For over 100 years Coventry City have held an unenviable Football League record and this weekend that record may be finally broken. In 1919 the club went 11 league games without scoring a single goal. In 1993 Hartlepool United equalled that record and this week poor old Cheltenham Town made it 11 games without a goal. Today League One Cheltenham face Derby County at home and failure to score will remove City from the record books. The Robins have won just one point and are already seven points from the safety zone with a -19 goal difference. 

 In 1919 City were playing their first ever season in the Football League having been elected to join in the first season after World War 1. They were grossly unprepared for life in the Second Division, evidenced by an opening day 5-0 home loss to Tottenham, and lost their first nine games , scoring four goals and conceding 27. In game eight on October 4th they lost 2-1 at home to Leicester and Tommy Lowes' goal for the Bantams would be their last goal until Christmas Day. In the next eleven games the team did manage to get some points on the board with goalless draws with Fulham, Bristol City, Blackpool, West Ham and Clapton Orient. The 0-0 draw with Clapton on the Saturday before Christmas left City at the foot of the table on five points, five points behind 21st placed Lincoln City. The run of 11 games without scoring ended in surprising circumstances on Christmas Day with top-half side Stoke beaten 3-2. Billy Walker, with a penalty, finally broke the goal drought before Alf Sheldon and Peter Quinn made it 3-0. Stoke rallied with two late goals but City deserved their first ever League victory. Stoke had their revenge twenty four hours later winning the return 6-1 at the Victoria Ground. An interesting footnote is that there was a full league programme on three consecutive days that Christmas!

Things picked up slightly for Coventry after Christmas with a first away win coming at Grimsby on New Year's Day. The signing of Sunderland's reserve centre-forward Dick Parker in January helped results and Parker netted the winning goal against Wolves on his home debut. The club's home form improved dramatically and thanks to Parker scoring seven goals in seven games the last five home games were won. The team only escaped the bottom two after their penultimate game, a 2-2 draw at Bury, and a final day victory over the same team ensured a final placing of 20th with re-election avoided. It later emerged that dirty deeds were afoot at Highfield Road on the final day with Bury players being bribed to ensure Coventry won. Two years later Coventry's chairman David Cooke and captain George Chaplin were banned from football for life following an enquiry.

 Last Saturday the Sky Blues notched their first away win of the season, winning 3-1 at Loftus Road with an impressive second half performance. Poor old QPR, a year ago they were top of the Championship but since then they have won only one home game in 20 and there are few signs that things are going to improve soon. Before April's game City hadn't won at Loftus Road in five visits since 2007 and have now won twice in 2023, one more than QPR have managed themselves!