 32 games as City
consolidated their position in the higher league and in January 1965
he was the architect of City's remarkable 5-4 victory over Newcastle,
the then league leaders. He scored a penalty & had a hand in most
of the goals against his favourite team. In 1965-66 his form dipped &
along with Ernie Machin he became a target of unwarranted barracking
from some sections of the Highfield Road crowd. Jimmy Hill stood by
him however and Ken returned to the side & scored a ‘stunning’
goal against West Brom in the League Cup. The arrival of Ray Pointer
signalled the end of his Coventry career and on transfer deadline day
in March 1966 (the same day George Hudson was sold to Northampton)
Ken joined Oxford United for £8,000, after 111 appearances and 33
goals.
In three seasons at the
Manor Ground Ken made 72 appearances and scored 13 goals, played
alongside Ron Atkinson & was in the U's 1967-68 Third Division
championship side. He joined Darlington in May 1968 & made almost
200 appearances for the Quakers over five seasons before joining
Halifax as a player-coach. In 1974 he was appointed manager of
Hartlepool where he stayed for 2 ½ years.
After retiring from
football Ken & his wife Joan bought a newsagent's business in
Sunderland & later he went to work as an administrator in the
NHS. They had two sons & a daughter with eight grandchildren. Ken
was tragically struck down with Alzheimer's a number of years ago &
died peacefully on Monday.
Jimmy Hill brought Alan
Leather to the club in October 1966 & he stayed in the role for
two years. He played as an amateur for Enfield & Tufnell Park in
the 1950s before becoming a football administrator first with the
South East Counties League, and later as assistant secretary with
Tottenham Hotspur during their golden period of the early 60s. In
1966 he was seconded to the World Cup organisation & was liaison
officer to the successful England team. He replaced Paul Oliver as
secretary at Highfield Road & during his time with the Sky Blues
he saw the side win promotion to Division 1 as well as overseeing the
building of two new stands & an increase in season ticket sales
from 5,500 to 11,000. After the Main Stand burnt down in March
1968 Alan rallied the troops & somehow got the ground in a fit
state for the visit of Manchester United ten days later dealing with
all of the ticketing and other challenges with a cool head. The game,
in front of City’s second biggest crowd of all-time of 47,111, went
like clockwork thanks to Alan’s administrative skills.
Alan however never
really settled in the Midlands and in 1968 the club released him &
soon afterwards he became secretary at Crystal Palace with whom he
had a long and successful career. He was the Honorary Secretary of
the Football Secretaries & Managers Association, a fore-runner of
the modern day League Manager's Association, of which he remained an
enthusiastic member until his death.
I will write about
Peter Hill’s career next week.
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