Jim's column 17.12.22

Coventry City’s excellent run of four victories came to an end at Reading last Saturday with the Royals grabbing a fortuitous 1-0 victory. The goal also ended Ben Wilson’s similar run of clean sheets. Amadou Mbengue’s 57th minute goal was the first goal conceded by Wilson for 427 minutes - since Blackpool’s Jerry Yates 80th minute winner at the CBS Arena.

Wilson bettered his run from earlier in the season when he kept a clean sheet for 384 minutes and his latest run is the fourth longest in league games in the club’s history. 1930s goalkeeper Horace Pearson holds the record (608 minutes) with Steve Ogrizovic (572) in second place for his run in the Don Howe era in 1992. Reice Charles-Cook (445) is third but if cup games are included his minutes without conceding increases to 580 minutes. That was seven years ago and Reice’s career has gone downhill since. After being a virtual ever present in 2015-16 he lost his place to Lee Burge in 2017 and sat on the bench at the EFL Trophy final. That summer the former Arsenal academy player left for Swindon and subsequently played for Shrewsbury and Macclesfield before dropping into non-league with Boreham Wood in 2020. He has bobbed around various south east clubs and is currently with Bromley in the National League. In 2021 he won his first cap for Grenada.

                             Horace Pearson, record-holder

Several readers asked me which Coventry City player was the last to play at the World Cup finals. The answer is Stern John for Trinidad & Tobago in 2006. John played in all three group games, including against England. He was the seventh Coventry player to appear in the finals, the others being Tommy Hutchison (1974), Phil Babb (1994), Roy Wegerle (1994), Viorel Moldovan (1998), Gary Bremen (2002) and Magnus Hedman (2002). Stern won 32 international caps whilst at Coventry between 2004-07.

Mark Smith asked if any former Coventry City players had played in a World Cup final. The answer is no, however a former City manager, George Raynor, managed Sweden to the 1958 final which they lost 5-2 to Brazil. Raynor, who had taken Sweden to the Olympic title in 1948 and third place at the 1950 World Cup, had been brought to Highfield Road as assistant to manager Jesse Carver in 1955. When Carver was lured back to Italy after just six months, Raynor took over. Sadly his progressive tactics weren't suited to Division Three South and after being demoted to coach a year later he left the club and within two years was a national hero in Sweden for his achievements.

                      George Raynor

Glenn Hancock contacted me regarding his father-in-law Joe Davis. Joe was captain of Bristol Rovers when, in December 1963, Rovers beat the Sky Blues 2-1 in a FA Cup second round tie at Highfield Road. Glenn understood that Tv cameras were present that day and wondered if I had access to the film of the game. Dean Nelson helped me out by telling me that the cameras were there to record some excerpts for an episode of the BBC police drama, Z Cars which was aired about a year later. The cup result was a shock as City were leaders of Division Three at the time whilst Rovers were in the bottom half of the same division and had lost the league game between the clubs 4-2 two weeks earlier. Geoff Bradford and Harold Jarman scored the visitor's goals and Ken Hale got a late consolation in front of over 26,000.

            Bob Wesson can't stop Geoff Bradford's goal for Bristol Rovers

Jim's column 21.12.2019

Tuesday night's FA Cup second round replay saw Bristol Rovers emerge victorious against Plymouth Argyle and earn a third round home tie against the Sky Blues. Rovers are having an excellent season and look good outside bets for promotion and a return to the second tier of English football where they have not appeared since 1993. The shock departure of manager Graham Coughlin this week may have an effect on the 'Gas' but one of the most vociferous crowds in League One will give them the advantage on 5th January.

The clubs have met only once in the FA Cup previously – a second round tie at Highfield Road in 1963. City were strong favourites having scored 19 goals in four successive victories one of which was a 4-2 win over Rovers in a league game, two weeks previously. City were top of Division Three whilst Rovers were 13th. The form-book however went out of the window with Rovers winning 2-1.

The day's biggest FA Cup attendance, 26,248 saw Rovers score an early goal through former England international winger Geoff Bradford then defend in depth to thwart the goal-crazy Sky Blues. Harold Jarman scored a second goal just before half-time and although City had 22 shots at goal to Bristol's eight, the home side couldn't break through the strong Rovers' rearguard. Ken Hale scored a goal in the 87th minute and a minute later Ron Rees looked to have been fouled inside the penalty area but the referee waved play on. It would have been a travesty for Rovers who deserved their victory and went on to defeat Second Division Norwich in round three before losing 4-1 at Old Trafford in the fourth round.

Many City fans felt City didn't try in the Cup game and were saving their energies for the promotion push but manager Jimmy Hill denied these accusations saying that clubs of their size needed the income that FA Cup runs bring to help keep themselves solvent. Whatever the truth, the Sky Blues, despite a rocky springtime eventually won their promotion to the Second Division.

Coventry City have reached Christmas with only three league defeats, which, in terms of defeats, is the second best first half of the season in the 100 years of the club's Football  League history. It's only bettered by 1937-38 when on Christmas morning they had only suffered one defeat. A defeat at Bramall Lane in front of over 40,000 made it two and knocked City off the top of the table. Sadly, the second half of that season was somewhat of a disappointment and the team missed promotion to Division One by two points.

More news from Bob Dobbing in Australia and it's positive. His operation to remove his prostate was successful and he is keeping his fingers crossed that the cancer has been caught in time. He sent me a nice email after receiving his 1960s City shirt from the Former Players Association.

First of all Jim I would like to offer my sincere thanks for the manner in which you put all this together, I’m really very flattered and feel very privileged to be in such company with the players from Coventry City Football Club from that period.

I think this may have been initially driven by a Catherine Loftus my niece who is a “mad football/Sunderland fan” which is really nice for me as she is just so special, I had no idea she was doing this.

Yes it’s been a bit of a rough time the last few weeks but I’m pleased to say “so far so good” we’ll just see how things go.

Dobbing with his 1960s City shirt

My time at Coventry was an unreal experience for a 15/16 year old shy “Geordie boy” I just loved being there, a great club, a great bunch of guys from ground staff lads through to the first team players, incredible. The best education of my life, I was staying with friends of my Dad’s family in Grangemouth Road, Radford, living right opposite Dietmar Bruck. Dietmar was very good to me while on trial, taking me to the ground every day and getting me home when he could, something I was always very grateful for.

It was a very sad time for me to leave Coventry but I guess not making the first team it had to be. I spent a season in the Fourth Division at Hartlepool United, that was like going from a very progressive, professional club to the other end of the scale (chocolates to boiled lollies!) Playing in most first team games for the season missing only a handful through injury, I decided to investigate the offers I had from the USA, South Africa and Australia, so Australia it was. Another ex-City man Robin Hayward was in Melbourne and Don Peachey was in Sydney.

Life in Melbourne was really good, I was married to the lovely Pauline before we moved to Melbourne, Pauline was a “Sky Blue Girl” working in the pools office with Arthur Pepper in the 1960s, she actually featured in a Sky Blue Programme August 12^th 1969. We sadly lost Pauline to cancer in 2003 after 33 years married life – a very sad time for us all.

I had a contract with the Melbourne Soccer Club playing in the State League which was the major league in Melbourne Victoria (State) at the time. The standard was quite good , playing many club games, being selected for the State Team playing against other State Teams and visiting European clubs notably Moscow Dynamo and an English FA side described as an England “B” team in which Dennis Mortimer played. It was nice to catch up with Dennis after all that time. I managed to be selected in a Preliminary Australian Squad as a build up to the 1974 World Cup in Munich, But sadly missed out due to breaking my right “Tib and Fib” in a club game some three weeks after the squad was announced. I managed to get myself fit after 10 months hard work only to break the same leg again in a comeback game. Six months after the second break I had to have a bone graft which really put me back with my playing days by about two and a half years. It was very tough to take but after recovery I played back in the same league with a degree of success along with some coaching success too.

Melbourne has been a great place to live, I am walking distance to a lovely beach. I had a great interest in sailing both off the beach and ocean sailing too.

All being well I’m hoping to pay a visit next year to the UK and would just love to say hello Jim and personally thank you for your interest.

Merry Christmas to all my readers and let's hope 2020 will be a year of promotion for the Sky Blues.