I am in regular contact with Marshall Stewart, author of Sky Blue Miracle, the first and one of the best books on the history of the football club, and he recently suggested that I write about Erle Shanks, an influential and sometimes controversial director of the club before and after World War Two. Born in 1901 he was the son of Ernest O Shanks, the owner of a Coventry-based timber company, and his wife Florinda.
W Erle Shanks
He first came to prominence at Highfield Road in May 1936 just weeks after City had clinched promotion to the old Second Division. A new stand was planned for Highfield Road, replacing the old John Bull Stand which had been in situ since the ground first opened in 1899. The old stand, on the south side of the ground (at the top of King Richard Street) only held a few hundred patrons and was in a poor state of repair.
The new stand was originally called the 'Promotion Stand' later became known as the Main Stand and was severely damaged by fire in 1968. The club did not have the money to both finance team strengthening for the higher division and carry out all the ground improvements and the Midland Daily Telegraph reported that 'an appeal fund to raise the £5,000 was to be supervised by William Erle Shanks, the owner of a timber merchant and joinery firm based in Foleshill'.
Shanks, a public spirited supporter who no doubt saw an opportunity of some substantial work for his company, would administer the ‘Stand Fund’ and organise a system of “district collecting agents”. A donation of 500 guineas by the football club inaugurated the appeal fund and Shanks’ open letter in the MDT urged all local businesses and individual supporters to make generous donations. In the same edition of the newspaper manager Harry Storer confirmed the club’s financial donation and revealed that Shanks had recently turned down an offer to join the board as the appeal would take up too much of his time. By August 1936 he had changed his mind and became a key member of the board, heading the Ground sub-committee and becoming involved with the negotiations over the Highfield Road ground lease.
The appeal failed to raise the full £5,000 required and Shanks was scathing of local businesses for not supporting the club. The new stand was completed for the new season however and Shanks persuaded Sir John Siddeley to lend the club the money to buy the freehold of Highfield Road from the Mercer's Company, a deal which strengthened the club's position as they entered Division Two.
By 1939 Shanks had emerged as the most dynamic of City's directors and soon after war was declared in September of that year he presented a plan for how the club could survive the hostilities which included the retention of manager Harry Storer (on a reduced salary) and the groundsman to ensure that the club was ready for resumption of activities as soon as possible.
After the war Shanks stood down from the board and was appointed vice-president of the club before becoming president in 1950 following the death of Alderman Fred Lee. In 1953. with City back in Division Three, however he resigned from that position in protest at the sacking of manager Harry Storer and led a shareholder's revolt that saw the majority of the board resign in April 1954 with Erle stepping in to be chairman. One of his first tasks was to bring onto the board businessman, Derrick Robins with whom he had close business ties. For the first time since the war the club had dynamic men who would make things happen but success was not quite around the corner.
Storer's replacement Jack Fairbrother resigned in the autumn of 1954 allegedly over the sale of Eddie Brown to Birmingham and director's interference in the dressing room. Erle had ambitious plans however and in January 1955 announced a major coup by persuading top coach Jesse Carver to give up a job with AS Roma to become City's manager on a large salary the following season. For half a season Carver put City back on the football map with lots of continental ideas and some attractive football but by the start of 1956 he was on his way back to Italy. Shanks recruited Harry Warren to replace Carver but it was a poor decision and within 15 months Warren was sacked and Billy Frith came back for a second spell as manager.
In April 1958 Shanks resigned as chairman after a lot of pressure from shareholders and the club heading into the new Fourth Division. According to the Coventry Telegraph the resignation came after an incident following a home defeat to Swindon. Shanks had stormed into the home dressing room and in front of the manager and several other directors severely criticised the players’ performance. The late Lol Harvey, who played that night remembered it well: ‘Erle was known to have a short fuse but all the players liked him because he cared so much about the club. That night we had been dreadful but were shocked when he came into the dressing room – he never came in there – and started ripping into the players in general. He didn’t criticise me though, I remember he turned to me and said, ‘well played Lol’’.
Shanks resigned that night and a club statement said that the lack of success on the playing field had caused Mr Shanks ‘bitter disappointment and has been poor reward for his ceaseless and untiring efforts. Like directors before and after him Shanks’ hard work and financial backing was taken for granted by many fans. They didn’t appreciate what Shanks had done, especially in 1936 when his involvement in the ground improvements and their funding was crucial in the club’s development. His Herculean efforts to bring success to the club, displayed by his coup in bringing Carver to Coventry and his invaluable committee work, were matched by his impatience for success.
I had the pleasure of meeting Erle Shanks in the early 1990s by which time he was living in a Coventry residential home and he was a feisty character with strong views on football, lots of memories and still an avid City fan. He died in 1999, aged 98.
If you have a question about Coventry City's history please drop me an email at clarriebourton@gmail.com and follow me on Twitter @clarriebourton
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