Jim's column 29.10.22

Fifty years ago this month Coventry City signed arguably the club's finest player of the modern era, Tommy Hutchison. The Blackpool winger had been on the radar of many top clubs but Gordon Milne, the Sky Blues new manager, knew that his former team-mate 'Hutch' was the man to spark the club's rejuvenation and paid a club record £140,000 to bring him to Coventry. In Coventry City fan's eyes Tommy was a football genius.

Now Tommy has published his autobiography with the assistance of City fan Kevin Shannon. Entitled 'Hutch, Hard Work and Belief' is published by Pitch Publishing. Tommy is in Coventry this weekend and will be signing copies in Waterstones on Saturday morning, at the home game with Blackpool, in the G Casino after the game and at Walking Football on Monday.

Tommy grew up in an austere background – his father was a miner in the Fife coalfields – and readily admits he wasn't that good a footballer in his schooldays. His hard work and persistence earned him part-time football with Alloa Athletic and from there Blackpool spotted him.

Few players have had the immediate impact that 'Hutch' had on coming to Coventry. His arrival, a few days after another Scot, Colin Stein had signed from Rangers, triggered a eight-match unbeaten run with Tommy terrorising a clutch of top full backs in the autumn of 1972. A good number of his markers were booked for persistently fouling the long legged winger including Tony Book, Pat Rice, Mick Mills and Paul Reaney. Rice was one of the Arsenal defenders he left trailing in his wake as he slalomed through the Gunners' defence to score one of City's greatest goals and one mentioned in Nick Hornby's book Fever Pitch.

The 1972-73 season gave City fans so much pleasure and but for an under par performance in the FA Cup sixth round at Molineux the team could well have reached Wembley. Hutch's performances earned him a Scotland call-up early the following season and he realised his boyhood dream of pulling on the Navy Blue jersey. But for an injury he would have made more than two substitute appearances for his country at the 1974 World Cup in West Germany. There were a couple of seasons in the mid 1970s when the football got a bit boring at Highfield Road but you could always rely on Tommy to lift the gloom on the darkest days with his skilful dribbling, turn of speed and great crossing ability. His consistent performances for City should have guaranteed a regular international place and his total of 17 caps was a travesty.

In 1977-78 we saw Gordon Milne's finest team that played thrilling, attacking football and narrowly missed out on a European place. 'Hutch' had another magnificent season setting up many of Ian Wallace and Mick Ferguson's tremendous haul of goals and it was a travesty that he didn't go to the Argentina World Cup. His departure from Coventry in 1980 was sad for him and the fans but a move to Manchester City seemed to give him a new lease of life and although his stay at Maine Road was short he did help his new club to the 1981 FA Cup final and became only the second player to score for both teams in a final. Sadly he had to be content with a loser's medal.

His career took him to Seattle Sounders and later to Hong Kong to play for Bulova before a return to England with two seasons at Burnley and six years at Swansea ending up at Merthyr Tydfil at the age 46 having made over 1000 competitive games. At every club he was adored by the fans and achieved legendary status wherever he played.

What few football fans know about is Tommy's career as a Football Development Officer in Wales and later at Bristol City. Testimonials from his colleagues from this part of his working life illustrate the love he had of football and inspiring youngsters many of them disadvantaged to play the game.

I am always grateful to him personally with helping me launch one of my first books and for supporting the Former Players Association with regular visits from North of the border where he is now retired.

I might be biased but this is one of the most inspiring football biographies I have read and I recommend it to all Sky Blue fans as well as football fans in general. Tom and his ghost writer Kevin Shannon deserve credit for a welcome addition to the Coventry City library of books.

                   Jim & Tommy at book signing before Blackpool game

Jim's column 22.10.22

By the virtue of successive victories the Sky Blues climbed off the foot of the table where they had laid since the Hull game in September. The first away win of the season came at Cardiff on Saturday and was followed by another 1-0 win over Sheffield United on Wednesday. Thus ended the longest spell the club has spent in last place in a league table since 2017 in that horrendous season when they were relegated from League One.

Two more clean sheets made in five out of six since the draw at Luton and three in a row away from home. At the moment the team has conceded less goals per game than anyone in the Championship – a far cry from the nine goals shipped in three away games at Millwall, Hull and Norwich.

It was a rare three points at Cardiff – the first victory at the City of Cardiff Stadium after four defeats and a draw since the Bluebirds moved from Ninian Park in 2009. The last win in the Welsh capital was a 1-0 at Ninian Park in August 2007 courtesy of a Jay Tabb goal. City's win was also the first in Wales since then – a run of 13 games since that 2007 win (six at Cardiff, six at Swansea and one at Newport) although they did beat Swansea's under 21s on penalties in the EFL Trophy in 2017.

The winner was a rare home penalty for the Sky Blues – the first at the CBS Arena since early November last year in the 3-2 victory over Bristol City and the seemingly nerveless Martyn Waghorn buried it with his trusty left foot. Substitute Waghorn was substituted within a few minutes and became only the second City substitute to score and be subbed. The only other was Jay Bothroyd in a 2-0 away win over Gillingham in 2002. He also became only the sixth City substitute to score from a penalty and the first since Carl Baker at Gillingham in 2013. The others were Gavin Strachan, Don Hutchison, Patrick Suffo and Gary McSheffrey.

Referee Keith Stroud came in for some criticism after Wednesday's game and the implication of some was that City never did well when Stroud was the ref. I checked the records and it's not true. Last season Stroud was in charge when City won away at Blackpool, Peterborough and Fulham. He was also in the middle for the home games with West Brom (loss) and Preston (draw) and although he arguably missed a handball for one of the Baggies' goals he did add on nine minutes in the latter game for Preston's time-wasting which allowed Tavares to grab an equaliser. Since 2019 Stroud has been in charge of 11 City games and they have won four, drawn five and lost two.

Paul Tebbutt was in touch last week about his father Gordon Tebbutt, aged 88, who has been supporting Coventry City for most of his life. Gordon saw his first game in the 1945/46 season at the age of 11 and recalls watching Harry Barratt score four goals in an 8-1 win but he can’t remember who it was against. There were no 8-1 victories that season but Harry Barratt did score four goals on two occasions.

The first was on 15 November (a Thursday afternoon) when City beat Newport County 7-1. The other goal scorers were George Lowrie (2) and Dennis Simpson. The attendance was 3,146.

The second was against Millwall on 9 February 1946 which ended 7-2 to City. Barratt did score 4 goals and the other scorers were Emilio Aldecoa, Jose Bilbao and Dennis Simpson. Aldecoa and Bilbao were refugees from the Spanish Civil War who arrived in the U.K. before the war. City led 6-0 at half time. The attendance was 13,712.

                            The team that beat Millwall 7-2 in 1946

The games that season are not classified as 'official' games. Peacetime football did not recommence until August 1946 and the 1945-46 season was a transitional season run on a regional basis. City were in Football League South and played against all the top London sides as well as Aston Villa and Birmingham and finished 13th.

Jim's column 15.10.22

I have got to know Dennis Mortimer well in the last few years through the Former Players Association (CCFPA) and I’m pleased to see he has written his biography with the help of Richard Sydenham. Entitled ‘The Full Morty’ it is published by Pitch Publishing at £25.

Like most football clubs, Coventry City have sold many of their star players over the years. I became anaesthetised to their loss a long time ago but still remember the pain when Dennis left City days before Christmas in 1975. I was at an office Christmas party in London when a colleague broke the devastating news and was so distraught I had to go home with Christmas spirit the last thing on my mind. For him to leave was bad enough but to join the Villa was like an arrow to the heart. I had watched him for six years, graduating from the captain of the most exciting youth team the club have ever produced through to the first team where he dazzled from the start and had become, by 1975, alongside Tommy Hutchison, the mainstays of Gordon Milne’s team. In the classic FA Youth Cup final of 1970 that went to four games he outshone the Tottenham starlets Steve Perryman and Graeme Souness to such an extent that Souness was sent off for throwing (but missing) a punch at Dennis in the first replay.

I watched him at Highbury in early 1973 dominatinging for England under 23s against Holland and scoring two goals. He should have been picked for England then but there were so many good English midfield players at the time. I am not exaggerating when I consider him the best uncapped Englishman of that era.

Of course he went on to success at Villa Park - winning the League Cup, captaining the club to League championship and the European Cup, glory, sadly, he would not have had at Highfield Road.

In his book Dennis has much praise for the set up at Coventry in his time there. A remarkable scouting system, a care and education for the young apprentices and a route through to the first team not offered by many First Division sides at the time made it an attractive proposition for talented youngsters

Dennis also lifts the veil on the petty in-fighting and jealousy at Villa which saw many of the European heroes alienated by the club for a time and Dennis himself hounded out.

He is a regular attendee at CCFPA Legends’ Days and is revered by his former team-mates and City fans of my age group. He is a genuine guy who deserves the success he has had and deserves success with his biography.

Dean Nelson sent me a lovely picture taken in February 1963, during the winter of the big freeze. It shows the players of Coventry City and Wolves boarding an aeroplane at Cork airport for a return flight to Birmingham. The clubs had just met in a hastily arranged friendly in Cork.

Football in England was impossible with snowbound and frozen pitches causing the majority of league and FA Cup games to be postponed every weekend since Christmas. A week earlier Jimmy Hill, always the innovator, had persuaded Manchester United manager Matt Busby to play a friendly in Dublin. Now, with another game called off, he contacted Wolves manager Stan Cullis to play a friendly in ice-free Cork. A heavy muddy pitch at Flower Lodge, the home of Cork Hibs suited Wolves’ long-ball game and although City had chances, especially in the first half playing with the wind at their backs, Wolves scored three goals in 11 minutes early in the second half to win 3-0. The scorers for a star-studded First Division side were Ron Flowers, Barry Stobart and Chris Crowe and 6,500 spectators braved the heavy rain to see an entertaining match with City flying home £100 better off. A match programme was hastily printed and the centre page of the four-page effort is shown. Flower Lodge is now a Gaelic sports stadium. In the photograph Jimmy Hill is clear, wearing a hat, with his hands on the shoulders of Stan Cullis. City players include George Curtis, John Sillett, Dietmar Bruck and Ken Hale. Wolves stars include internationals Peter Broadbent and Ron Flowers.

Two weeks later the signs were that the long spell of dreadful weather in England was coming to an end and with City hopeful of playing a league game the  following Saturday. Hill wanted his team to have some more match practice and organised another date with Wolves, this time in Belfast at Celtic Park. On the night City were guilty of poor finishing and uncertain goalkeeping and lost 6-3. Hill’s foresight was rewarded with the club’s best FA Cup run for over 50 years - they reached the sixth round by virtue of six games in 25 days before losing out to the eventual winners Manchester United.

Jim's column 8.10.22

It's sad to report the death of former Coventry City player Alan Turner who played under Jimmy Hill in the 1960s. His friend and former playing colleague Dennis Oakes informed me that Alan died on 23rd September.

Alan, who was with the club from 1962-66, only made four first team appearances but was a regular in the reserve team during those years, playing over 120 games for the 'stiffs'.

Born in 1943 and a native of Hull, Alan was a junior with Hull City and an amateur player with Chilton FC before Scunthorpe United took him on as a reserve player in 1960. Jimmy Hill had only arrived at Highfield Road in the previous November and invited Alan to a month's trial in January 1962 following a recommendation from one of Hill's old army mates. He made his 'A' team debut against West Brom on 20 January and Alan scored the first goal in City's 2-1 win with Dietmar Bruck scoring the winner.

A scheming inside-forward with a good eye for goal, Alan made his reserve team debut at Aldershot on 14 February alongside other youngsters Brian Hill, Dietmar Bruck and Bob Wesson and Alan Dicks, City's new Assistant manager also made his debut. The reserves ended a bad run of results by winning 1-0 thanks to a goal by Mike Dixon. A week later he scored his first goal in an 8-2 home reserve win over QPR and was a regular in the reserves until the end of the season, scoring three goals in 13 games. On 24 April he got his first team chance in the Third Division game at Ashton Gate as JH gave promising youngsters a run out – winger George Bassett also debuted and young striker Colin Holder also played. 18-year-old Alan had a tough game against experienced defenders and City lost 3-2.

The club had some outstanding forwards in that era and Alan was restricted to reserve games for the next three seasons but he was a regular in the 1964-65 team that won promotion from Football Combination Division Two in front of average crowds of over 5,000, scoring nine goals.

He didn't play for the first team again until Easter 1965 when he was called up to play in a 2-0 Second Division home defeat to Cardiff and a week later appeared in the final game of the season, a 3-1 win at Leyton Orient. His fourth and final game for the club was in a Division Two game at Highfield Road against Southampton in September 1965 when he stood in for the injured Ron Farmer - the Sky Blues ran out 5-1 winners.

Alan was transferred to Third Division Shrewsbury Town in July 1966 where he played a further sixteen games and scored three goals before moving to Bradford Park Avenue in May 1967 where he played the whole season and scored four times in 32 appearances. Bradford finished rock bottom of the Football League and had to apply for re-election and Alan was released. His last professional club was Northern Premier League side Wigan Athletic and he later moved back to Humberside and played in non-league with Goole Town where he was player-manager. He worked for GKN in the 1970s and lived on Humberside.

Alan had been a frequent attender of CCFPA Legends Day over the years and is pictured at Legends Day 2017 with Bedworth-born Dennis Oakes. My condolences go out to his widow Joan. Funeral takes place at 11.30 am on the 21st October at Haltemprice Crematorium near Hull.

 Alan (right) with friend & former teammate Dennis Oakes at Legends Day 2017

The Sky Blues won a hard-earned point at Ashton Gate on Tuesday evening with some excellent defending. Although under pressure for most of the game, City had the best chances of the gam and could easily have won the game. It was another clean sheet – the third in a row in the league for the first time since the opening three games of the 2019-20 season. One has to go back to 2015 to find the last time they kept four in a row. The club record is six, set in 1934.