The Sky Blues bounced back from the 0-5 loss at Luton to stun one of the promotion favourites Fulham on Saturday lunchtime with another thrilling home display. Trailing to a first half goal Mark Robins' team destroyed the Cottagers in 20 devastating minutes to win 4-1 and record a sixth straight home league win (seven if you count the last home game at St Andrews. Six home wins from the start of the season is the best since 1950-51 when City set the club record by winning their first eight games at Highfield Road and were unbeaten at home until mid-December. That season City led the old Second Division on New Years Day but their promotion challenge fizzled out in the spring and they finished seventh losing only three home games all season. A half decent away record would have seen City promoted to Division 1 16 years earlier than they were!
Seven consecutive home league wins (counting the final game at St Andrews) is the best run since 1955 when under new manager Jesse Carver the Bantams had excellent home form in Division Three South. The team won six and drew two of the first eight before a run of seven home league wins before suffering a defeat to Northampton in mid-January by which time Carver had decamped to Italy. The club record run of consecutive home league wins is 11 set in 1952-53, again in Division Three South.
Coventry City 1955-56
Viktor Gyokeres can't stop scoring right now and has now netted 9 goals in 11 league games, the best start to a campaign by a City striker since Callum Wilson blew the doors off Sixfields in 2013-14 with ten goals in the first 11 games. George Hudson also scored 10 in the first 11 in 1963-64. Vik has some way to catch the inimitable Clarrie Bourton who in 1931-32 scored 14 goals in the first 11 games and became the fastest ever to 20 goals, reaching that figure in just 14 games.
Gyokeres' two goals against Fulham meant he was the first Coventry player to score braces in successive home games since Adam Armstrong in his amazing scoring season in 2015-16. On Halloween 2015 Armstrong scored twice in a 3-2 victory over Peterborough then four days later repeated the feat in a 4-3 win over Barnsley.
It was Fulham's first league visit to Coventry since the 1967-68 season, City's first season in the top flight, when the Londoners shocked the Sky Blues by winning 3-0 with two goals from a young Allan Clarke and one from Joe Gilroy. In the return the following April City grabbed a valuable point in their relegation battle with Brian Hill's only ever goal in the top flight and left Fulham six points adrift at the bottom and virtually doomed for relegation. In the intervening 53 years the teams have somehow avoided each other – both sides have been down to Division Four – until now.
To answer Paul Brucculeri's question, we have met Fulham in a Cup tie since 1967, a two-legged League Cup tie in 1982. The teams drew 2-2 at Craven Cottage with two early goals from Jim Melrose cancelled out before half-time by Tony Gale and former Lockheed Leamington star Roger Brown. The second leg at Highfield Road was a dire game and after no goals in 90 minutes it went to extra-time and finally ended goalless with City going through on the away goals rule. Looking at the line-ups that night it's interesting to note that Fulham had two youngsters, Paul Parker and Ray Houghton, who went on to have stellar careers elsewhere.
If you have a question about the history or statistics of Coventry City please drop me an email at clarriebourton@gmail.com and follow me on Twitter @clarriebourton
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