Jim's column 25.8.2018

Coventry City slipped up at Blackpool's Bloomfield Road in midweek, losing 2-0. It was no real surprise to me as the seaside stadium is one of City's bogey grounds. The two clubs have spent little time in the same division over the years – Blackpool were fixtures in the top flight for the post-war years up until their relegation in 1967, the same year that City reached Division One for the first time and the clubs passed like ships in the night. In the next 34 years it was City who were the unmoveable team in the top division whilst Blackpool slipped down the league after a brief season in the sun in 1970-71. Since 2001 the clubs have been in the same league for six seasons before this season.

City's record there is dreadful. In twelve league visits now they have won twice (1923 & 2016) and drawn one (2008) with the other nine all ending in defeat. There was one Cup visit there, a League Cup tie in 1997, and the Sky Blues lost 0-1 to a team two levels below them but at least had a home second leg to atone and see themselves through. The Tangerines record in Coventry is not impressive however; they haven't won in eight league and cup visits since the last win in 1937 but have drawn their last three games at the Ricoh.

During the summer I heard from the family of Bryan Allen who passed away aged 83 in July. They had always believed that he had played for City in the early 1950s but I had to tell them that no one of that name had appeared in the first team. Then they sent me a team photo from 1952-53 and sure enough Bryan is there alongside other young players including Lol Harvey and Frank Austin.

Margaret Richards provided me with Bryan's story.

'He was born to Leonard Arthur and Elizabeth Allen in Walsall on 3rd. June 1935.  His mother Elizabeth died when he was very young, from the dreaded 'TB'. Subsequently Bryan came to live with my Dad and his second wife Margaret (my Mum) at the age of about six I believe. He attended Wolverhampton Road School, Walsall with two of my older siblings, Arley and Rita. He was a talented football and recalled how two men came from Coventry City to sign him, one being a Mr Storey (ed.- Harry Storer, City's legendary manager).'

'After leaving Coventry City he married Ruth Harris, daughter of the Aldermans Green couple who boarded Bryan whilst he was at the club. They then lived at 'The Lodge', Parrots Grove, in Coventry for many years - he ran a successful Egg production business from there.  Bryans  life was varied and full, he was a skilled diamond (industrial) cutter for over 40 years, played and coached Badminton for the county and was active within the Bowls league - maintaining his fitness - almost right to the end. I understand that Bryan also spent some time in the Army, based in Dorchester and played for Yeovil Town FC at some point. He and his second wife Anne retired to Dorchester and within the past two years moved to be near Anne's parents in Kent.'

Bryan leaves his wife Anne, his only child Lorraine, four grandchildren, and many great and great/great grandchildren. His funeral took place on Friday 20th July at Medway Cremation East Chapel in Chatham, Kent.

Fellow City historian Mike Young was then able to provide a team picture from 1951-52 with Allen on and we believe he played for City's 'A' team in the United Counties League for these two seasons.

                                                     Coventry City 1952-53

In the team photo from 1952 Bryan is seated second from the left on the front row next to Lol Harvey.

Jim’s column 11.8.2018

A major milestone is looming in Coventry City's history as the appearance of the 1000th player to
wear the club's shirt approaches. The four debutants on Saturday against Scunthorpe took the total
of City players to have appeared in first-class competitive games since the club joined the Football
League in 1919 to 998. I'm guessing that new signings Junior Brown and Amadou Bakayoko will
get a game either today at AFC Wimbledon or in midweek at Oxford and that the milestone will be
met.
The 998 include any player who appeared for the club in league, FA Cup, League Cup, Football
League Trophy, Texaco (Anglo-Scottish) Cup, Simod Cup, Zenith Data Cup, Southern Floodlit Cup,
Division Three (South) Cup, Play-offs, Charity Shield or European Fairs Cup (I may have missed a
couple there). It does not include players who played in the war years (1939-1946) when there was
no first-class football. It includes players who only made substitute appearances (there are a few of
those) but not those who sat on the bench but were never used.
It's interesting to note the progress towards the 1000 mark
100th player: Harry Deeming (1925) – 6 years '
200th player: Frank Corbett (1931) – 6 years
300th player: Tommy Briggs (1950) – 12 years (excludes 7 war years)
400th player: John Mitten (1963) – 13 years
500th player: Steve Jacobs (1980) – 17 years
600th player: Roy Wegerle (1993) – 13 years
700th player: Steve Walsh (2002) – 9 years
800th player: Robbie Simpson (2007) – 5 years
900th player: Michael Petrasso (2014) – 7 years
1000th player: ? (2018) – 4 years
The timespan between each century illustrates the turnover of players at the club. The period of
lowest turnover was between 1963 and 1980 which included the Jimmy Hill era when so many of
his team were fixtures in the team and transfers were few and far between.
The last four years has seen the heaviest turnover and reflects the changing nature of the game when
new managers want to build their 'own' team and largely discard what they inherited. In addition the
growth of the loan market has seen an acceleration in the number of players used. For example 34
of the 100 since Petrasso in 2014 and 64 of the 200 since Robbie Simpson in 2007 have been
loanees.
Fellow historian Paul O'Connor analysed the timescales of the players and points out that there is a
clear correlation between performance on the pitch and number of players used. There was a high
turnover in the 1920s as the club struggled under several managers. The 1930s were relatively
stable as Harry Storer's team brought success to the city. Jimmy Hill repeated that success in the
1960s and with only two other managers (Cantwell and Mercer/Milne), the period of 1963-1980
had the greatest stability. Things began to change in the early 80s with the team involved in more
relegation battles, a greater turnover of managers and players and this accelerated in the late 90s as
loans became very common.