A momentous second season back in the second tier of English football saw Coventry City return to the city and fans return at games after Covid-19. The fans were rewarded with some of the best football their team has played this century and a final position of 12th was well above most fan's expectations and considerably higher than their budget dictated.
The standards in the Championship were as high as they have ever been and it was believed that Mark Robins had one of the bottom six budgets in the division with a wage bill probably a quarter of many of the sides in the division, several of whom were in receipt of £40m plus parachute payments following relegation from the Premiership and one club with a striker paid £100,000 plus a week.
Notwithstanding this, for the fifth season running Mark Robins improved the club's final league placing – the club's first manager since Jimmy Hill to achieve this.
In the summer transfer window the club strengthened the squad prudently with the acquisitions of goalkeeper Simon Moore, striker Viktor Gyokeres, the experienced Martyn Waghorn and the loan deal for Ben Sheaf turned into a permanent transfer. Two Chelsea loanees arrived, Ian Maatsen and Jake Clarke-Salter, courtesy of assistant manager Adi Viveash's connections with the West London club. Full-back Todd Kane arrived from QPR after the season started and Jake Bidwell signed from Swansea in January. It's probably fair to say that Moore, Gyokeres, Sheaf, Maatsen and Clarke-Salter were unqualified successes whilst the jury is still out on Waghorn, Kane and Bidwell.
From the previous season's squad, many of whom came up from League One, Hyam, McFadzean, Allen and O'Hare all had very good campaigns and although injuries reduced the appearances of Dabo, Kelly and Godden, they all again showed that they have the quality required at this level.
In 46 games the Sky Blues scored first on 16 occasions and conceded first in 27 games with three 0-0 draws. Although they managed to win seven and draw five games after conceding first (a club record) it is a dangerous strategy to concede first and rely on coming from behind. On the 16 occasions when City did score first they went on to win 11, lost only once (at Preston) and drew four.
The team's early season form set the tone for the season and they only lost twice in the first nine games and shouldn't have lost at Barnsley. The disastrous scoreline at Luton was a one-off and no side dominated the Sky Blues for the rest of the season. Winning the first six home games put down strong foundations for the season and the dramatic finishes (against Forest, Reading and Bristol City) were like something out of Roy of the Rovers. The shortage of away wins before Christmas came in for some criticism but there were impressive draws at Sheffield and Huddersfield, both of which could have been won and the stunning comeback at Bournemouth for a point. As so often happens in these situations the away results picked up after the New Year whilst the home form deteriorated. The comebacks from conceding first at home couldn't continue indefinitely and teams like Hull, Millwall and QPR were made of sterner stuff and took away the points with some steely resolve.
Throughout the season the team continued to play attacking football and winning plaudits from opposition managers for their style. Whenever there was a dip in results the team came up with another dazzling performance. After three games without a win in March they blew Sheffield United away with a four-goal second half salvo on Legends Day. The incredible win at Fulham a month later followed a four-game win-less run. Results like these, against Premiership sides a season before, showed how much the team had progressed.
I have to mention the atmosphere at the CBS Arena; it was undoubtedly the best and loudest that the stadium has seen in its 17 year history. Inspired by the team's thrilling football and never-say-die attitude the crowd came up with innovative songs glorifying the stars and had a big effect on the comebacks and late goals. The added-time winning goal against Bristol City almost took the roof off what for the majority of the last 16 years has been a soulless bowl.
There were sad days following the passing of two Coventry City legends, George Curtis and John Sillett, and the fans had their opportunities to pay respects to the two giants at the Forest and West Brom home games respectively. Thirty five years on from the club's finest hour George and John would surely have been looking down and purring at the thrilling, attacking football that evoked memories of their times at the club.
2021-22 Appearances & goalscorers
Games: Coventry City played 49 competitive games, 46 league, 2 FA Cup and 1 League Cup.
Points: From 46 league games the Sky Blues gathered 64 points, nine more than the previous season and the highest since Eric Black's team won 65 in 2003-04. It was the third highest total in the Championship since the club dropped out of the Premiership in 2001.
Home Form: 10 wins, 5 draws, 8 defeats. Amazingly the team gathered less home points (35) than in 2020-21 when they won 37. This was despite an excellent start when they won the first six home league games – the best home start to a season since 1950-51 when Harry Storer's team won their first eight. If you add the final home game the previous season (Millwall) then the run of seven wins in a row was the best since 1955.
Away Form: 7 wins, 8 draws, 8 losses. A much improved away record with 11 more points than 2020-21. 29 points equals the club's best away haul in the Championship since 2001 and was the fifth best in the division. The away record before Christmas was poor with only two wins in 11 trips but after Christmas the team won five out of 12.
Biggest win: The biggest league win of the season was 4-1 achieved three times: Fulham (h) Sheffield United (h) and Peterborough (a). The home victories were achieved over sides relegated from the Premiership last season.
Biggest defeat: The 0-5 defeat at Luton was the heaviest league defeat of the season and the heaviest loss since December 2006 when City lost 0-5 at West Brom. The half-time scoreline of 0-4 was the worst since 2009 when City trailed by the same score at Plymouth.
Goals for: The total of 60 was the eighth highest in the division and the club's third highest total in 13 years in the Championship. In total they failed to score thirteen times in 46 games.
Goals against: City conceded 59 goals, two less than 2020-21 and the sixteenth best in the division. They kept 10 clean sheets – Moore 9, Wilson 1.
Final position: The final position of 12th was a remarkable achievement. Discounting the first three games, the highest league position during the season was 2nd following the Friday night home victory over Peterborough and the lowest was 13th after the 1-1 home draw with Blackpool in February. On the night of the Peterborough victory the Sky Blues were actually top of the table for about 15 minutes before West Brom's game finished and their victory took them top.
Leading scorers: Viktor Gyokeres was leading scorer with 18 goals, 17 in the league, and one in the FA Cup. Matty Godden with twelve (all in the league, from only 17 starts) was runner up. Fifteen different City players were on the score-sheet during the season. Gyokeres scored nine goals in the first 11 league games – the best start to a season by a City striker since Callum Wilson in 2013-14.Viktor then went 13 league games without scoring between early October and the last week of January but during that period Godden scored eight goals. Gyokeres' total has only been bettered by Callum Wilson, Adam Armstrong and Mark McNulty in the last 40 years.
Doubles: City achieved four doubles - over Fulham, Reading, Peterborough and Bristol City. It was the first double over Fulham since 1947-48, although the clubs have rarely met in the intervening years. Three teams did the double over City – Swansea, QPR and Luton. Luton's double was their first over City since 1986-87.
Appearances: No player started all 46 league games but Callum O'Hare with 43 starts and two sub appearances was involved in all but one game. Gyokeres also appeared in 45 games (41 starts, 4 subs) whilst Dominic Hyam and Simon Moore both started 41 games.
Players used: 25 players were used in league games (four less than 2020-21) - the lowest number since 1996-97 season and a further four appeared only in League Cup games. Of the 29 players, nine made their debuts during the season – a similar story to the previous season when there were only eight debutants and more evidence to support a theory held by some that the less debutants and more manageable the squad is the more success is likely. Four players only appeared as substitutes, Fabio Tavares, Jodi Jones, Josh Pask and Ryan Howley. Two loan players were used – the lowest number for many years: Ian Maatsen and Jake Clarke-Salter. In addition to the 29 players used, three more: Cian Tyler, Ricardo Dinanga and Marcus Rus sat on the bench as substitutes but were not used.
Home-grown players: Of the 29 players used four of them were home grown products of the Academy: Shipley, Eccles, Tavares and Howley. Once again it is noticeable that as the club has climbed the league the number of Academy products coming through has decreased – in 2016-17 15 home-grown players were used and the following season, 14.
Records: Six of the squad have played 100 games or more for the club: Dominic Hyam (190), Jordan Shipley (163), Liam Kelly (147) Callum O'Hare (135) Kyle McFadzean (117) and Fankaty Dabo (100). Hyam is now 51st in the club's all-time appearance table, up from 93rd. Shipley whose City career is now over, moved up to 74th place and in to the top ten of locally born players.
Substitutes: Martyn Waghorn made the most substitute appearances (16 in the league). For the second season running Gus Hamer was the most substituted player (16 times in league). Only three goals were scored by substitutes, compared to 10 last season: Allen and Godden (Reading h) and Tavares (Preston h). Ben Wilson was the most unused substitute, staying on the bench 40 times and Jodi Jones and Ben Shipley were each unused in 20 games.
Won from behind: (7) In 2020-21 the Sky Blues only came from behind to win once but this campaign they set a club record by coming from behind to win seven times. The previous record was set in 1977-78 under Gordon Milne when the club finished seventh in the old First Division. They achieved it in successive home games (Nottingham Forest and Reading), for the first time since 1989, and in the home games against Fulham, Bristol City and Sheffield United plus away wins at Reading and Birmingham. The Birmingham comeback was from two down and the first time since the home game v Blackpool at St Andrews in August 2019. It was also the first time City had come from two down to win by two clear goals since a 4-2 EFL trophy win at Wycombe in 2016-17 and the first in the league since 1946 when the team won 5-3 at Milwall after being 3-1 down. In addition on six occasions the team came from behind to get a draw – in home games (Blackpool, Preston and Blackburn) and away (Blackburn, Bournemouth and Huddersfield). In total 27 points were won from losing positions, another club record and the best in the Football League.
Lost from in front: (3) City lost one league game from being ahead (at Preston) and also at Southampton in the FA Cup and at home to Northampton in the League Cup. They have not lost a game at the CBS Arena after taking the lead since August 2018 when Scunthorpe won 2-1. On four occasions City took the lead only to be pegged back for draws – Blackburn (h) Millwall (a), Derby (a) and Stoke (a). Thirteen points were lost from leading positions.
Best run: The Sky Blues best league run was four unbeaten which happened twice, in September and in November.
Worst run: The worst run was six without a win between a home win over Bristol City in mid-November and a victory at Peterborough in January. That run did include four draws including shared points at Sheffield United, Bournemouth and Huddersfield.
Hat-tricks: (0) No player scored a hat-trick for the Sky Blues. Gyokeres (2) Godden (2) Sheaf and O'Hare all scored braces. Gyokeres was the first City player to score braces in successive home matches since Adam Armstrong in 2015-16.
Opposing hat-tricks: (0) For the third season running no opposing player scored a hat-trick but five scored braces: Adebayo and Cornick (Luton), Obafemi (Swansea), Solanke (Bournemouth) and Etete (Northampton LC).
Former Players: Three former City players (all loanees) scored against the Sky Blues – Danny Ward (Huddersfield) for the second season running, Gary Madine (Blackpool) and Gary Gardner (Birmingham).
Own goals: For City: (4) Thomas Kaminski (Blackburn), Nathan Thompson (Peterborough), Harry Pickering (Blackburn) and Tim Ream (Fulham) all scored in their own nets. I believe the instance of players from the same team scoring own goals at home and away in the same season – i.e. Blackburn – last occurred in 1962-63 when Millwall's Dennis John scored for City at the Den and Tom Wilson put through his own net in the return at Highfield Road.
Own goals: By City: (2) Kyle McFadzean put through his own net twice, in the home games v Fulham and West Brom. In the latter game McFadzean scored at both ends and became the first City player to score at both ends in a game twice having done so v Millwall last season.
Penalties: For City: (4) Four awarded, three scored (all by Godden at home) v Fulham, Derby and Bristol City. Gyokeres' penalty at Barnsley was saved.
Penalties: Against City: (7) Seven penalties conceded in league games (six less than 2020-21. The following scored: Swift (Reading h), Adebayo (Luton a), Martin (Bristol City h), Johnson (Preston h), Lawrence (Derby a) and Anjorin (Huddersfield). Ben Wilson saved one penalty (Grant at West Brom). The breakdown of the culprits is: Dabo (2), Clarke-Salter, Maatsen, Sheaf, Wilson and Rose (1 each).
Fastest Goal scored: Two goals were scored in the ninth minute – Gyokeres at Millwall and Blackburn Pickering's own goal in the home game.
Fastest Goal conceded: Luton's Adebayo netted his penalty after three minutes at Kenilworth Road.
Late goals: The season started with an added-time winner when McFadzean netted in the 96th minute to seal the points against Forest. It continued in the same vein with 11 goals in added time during the season – many of them to secure victories or draws. We thought that Fabio Tavares' 98th minute equaliser against Preston couldn't be topped and then came Gyokeres' 99th minute equaliser against Blackburn! In addition there were a further seven goals after the 80th minute including the winner from Viktor at Ashton Gate in the 89th minute. By contrast no team scored against the Sky Blues in added time and only four were conceded after the 80th minute.
Red cards: Coventry: (3): A much better season, discipline wise, after six red cards in 2020-21. Dabo picked up two (Cardiff and Preston at home) both in the last few minutes, and Maatsen received one (Bristol City h). The latter game was the first time since 2004 (Cardiff a) that City have scored a winner in a league game after having a player sent off and you have to go back to 1999 and a home game with Charlton for the last time City came from behind to win with 10 men.
Dabo has now received three red cards since joining the Sky Blues. The record is held by Paul Williams who was sent off four times.
Red cards: Opponents: (4) Four opponents received red cards: Woods (Birmingham h), Lerma (Bournemouth a), Hoilett (Reading a) and Lindsay (Preston h).
FA Cup: The Sky Blues beat Derby in the third round – their first win at the CBS since Stoke were defeated in 2018. They lost at Southampton in the fourth round after extra-time – the fifth time that the team have gone to extra-time since the 1987 final and they have lost all five games.
League Cup: The Sky Blues fell at the first hurdle suffering defeat at home to League Two side Northampton with an under strength side. They have not won a game in the competition at the CBS Arena since defeating Portsmouth in 2016.
Bookings: Gus Hamer picked up fifteen yellow cards (14 league 1 FA Cup). He has received 24 in two seasons at the club.
Home Attendances: The average home attendance for the first season back at the CBS Arena was an incredible 19,541 – the seventh highest in the Championship. This compares to 12,362 for the last season there in 2018-19, albeit in League One. That is the highest home average since 2006-07 when the average was 20,342 and the third highest since the move from Highfield Road in 2005. Other than the last five years in the Premiership (1996-2001) when the average was typically around 20,000, you have to go back to the 1970s when home gates were so high.
Away Attendances: An average of 17,646 watched City's away games – the third highest in the Championship – over 7,000 more than the last season when fans were allowed in 2019-20.
Highest home attendance: The Easter Monday game with Bournemouth attracted the largest crowd (24,492) at the CBS Arena. The 'home' element of the crowd that day was 22,150. The attendance was the highest recorded attendance at a home game since February 2019 when 26,741 were at the home game with Gillingham. This figure however included a large number of free tickets which were unused but included in the 'official' gate. The last time a crowd of over 25,000 was in the stadium was probably the homecoming game with Gillingham in September 2014 when 27,306 was the attendance, although tickets for this game were sold for £5.
Lowest home attendance: 15,587 v Hull City in March.
Highest away attendance: The highest league crowd that the Sky Blues played in front of was 28,977 at the City Ground, Nottingham in April. At Southampton's St.Mary's stadium for the FA Cup game in January the crowd was recorded as 30,512.
Lowest away attendance: 9,805 at Luton in September.
Away followings: The average away following to watch the Sky Blues was 1,904, the sixth highest in the Championship. If there had been no restriction on the number of away fans at some grounds this figure would have been higher. This figure is the highest since accurate figures were recorded from 2006 and almost double the average for 2006-07. The largest away following was to Southampton for the FA Cup game when 5,100 City fans were there. In the league the largest was at Blackburn when 3,749 travelled with the smallest 1,023 for the midweek game at Cardiff. There were some very large away followings at the CBS with the tops being West Brom who brought 4,470 and Sheffield United a couple of hundred less. The smallest was 501 for Hull's midweek visit.
Television: There were six live televised games for the club, all on Sky. Four were home games (Forest, Fulham, Birmingham & West Brom) plus the Sheffield United and Huddersfield away games.
Captains: City had five different captains during the season, Liam Kelly, who was club captain, Kyle McFadzean, Matt Godden and Dom Hyam all took the armband in league games. Jamie Allen captained the team in the League Cup game.
Kits: City wore three different kits during the season. The Sky Blue kit was worn in 22 home games and 13 away games. The Blue and Pink kit was used in five away games (2 wins, 2 draws, 1 defeat). The White Two-Tone kit was worn in one home game (QPR) and five away games (3 wins, 1 draw, 2 defeats).
Ground Stats: There were no new grounds during the season but many City fans paid their first visit to Fulham's Craven Cottage where City made their first league visit since 1968.
Bogeys: The Sky Blues continued to have the Indian sign over Barnsley. The Yorkshire club failed to beat the Sky Blues at home and it is now 26 trips to Coventry since 1925 without a win. Another of the relegated clubs, Peterborough, must dread coming to Coventry. They have not won here since their very first visit in 1961 and in twelve subsequent visits have picked up just three draws.
Despite taking the lead, City failed to end their dreadful record at Preston's Deepdale. They have never won a league game in 20 visits to the ground. Swansea are a side who love playing the Sky Blues and City have now gone 12 league games since their last victory back in the old First Division in 1981. Luton did the double over City and have not lost any of the last six meetings between the clubs. West Brom love coming to the CBS – in five visits they have won four and drawn one.
Player of the Season: Viktor Gyokeres has picked up most of the Player of the Season awards from the various supporters' clubs however my award goes Ben Sheaf. I record my 1-2-3 man of the match for every game and although it is very subjective my overall 1-2-3 were: 1 Sheaf 2 Gyokeres 3 McFadzean.
Game of the season: So many highlights from a remarkable season but the Fulham games were my personal highlights with the 3-1 win at Craven Cottage being the top game – one of the finest away performances in 60 years of following the Sky Blues.
With many thanks to Paul O'Connor.
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