Lions tamed again at the New Den

Frank Lampard got his first victory as Coventry City head coach at Millwall last week with a gutsy display in challenging weather conditions at the New Den. Ephron Mason-Clark's second half goal their third win in five visits to New Cross following the 2-1 win in 2020-21 and the 3-0 last season. It's a massive turnaround in City's fortunes in that part of South London – prior to 2020 they had won only twice in 20 visits at either the Den or the New Den (they moved in 1993), stretching back to 1955. Even in the title-winning seasons of 1963-64 and 1966-67 Jimmy Hill's team failed to win at the intimidating old stadium in New Cross. In 1963-64 Jimmy's team drew 0-0 at Cold Blow Lane in a game where City's penalty king Ron Farmer had the only penalty miss of his career. Then, three years later, the Sky Blues lost an early season game 1-0 in their Second Division title season. The only wins in that run came on Boxing Day 1955 when goalkeeper Reg Matthews, soon to be capped by England, put on a brilliant display to thwart the South Londoners and then post-match got embroiled with Millwall fans abusing City's players as they boarded their coach to return home. City won the game 2-0 with goals from Alan Moore and Ken McPherson. Then in 2015 Tony Mowbray's exciting young team won there 4-0 with goals from Adam Armstrong (2), Ruben Lameiras and Jim O'Brien. 

My story about former Coventry City youth player Johnny Stevenson playing for Australia in the 1970s I had emails regarding teammates of Stevenson. Jon Strange asked me about Trevor Smith who played on the left wing in the team but never made the first team. Birmingham-born Trevor, namesake of a famous Blues centre-half from the 1950s, was only 15-years-old when he was a regular in the 1969-70 youth team and went on to play in the youth team for three seasons. He was released by Coventry in the summer of 1972 and joined Walsall but made only three appearances for the Saddlers before dropping into non-league. Over the next few seasons he played for Kidderminster, Cheltenham, Warley Borough, Lye Town, Stourbridge, Bromsgrove, Alvechurch, Oldbury United and AP Leamington.

Another member of that memorable youth team of 1969-70 was Alan Green who was also 15-year-old at the start of that season. Philip Burton pointed out that he won an international cap for his adopted country, USA. Alan, a member of the England Youth team that won the European Championships in 1972, made over 100 first team appearances for the Sky Blues between 1972 and 1979 before moving to the States playing for Washington Diplomats, Jacksonville Tea Men, Golden Bay Earthquakes and New York Cosmos. In 1983 he obtained American citizenship and the following May won his one and only cap against Italy at New York Giants Stadium, a 0-0 draw. He was up against Italian legends such as Franco Baresi, Gaetano Scirea, Roberto Mancini and Marco Tardelli.

For those of you struggling about what to buy your Coventry City-mad loved ones I can recommend three books recently published. First, Michael Keane's 'A Season To Remember '– the story of the 1986-87 season, the season when City stunned the football world by winning the FA Cup. People forget that it was more than the Cup winning season and that John Sillett and George Curtis turned the club's fortunes completely around by playing flowing attractive football and finished in the top half of the First Division for only the fourth time in 20 years. The team won 14 home games, more than any other season in the last 57 years! The book superbly covers the season, match by match.

Talking about 1987, Dave Bennett's biography entitled 'Benno' has recently been published by Pitch Publishing. Co-written by Rich Chamberlain, the book reveals a lot of detail about Dave growing up in Manchester and his early career at Manchester City. With some fascinating stories about the '87 Cup run it's well worth a read.

Finally, Steve Phelps, another regular writer on all things Coventry City, has published an updated version of his 'On This Day'. There is at least one story for every day of the year in diary form and covers all the major events in the club's history. It is an excellent stocking-filler for Sky Blue supporters. 

Jim's column 16.1.2021

 Defeat at Carrow Road last weekend meant an early exit from the FA Cup for the Sky Blues but there was no disgrace in losing to the Championship league leaders. Seven days previously the team notched their second away win of the season by winning at Millwall and the historical significance of a rare victory there cannot be overlooked. In 19 league and Cup visits to either the Den or the New Den (they moved in 1993), stretching back to 1955 it was only the second victory. Even in the title-winning seasons of 1963-64 and 1966-67 Jimmy Hill's team failed to win at the intimidating old stadium in New Cross. Tony Mowbray's exciting young team won there 4-0 in 2015 and the following season, City's last visit before this season, there was a 1-1 draw.

Every week we hear of famous footballers from my golden age of the game, the 60s and 70s, passing away and last week it was Colin Bell who died, aged 74. Colin, an attacking midfielder, rarely had a bad game against the Sky Blues and scored nine goals against City – the most ever by a midfield player. He first came on City's radar on a miserable Friday night in December 1964 when as an eighteen year-old for Bury he scored twice in a 5-0 drubbing at Gigg Lane. Just over a year later he was signed by Manchester City, helping them to pip the Sky Blues to promotion to Division One. After Coventry won promotion in 1967 Colin haunted us, scoring home and away as Joe Mercer's Blues won the First Division title, and either scoring or making goals over the next few seasons. England had so many good midfielders in that era and in other times he would surely have won a lot more than the 48 full England caps he gained. Nicknamed Nijinsky after the horse that won the 1970 Derby and was considered the fastest racehorse of the 20th century, Colin could run all day and would have fitted in perfectly with today's fitness dominated game. RIP Colin.

Coventry City London Supporters Club member Alastair Laurie who travels to most home games from his home in Sussex had a question for me. He was chatting to an old friend who lives in Alnwick and is a long standing Newcastle season ticket holder. He had a relative also from the North East who played for City pre war named Liddle. Alastair asked me if I had any information on Liddle.

Fred Liddle was born in Great Lumley, a village near Chester-le-Street, Durham in 1909. He was a left winger and spotted by QPR playing for Crawcrook Albion in 1928 and he spent a season there without making a first team appearance before joining Huddersfield, then one of the top teams in the land but after three months there (and without a first team game) he moved to Rotherham where he played 13 games in Division Three North in 1929-30. Released by the Millers in 1930 he was playing back with Crawcrook the following season before a season on Newcastle's books in 1931-32. In July 1932 he joined Gillingham and over the next two seasons made 80 odd appearances scoring 19 goals.

He came to Highfield Road in the summer of 1934 and was regular in 1934-35 (35 games 7 goals). In the 1935-36 promotion season he played 18 games, 5 goals and was a regular in the second half of the season as the Bantams clinched promotion. In Division Two in 1936-37 he was in and out, playing 17 games scoring 2 goals before joining Exeter in the summer of 1937. He played 48 games in the two seasons before war broke out in 1939 and scored 10 goals. His whereabouts post-war are unknown.

            City's squad at the start of the 1935-36 season including Fred Liddle

Jim's column 5.11.11

Millwall has never been a happy hunting ground for Coventry City and Tuesday night proved to be no exception. It is 56 years since City won in Docklands – Boxing Day 1955 to be precise – and 16 subsequent league and cup games have failed to yield a victory. Millwall’s supporters already had a reputation back then and Jesse Carver’s team (it was his penultimate game as manager before a premature return to the Italian Serie A) upset them with a professional display, assisted by a stunning display of goalkeeping from Reg Matthews as he edged nearer to his first England cap. Matthews kept the rampaging Lions out and goals from Alan Moore and Ken McPherson ensured a 2-0 win. After the match Reg was the hero again – jumping off a besieged team coach to confront some gruesome dockers. Even in City’s Second Division 1966-67 promotion season City failed to win in New Cross, losing to a Joe Broadfoot goal.

Coventry City have now completed one third of the season and it is time for a review of their record. The Millwall defeat means they have gained only 12 points from 15 games – a poor record, which if replicated over the season would almost certainly mean relegation with 36 points. It is the worst first third of the season since City were relegated from the Premiership in 2001. In the last ten seasons City have averaged around 21 points from the first 15 games – the best, 31 in 2001-02 (under Roland Nilsson), the worst, 15 in 2004-05 (under Peter Reid). City, of course, are generally good starters and have a tendency to fall apart after Christmas, so here’s hoping previous seasons’ trends are reversed this term.

This start is the worst since the 2000-01 relegation season when they clocked 12 points from 15 games – but then it was more serious as they were almost halfway through the 38-game season. The worst start in modern times was under Ron Atkinson in 1996-97 when they gathered a measly ten points from 15 games. That season they won only one of their first sixteen games and by then Big Ron had already paid the price. Fortunately his replacement Gordon Strachan pulled City out of their nose-dive and kept them up on the final day at White Hart Lane.

Their worst ever start, which hopefully will never been repeated, was that horrible first season in the Football League in 1919 – where so many of the dreadful club records reside. That season they gained a pitiful three points from the first 15 games but still managed to survive the drop but only because they bribed their opponents!

Darius Henderson is in a rich scoring vein at the moment with 8 goals in 11 games and six in his last three. Darius is no stranger to the Sky Blues having netted for Watford against them in 2005-06 and again in 2007-08. He was a key member of the Watford team promoted via the play-offs in the former season and was the strike partner of Marlon King. From being one of the top scorers in the Championship he had a torrid time in the Premiership – failing to net until January 2007 and scoring only three goals all season. He re-discovered his scoring form for the Hornets back in the Championship before a big money move to Sheffield United in 2008. He failed to live up to his ‘star’ rating at Bramall Lane and then suffered a serious leg injury which kept him out of the side for most of last season. By the time he was fit the Blades were as good as relegated and his wages were presumably too high for League One. Millwall took a punt and have been richly rewarded.

Finally, a big thank you to all who supported and helped me two weeks ago at my book launch in Coventry. The management and staff of Waterstones, G-Casino and Coventry City were fabulous. Thanks also to my friends from the Former Players Association, especially Billy Bell and the former players who turned out on the day. Not forgetting Dean Nelson for his excellent 1960s video. It was a great day and I appreciate everybody’s efforts.

JIM'S COLUMN 4.9.10

After City’s defeat at the New Den last week manager Aidy Boothroyd described City as ‘soft’ and any fan knows that soft sides do not get results at Millwall. The defeat means it is 55 years since City’s last victory in Docklands – 15 league and cup games. Most City fans know what Aidy means and have watched too many ‘soft’ capitulations by the Sky Blues over recent seasons. If City want to be serious promotion contenders they will have to toughen up and grind out results at places like Millwall. The last Coventry City team to win promotion, Jimmy Hill’s 1967 team, were past masters at picking up points when playing poorly. Mind you the 1967 team failed to win at Millwall, losing an early season game 1-0.

Last week I commented on the small crowd at the Ricoh Arena for the home game with Derby County – the smallest crowd to watch a City home game since 2005 – and last Saturday I noted the dip in attendances across the Championship as a whole.

Of the 12 games played last weekend only two were watched by a crowd higher than last season’s average crowd. At Millwall just over 11,000 watched City’s defeat compared to last season’s average of 10,834 and at Doncaster’s Keepmoat Stadium a similar crowd watched the Yorkshire derby with Hull City. All other 10 games were watched by smaller than last season’s average crowds including Sheffield United 19,000 (last season’s average 25,000), Derby 25,000 (29,000) and Leicester 19,000 (24,000). Whilst all three of the clubs above have had mediocre starts to the season I know that they all have less season ticket holders than last campaign. In addition the gates at Ipswich, Forest, Scunthorpe and Swansea confirm the downward trend in this league.

So Coventry City are not the only club affected by falling attendances and I suspect it is a result of the economic situation the country finds itself in combined with England’s poor showing in this summer’s World Cup.

Dean Nelson sent me a picture of an old programme (see image) recently asking if I could provide more information about it. In February/March 1989 the Bermuda Football Association invited the Sky Blues and Middlesbrough to their island for a series of friendly games. City were lying in fourth place in the old First Division when they left the cold English winter for a warm break in the sun, one place behind Millwall where they had lost 1-0 the previous Saturday. The opening game saw City facing Boulevard Community Club, a team of Rastafarian amateurs who were one of Bermuda’s top club sides. Goals from Gary Bannister, Dean Emerson, Cyrille Regis and Dave Bennett gave City a 4-0 victory. City ended their brief sojourn on the sunny Atlantic island with a 2-1 victory over ‘Boro with goals from Regis and a late winner from substitute Howard Clark. City’s players described the rock hard pitch at the PHC Stadium where all the games were played, as ‘disgraceful’. Manager John Sillett was a little more diplomatic, calling it ‘a little bumpy’.

JIM'S COLUMN 28.8.10

Last Saturday’s 2-1 home win over Derby County lifted the Sky Blues to fourth place in the Championship after three games. It meant that the team had won its first two home games for the first time since moving to the Ricoh Arena in 2005 - in fact it was the first time since 2002 when Gary McAllister’s team beat Sheffield United and Crystal Palace in their first two home games.

Sadly the attendance was a pitifully low 13,139 - the lowest home league crowd ever at the Ricoh and the lowest since February 2005 when 12,148 were at Highfield Road for a 1-2 defeat to Wigan. No doubt the poor weather and the Sky live television coverage had an impact last week but the prices charged to ‘walk-up’ supporters is undoubtedly a big factor in these economically trying times. Even more worryingly about Saturday’s gate is that it is almost two thousand lower than the previous lowest Saturday home gate, set against Barnsley last January. Perhaps the low crowd will persuade Ray Ranson and his team to review their policy in this area.

Lowest gates at the Ricoh 2005-10

1. 13,139 v Derby Co. (2010-11)*
2. 14,036 v Scunthorpe (2007-08)
3. 14,326 v Sheffield United (2009-10)
4. 14,621 v Burnley (2008-09)
5. 14,992 v Cardiff (2008-09)
6. 15,031 v Barnsley (2009-10)*
7. 15,035 v Barnsley (2008-09)
8. 15,149 v Swansea (2008-09)
9. 15,165 v Reading (2009-10)*
10. 15,190 v Peterborough (2009-10)*
* Saturday home games

Who would bet on a City victory at Millwall this afternoon? It is the Sky Blues’ first visit to the New Den for five years and history and form is against them. City have not won at Millwall (Old or New Den) in 14 league and cup games stretching back to their last win on Boxing Day 1955. Millwall have a tradition for strong home form and hold a Football League record of 59 unbeaten home games between 1964 and 1966. They are currently unbeaten at home in 19 league and cup games, the last defeat being by Wycombe Wanderers last November.

Alan Wainwright asked me about a great goal of the past. He wanted to know at which end of Highfield Road did George Hudson score his memorable goal against Southampton. After checking with my fellow City historian Rod Dean I was able to confirm that ‘The Hud’s’ classic goal was scored at the Covered End (the City end) in September 1965.

George scored many great goals for the club but this was arguably his most memorable goal when, with his back to goal he flicked the ball over Southampton centre-half Tony Knapp's head, turned, then casually headed past a startled keeper. City won the Tuesday evening game 5-1, having lost 1-0 to the Saints at the Dell a week earlier. At the end of that season the Saints pipped the Sky Blues to promotion by one point.

Kevin Ring tells me that former City youngster Craig Faulconbridge is still playing professional football at the age of 32. The Nuneaton-born striker was on City’s books for several years as a teenager and got close to a first team call-up after a couple of substitute appearances in pre-season friendlies in 1996 before a broken leg hampered his progress. Manager Gordon Strachan let him go on loan to Dunfermline in 1998 and he scored a memorable goal for the Pars which effectively wrecked Celtic’s title hopes and handed the league to Rangers. Competition for striking places at Coventry was fierce with Dublin, Huckerby and Whelan in great form and a further loan to Dunfermline and another to Hull City preceded Craig’s release from City in 1999. Craig joined Wrexham and played over 100 games in three years at the Racecourse Ground before another three years at Wycombe Wanderers. After spells at Oxford City and Carshalton he joined Woking last season and helped them reach the Blue Square South play-offs and Kevin tells me that this season he is a fixture in Woking’s first team.