James Maddison predictably scored the opening goal in Tottenham Hotspur's 3-1 victory over the Sky Blues on Monday evening. In only his third appearance against the Sky Blues since he left to join Norwich City ten years ago he netted his first goal against his boyhood club. He previously had played for Norwich against City in a 6-1 League Cup defeat in August 2016 (his Canaries' debut) and two years ago as a substitute for Tottenham in their 2-1 League Cup win at the CBS.
The usual comment came out after the game 'our former players always come back to haunt us and score'. I have written about this in the past arguing that we only notice the former players who score against us and ignore those that don't and I haven't altered my view. Maddison's goal was the first by an ex-City player since Yasim Ayari for Brighton earlier this season but the first by a former non-loan player since Gus Hamer, playing for Sheffield United, scored his stunning free-kick at Bramall Lane almost two years ago. The previous season Liam Walsh scored for Swansea at the CBS. A few years ago it seemed that former City men were scoring against us all the time but many of them were ex-loanees including Gary Madine, Adam Armstrong and Nathan Delfouenso. Prior to Hamer you have to go back to 2017 to find a non-loanee to have been on the score-sheet against us when both John Fleck and Leon Clarke scored for the Blades at Bramall Lane in the 2-0 loss. To be honest the evidence doesn't support the theory that ex-players are always netting against us.
The Sky Blues have now played league games at three new stadiums this season, the Emirates (two previous cup games), the Etihad and now the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Another, Everton's Hill, Dickinson Stadium, is due next month. At that point the club will have played at 159 different grounds since joining the Football League in 1919. Simon Campbell recently pointed out that after the trip to Everton City will have played at 88 of the current grounds of the 92 clubs. The missing four are West Ham's Olympic Stadium, Salford City, Bromley and York City's new stadium.
Simon also pointed out that this feat has only been possible because of City's yo-yo history over the last 20 years with the seasons in Leagues One and Two generating trips to many grounds for the first time. He asked if the club have ever been as close to achieving the goal of playing at all 92 current clubs. It's a fascinating question and I had to do a bit of research and I think we have been closer. In 1968 after the club's first season in the old Division One the club had played at 90 of the 92 grounds. The missing two were Oxford United's Manor Ground and Scunthorpe's old stadium, the Old Showground. City did play two FA Cup games at the latter but never a league game whilst they did finally visit the Manor Ground in 1985-86 when Oxford achieved top flight status. Back in 1968 there were very few 'new' grounds in the league, I think Port Vale were the only club to build a new stadium in the post-war period. I am sure there is a good chance that we will get to the Olympic Stadium in the future but Bromley, York and Salford are less likely destinations for the Sky Blues.
I wonder if any City fans have seen us play at the 87 league grounds. I would be fascinated to hear from any fans who are close to that figure.
If you enjoy this column and would like to hear more about Coventry City's history you can listen to the Sky Blue History Podcast which is available on Apple, Spotify and YouTube. Claudio Cardellino and I talk about all things Sky Blue.
If you're after more information on City's history try www.skybluearchive.com . The site contains full details of over 4000 games the club has played since 1919 as well as player's profiles and pictures and much more. Follow on X @skybluesarchive
If you have a question about the history or statistics of Coventry City or have a suggested topic for the podcast please drop me an email at clarriebourton@gmail.com and follow me on X/Twitter @clarriebourton
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