The deaths of two former Coventry City players have come to light recently and they must have passed under my radar at the time. Until his death in Australia in July 2021 Norman Greenway, aged 96, was the oldest living former player and played a handful of games for the club as a guest in wartime football. Mike Dixon played almost twenty years later and he passed away last November, aged 85.
A centre-forward, Mike was a fringe player with Second Division Luton when City manager Billy Frith signed him for City in the summer of 1961 and he made his debut in a 3-0 home win over Newport County. His first goal came four days later in a 3-3 draw at Swindon and he had a good scoring record in a struggling team that autumn.
He appeared in the infamous Kings Lynn FA Cup defeat in November 1961 which precipitated Frith's departure and the arrival of Jimmy Hill and Mike scored the winning goal in Hill's first game against Northampton. With six goals in Hill's first six games it looked like Dixon would be part of JH's plans but an injury in January ended his season and he wasn't retained at the end of the season. In total Mike scored 12 goals in 20 appearances for City.
Born in Willesden, London on 14th March 1937 the teenage Mike (he preferred to be called Mick) made a name at local Luton side Sundon Park FC and had short spells with both Arsenal and Brighton & Hove Albion on trial without making a first team appearance. He then developed his game at Hitchin Town before Luton Town took him to Kenilworth Road in April 1957. In 1959 the Hatters, then a First Division side, reached the FA Cup final and two weeks before the final he was given his first team debut at West Brom. Luton suffered relegation the following season and Mike's only appearance was in a 5-1 home loss to Wolves but at least he netted the consolation goal. His third and final game for Luton was at the end of the 1960-61 season just before he joined Coventry.
After leaving City in 1962 he dropped into non-league with Cambridge United, managed by former City player Roy Kirk, and later played for Stevenage, Dunstable Town, Biggleswade, Weymouth, Poole and Sittingbourne.
Mike continued to live in Luton and avidly followed the career of his more famous footballing son Kerry Dixon whobegan his career at Dunstable before building a glittering career of more than 600 games between 1980-1997 with a host of clubs most notably Reading, Chelsea and Luton Town. Kerry also won international caps for England as well as managing Doncaster Rovers, Hitchin Town and Dunstable Town.
Norman Greenway was born in Coventry on 24th August 1924, one of seven children, and lived at 10 Dunchurch Highway, off Broad Lane. His family have the letter from the club's manager Harry Storer in March 1943 advising him that he had been selected to play inside left in the game at Birmingham City, and that he was allowed to bring his father with him! Norman, 18-years-old at the time, had been playing for Coventry Gauge and he was one of numerous local league players who deputised for the club's players who were in the armed services during the war. City won 2-1 at St Andrews in front of a tiny crowd of around 1,000 and the match report praised his 'valiant efforts' and felt fans would be seeing more of him in the future. Norman made another five appearances that season and was never on the losing side. His final game was a 7-0 home win over Notts County on 26th April. He was never called upon after that season and Norman went back to play in local football but after the hostilities he made a name for himself in non-league football. He was a regular scorer for Nuneaton Borough in 1945-46 and 1946-47 before joining Bedworth Town. In 1952 he was at Atherstone and a year later had moved to Lockheed Leamington. In 1957 he and his wife Norma emigrated to Australia and settled in New South Wales. He followed the Sky Blues for the rest of his life and his son Neale, daughter-in-law Pam and grandson Blake have continued the love for the club from down under. They are all thrilled to have been invited to become Honorary Members of CCFPA.
The Sky Blues' draw at Wigan Athletic on Tuesday evening extended the club's unbeaten run to eight games, the best of the season and equalling the best run since the club regained their Championship place in 2020. The team did go eight unbeaten in November/December 2020 when they won three and drew five games. The current run consists of four wins and four draws. The draw means City have still to record a victory in four visits to the DW Stadium.
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