Jim's column 28.1.23

Coventry City's defensive woes continued last weekend with a 4-2 defeat at home to Norwich City with the first three opposition goals coming in a twelve minute spell in the first half. For the second home game running Mark Robins' team conceded four goals, a rare occurrence in the club's history. I've checked back and it is only the sixth time a City side has shipped four or more goals in successive home games.

The last time was ten years ago in the first two 'home' games at Northampton's Sixfields Stadium. The opening home game saw City win a 5-4 thriller after having a three-goal lead pegged back before Billy Daniels netted a late winner. Two weeks later Preston were the visitors and Steven Pressley's side required a 94th minute equaliser from substitute Matthieu Manset (his only goal for the club) to make it 4-4.

You have to go back to the 1980s for the previous occurrence; specifically that disastrous slump in the spring of 1984 when Bobby Gould's team, sixth in Division One on New Years Day went 13 games without a win and ended up having to win their final game to stay up. During that run Tottenham won 4-2 at Highfield Road and a week later Arsenal won 4-1. Poor old Perry Suckling, City's young goalkeeper thrown into the side after Gould lost confidence in Raddy Avramovic, conceded 41 goals in 15 games including eight at Southampton.

In December 1964 City suffered a humbling 8-1 defeat to Leicester City in the League Cup, mainly down to losing centre half and captain George Curtis to injury before half-time. With no substitutes allowed in those days (they were introduced the following season) City were ripped apart by the Foxes. Four days later and still without Curtis, Rotherham came to Highfield Road and raced into a 4-0 lead. City pulled three goals back but the Millers were 5-3 victors.

The two earlier instances were in 1957 (another miserable season that ended with City demoted to the new Fourth Division) when Colchester (4-2) and Plymouth (4-1) were successive winners at Highfield Road, and in 1919 when City, new to the Football League, lost the first two home games to Tottenham (5-0) and Leeds City (4-0).

It's sad to report the death of former City goalkeeper Peter Thomas after a short illness. Peter, who was 78, died surrounded by his family in Tramore, Ireland

Coventry born Peter joined Coventry City as a goalkeeper from his work’s team G.E.C. in the close season of 1965. Bill Glazier was recovering from a broken leg and Jimmy Hill needed a deputy for Bob Wesson. Peter made 21 appearances for the reserves in 1965-66 but with Glazier back Peter was allowed to go to Irish club Waterford on loan in August 1966. In early October Peter, who at 5' 10” was on the small side for a goalkeeper but was an excellent shotstopper, was recalled to Coventry following Wesson's sale to Walsall.

Just over a month later an injury to Glazier gave Peter his first team chance and he donned the green jersey for the home game with Cardiff City. Peter's debut was largely overlooked by the media as the attention was on the recall of star man Ian Gibson following a major bust up between the player and Jimmy Hill. 'Gibbo' had been out of the team for seven games but celebrated his return with a virtuouso performance and two goals in a 3-2 victory. Peter had a relatively quiet game but was beaten by two goals in the last two minutes by a young striker called John Toshack. A young Mick Coop also made his Sky Blues debut that day. At

Three days Peter played in a first team friendly against Scottish club Morton – City won 3-2 - but Glazier returned for league action the following Saturday and Peter was back in the reserves. The Cardiff game will be remembered as the start of a 25-game unbeaten run which took the Sky Blues to the First Division for the first time.

                                                    Peter Thomas    

Two months later Peter was allowed to sign permanently for Waterford where he went on to have a long and successful career. In 1968 Waterford qualified for the European Cup and were drawn against Manchester United in the First Round. United won the first leg 3-1 at Landsdown Road, Dublin but Peter saved a Denis Law penalty. United ran riot in the second leg, winning 7-1, but newspaper reports praised Peter for keeping the score in single figures!

Peter took up Irish citizenship in the early 70s and won international honours, appearing four times for the League of Ireland XI and gaining two full Republic of Ireland caps.  He kept a clean sheet in his international debut in 1973 against Poland but had to miss the second half due to a pulled stomach muscle. His other cap was against the World champions Brazil at the Maracana Stadium  in 1974. Eire lost 2-1 with Rivellino scoring the winner. Coventry's Jimmy Holmes also appeared in the game.

At Waterford he played almost 600 games and won every honour in the domestic game including five League of Ireland championship medals. Later he joined Galway United, Drogheda and for a short spell managed Waterford and coached Tramore FC. In the 1970s he spent several summers playing in the USA with Washington Diplomats, Utah Golden Spikers, Las Vegas Quicksilvers and Sacramento Gold.

In the Irish press there have been fulsome tributes to 'Tommo' as he was known in Irish football and he is described as 'the best goalkeeper to grace League of Ireland football'. RIP Peter.

Jim's column 14.1.2023

It was another miserable Cup day last week for Sky Blues' fans as the team slumped to a Third Round FA Cup defeat to National league Wrexham – the fourth defeat to a non-league team since World War Two and the eighth since City were admitted to the Football League in 1919. The North Wales club added their name to the giant-killing list that already contains Rochdale (1921), New Brighton (1923), Worksop (1926), Scunthorpe (1936), Kings Lynn (1961), Sutton United (1989) and Worcester City (2014). Wrexham, however, are just the second non-league side to score four goals against City in the competition – Scunthorpe won a replay 4-2 in 1935.

The defeat means that the Sky Blues have fallen at the first hurdle of both Cup competitions at home for only the third time since the League Cup was introduced in 1960. The other occasions were 2009 when they were defeated by Hartlepool in the League Cup and Portsmouth (in a replay) in the FA Cup, and in 2014 when there were defeats to Cardiff (League Cup) and Worcester.

One positive outcome from the disappointing defeat was the attendance. Boosted by almost 4,500 fans from Wrexham, the crowd was 18,218 – the largest FA Cup gate at the stadium since 31,407 watched the Sixth Round tie with Chelsea in 2009. It is also the largest crowd at the stadium for a Third Round tie and since over 20,000 attended the Tottenham visit in 2002 although there were 21,193 for the 'home' tie with Birmingham at St Andrews three years ago.

The Wrexham following was 4,407 just 28 short of the West Brom contingent before Christmas and there have been several away followings of over 4,000 since the club returned to the CBS Arena in August 2021. Marshall Stewart wondered if the Albion support was the largest since the original move from Highfield Road in 2005. Since then there have been 15 instances of 5,000 or more visiting supporters, all of them in the pre-2012 Championship days. The biggest was in 2010-11 when Leeds brought 6,366 to see a thriller. Leeds led 2-0 at half-time before Lukas Jutkiewicz pulled one back. Then Max Gradel made it 3-1 with a penalty and Ben Turner made it 3-2 to set up a hectic finish with Leeds hanging on for a 3-2 victory. The total crowd that day was 28,184 – the biggest crowd to watch a City home league game since 1980. I don't know for sure but suspect there are police limits on away supporter numbers these days.

John Sills enjoyed the story of the Christmas Day 1959 game against Wrexham in which teenager Ken Satchwell scored four goals in a 5-3 victory. He wondered how many City players have scored four or more goals in a game since 1959. There have been only three instances since then, one in the league and two in the League Cup. Mick Ferguson scored all four goals in the 4-1 home win over Ipswich Town in 1979, Cyrille Regis scored five in the 7-2 home win over Chester City in the League Cup and Steve Livingstone netted four in the 5-0 home win against Sunderland in the same competition in 1990.

                                        Mick Ferguson

There have been four other post-war instances of a City player scoring four in a game. Welsh international George Lowrie did it twice in 1947-48 and Jimmy Rogers and George Stewart each achieved the feat in 1958-59.

Jim's column 7.1.2023

Today the Sky Blues entertain National League side Wrexham in the FA Cup and it promises to be a great atmosphere. The North Wales side are in tremendous form and having a ding dong battle with Notts County at the top of the league as they attempt to regain their Football League place they lost fourteen years ago. Now owned and financed by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McIlhenney, the club have had five failed play-off campaigns in the fifth tier. The advent of the new owners has sparked a football revival in the Principality and are regularly attracting full houses of 10,000 at the Racecourse Ground and also have Kyle McFadzean's brother Callum in their squad. I'm sure they will have a large following next week.

The Sky Blues have had few meetings with Wrexham over the years but James Adams, author of the excellent book 'Attached to Coventry City' reminded me of a famous game against Wrexham on Christmas Day 1959.

James writes: It was the last Christmas Day that professional football was played in the UK (only City and Blackburn staged games). The only time it could be played of course, was in the morning as an appetizer for the forthcoming Christmas meal. But in the Main Stand where I was seated, many of us couldn’t wait, with the smell of whiskey-laced coffee and chicken sandwiches in tin-foil, being the distinctive mid-morning snack for many. Even today, whenever I make up a flask of coffee with a tot of whiskey or brandy, it’s Christmas Day 1959 all over again!

It was traditional wintry weather – no wind, but just above freezing with a light covering of snow on the pitch, and icy surrounds - it probably wouldn’t get played today. And an unfortunate Wrexham player, when taking a throw-in, slipped on some ice and fell backwards over the surrounding wall, and into the concrete terrace! But some sympathetic supporters, ‘the magic sponge’ and some sticking plaster saw him back on the pitch before too long.

It was a roller coaster match, with City, then Wrexham hitting the back of the net regularly with an unpredictable outcome for much of the game. However, City’s terrier-like (19-year-old) centre-forward, Ken Satchwell, chased everything down and kept his feet when others were losing theirs and hit four goals in City’s eventual 5-3 victory. Unbelievably, City went to Wrexham on Boxing Day, and completed the double, winning 3-1 – with Satchwell hitting two more!

        Satchwell (left) pictured with Brian Nicholas & Ray Straw (1960)

Wrexham have only visited Coventry three times since that Christmas Day game, the last a League Cup game in 1994 when a Dion Dublin brace and a Roy Wegerle goal gave City a 5-3 aggregate victory in the two-legged tie.

After home league games with Swansea and Cardiff over Christmas City will have entertained three Welsh clubs inside a month. Some readers asked if this had ever happened before - the answer is that City have never played three Welsh clubs in the same season let alone the same month!

Saturday's tie is the 24th occasion that Coventry have played a non-league side in the competition since they achieved league status in 1919. Of the previous 23 ties, seven have ended in defeat for City, three of them in the early 1920s. Since World War Two there have been three defeats at the hands of non-league clubs (Kings Lynn (1961), Sutton United (1989) and Worcester City (2014). The last ties with non-league teams were in 2017-18 when Maidenhead United (2-0) and Boreham Wood (3-0) were defeated in the first and second rounds respectively.

The world has been mourning the great Brazilian star, Pele, this week and many words have been written and spoken about arguably the greatest footballer of all time. I remember his outstanding performances in the 1970 Mexico World Cup in what was perhaps the finest international side ever but also recall the sad sight of him being carried off the Goodison Park pitch four years earlier after Portugal's defenders had constantly fouled him. I've always wondered if England would have won the competition if Pele had remained fit.

Pele did appear against the Sky Blues in 1972 during a post-season tour to the Far East. The tour ended in Bangkok where a friendly was organised with Pele's club side Santos. The game was played in heavy rain and ended in a 2-2 draw in front of 32,000. Alan Green and Quintin Young scored for City with Edu and a Pele penalty netting for Santos. Alan Dugdale, who had yet to make his senior competitive debut at the time, was voted man of the match and asked the great man for his shirt. It was kept at his parent's home in Kirkby on Merseyside for some years and, according to Alan's brother Dave, local fans flocked to the house to have a picture taken with it. At some point, Alan collected it and eventually took it to Hong Kong where it is believed he donated it to the Bulova club where he was playing at the time.

Jim's column 31.12.22

It's been a mixed bag results-wise for Coventry City since the return from the World Cup break but it's fair to say that the Sky Blues should have won the first three games. Poor finishing let them down at Reading and the home team's only real effort on goal proved to be the winner. Poor defending cost them two points at home to Swansea after taking a 3-0 lead. Victory came against West Brom with the added-time penalty winner.

The Swansea result was the first time City have thrown away a three goal lead and not won since 1980 when Gordon Milne's young side led Brighton 3-0 with 23 minutes left before the South Coast side rallied and Gordon Smith scored a hat-trick to earn them a point. Milne's youngsters had been exciting the fans with their attacking prowess but had shown to be suspect at the back and seven days earlier had been walloped 5-0 by Everton, the club's biggest home defeat since 1919. That nightmare seemed to be behind them against Brighton as Paul Dyson and Garry Thompson gave the Sky Blues a 2-0 half-time lead. When Tommy Hutchison scored a third on 63 minutes it looked curtains for the Seagulls but Smith had other ideas and pulled a goal back on 67 minutes. He pounced twice more in the 82nd and 86th minutes to gain the draw. The game turned out to be Hutchison's final home game for City before his move to Manchester City for whom he made his debut in a victory at Brighton's Goldstone Ground. The run without a win against the Swans was extended to 14 games – a run that goes back to City's victory in the old First Division in October 1981.

                 Tommy Hutchison scores his final goal for the Sky Blues against Brighton

City also threw away a three-goal lead against Arsenal on the final day of the 1973-74 season. Goals from Colin Stein, Brian Alderson and David Cross saw City lead 3-0 early in the second half. The Gunners didn't fold however and Pat Rice and Ray Kennedy pulled goals back before John Radford sealed a point in the 83rd minute. Many fans reminded me that in 1990 City threw away a four-goal lead against Nottingham Forest in a League Cup tie when Forest pulled things level with an eight minute Nigel Clough hat-trick before Steve Livingstone won the game for the Sky Blues.

The victory over West Brom was the first over the Baggies at the CBS Arena and the first home win over them since 2003-04. In five visits to the Arena West Brom have been a thorn in City's side having won four and drawn one game with the nadir being in 2007-08 when Albion won 4-0 in the league and 5-0 in the FA Cup. The Baggies last trip to Highfield Road in 2003 saw Spurs loanee Johnnie Jackson score the 89th minute winning goal two minutes after coming off the bench. It turned out to be Jackson's final appearance of his loan spell and he returned to Tottenham after just five appearances, three of them off the bench.

I'm not one for mid-season statistics but I have to mention Viktor Gyokeres' phenomenal year for scoring. His headed goal at Bramall Lane on Boxing Day was his 21st goal of 2022 (20 league, 1 FA Cup) and the best year for a City goalscorer since Leon Clarke netted 27 (23 league 4 Cup) in 2013. Clarke's year was the best since George Hudson scored 31 in 1963 and the all-time record was recorded by Clarrie Bourton who netted 43 in 1932. Viktor is also the first City player to score 10 or more league goals in consecutive seasons since Clinton Morrison scored 10 in 2008-09 and 11 in 2009-10. Since then the Sky Blues have had a number of prolific scorers – Clarke, Wilson, McNulty, Armstrong, McGoldrick and Godden – but none have managed Clinton's feat. Viktor scored 17 last campaign and has 12 this season.