Stats review of 2025-26

After 25 years in the wilderness the Sky Blues are back in the Premier League. The club celebrated their 100^th season in the Football League by deservedly winning the Championship title by a commanding 11 points in an incredible season for the club. After narrowly missing out in the play-off semi final the previous season they led the league from early October to the finish line and clinched promotion with three games remaining. Despite finishing fifth in 2024-25 on the back of a remarkable second half of the season few pundits tipped them for an automatic place especially with the three relegated clubs in receipt of hefty parachute payments. There were blips along the road to promotion with most of them coming in December and January but the management handled that dodgy period superbly and the team rediscovered their autumn form and left their rivals floundering in their wake. In the last two months the team were relentless and lost only once in the final 15 games. 

Another summer transfer window was quiet with the management relying on subtle improvements to the squad. Defender Luis Binks left as did fringe striker Fabio Tavares and Jamie Paterson left after his short term deal. Brad Collins went on loan to Burton and Norman Bassette joined French club Stade Reims, also on loan. Youngsters Jack Burroughs and Ryan Howley left on free transfers to Northampton and Bristol Rovers respectively. Incoming were full-backs Kaine Kesler-Hayden from Aston Villa and Miguel Brau from Granada and importantly goalkeeper Carl Rushworth on a season-long loan from Brighton. The club tried to sign Carl on a permanent deal but the price was too high.

With the season two weeks old City failed in their attempts to sign Hull City defender Charlie Hughes and instead signed experienced Ipswich man Luke Woolfenden on the final day of the transfer window instead. Almost simultaneously They allowed captain Ben Sheaf to leave for Wrexham for a reported £6m fee. Additionally Raphael Borges Rodrigues left on loan to Wigan for the season. 

The opening day 0-0 draw with Hull gave no clue as to the way the season would would pan out but a week later a comprehensive 5-3 win at Derby signalled that this Coventry team had some fire-power. A week later the team celebrated the exciting news that the club had purchased the CBS Arena by thumping QPR 7-1. Thanks to six wins in a row the team remained unbeaten for its first twelve games, the best start since 1937, and after walloping Sheffield Wednesday on the first Saturday in October, they went top of the table.

The run ended with defeat on Halloween night at Wrexham but five wins in November including outstanding wins at their closest rivals Stoke and Middlesbrough gave them a 12-point lead over the third placed team. December was challenging with defeats by Ipswich at the start and end book-ending two home wins and two draws. Things got worse in January and although the home form stayed strong the three away defeats wiped out the lead to just goal difference. A home draw with lowly Oxford together with a Middlesbrough win at Sheffield United nudged City off top spot but only for seven days. New faces, Frank Onyeka, Romaine Esse and Yang Min-Hoek, all loanees, helped lift the squad and in a tactical masterclass City regained top spot with a 3-1 victory over Boro.

Confidence restored, the team were back on point and racked up another six wins in a row including a vital victory coming from behind at Bramall Lane, usually a graveyard for the team. In-form Southampton pinched a win at the CBS but only delayed the inevitable and although they failed to seal promotion against the division's whipping boys Sheffield Wednesday, the deal was sealed at Blackburn's Ewood Park on an emotional Friday night thanks to Bobby Thomas' late headed equaliser in front of 7,500 Coventry fans. With promotion achieved the shackles came off and the free-scoring Sky Blues managed 12 goals in their final three games to take their season's total to 97 including five players in double figures.

2025-26 Appearances & goalscorers

PLAYER	LEAGUE			FA CUP			LEAGUE CUP			SEASONS TOTAL
GRIMES, Matt	46		2				1	1		47	1	2
RUSHWORTH, Carl (L)	46									46	0	0
VAN EWIJK, Milan	43	1			1					43	2	0
DASILVA, Jay	41	1						1		41	2	0
KITCHING, Liam	37	1	2	1				2		38	3	2
MASON-CLARK, Ephron	36	6	10		1					36	7	10
THOMAS, Bobby	33		3				2			35	0	3
WRIGHT, Haji	31	9	17	1			1	1	1	33	10	18
SAKAMOTO, Takashiro	29	6	7		1			1		29	8	7
TORP, Victor	25	14	10				1	1		26	15	10
RUDONI, Jack	24	6	7	1				2		25	8	7
THOMAS-ASANTE, Brandon	21	11	13				1	1		22	12	13
ECCLES, Josh	19	15	4	1						20	15	4
SIMMS, Ellis	15	28	13		1		2		1	17	29	14
LATIBEAUDIERE, Joel	15			1						16	0	0
ONEYKA, Frank (L)	13	1	1							13	1	1
WOOLFENDEN, Luke	11	6		1						12	6	0
ESSE, Romaine (L)	8	9	2	1						9	9	2
KESLER-HAYDEN, Kaine	5	17	2				2			7	17	2
ALLEN, Jamie	4	19	1				2			6	19	1
BIDWELL, Jake	3	8		1			2			6	8	0
BRAU, Miguel Angel	1	8					2			3	8	0
ANDREWS, Kai		7		1			2			3	7	0
MARKELO, Jahnoah		5								0	5	0
YANG MIN-HOEK (L)		3		1						1	3	0
RODRIGUES, Raphael Borges		2					2			2	2	0
SHEAF, Ben		1								0	1	0
WILSON, Ben				1			2			3	0	0
og			3							0	0	3
	506	184	97	11	4	0	22	10	2	539	198	99

Promotion: The promotion completes an amazing nine-year journey from League Two to the Premier League and replicates the rise from Division Four to Division One between 1958 and 1967. Coincidentally that rise saw City win Divisions Three and Two and this rise also saw City win the tier three and two titles. Coventry are the first team to fall from the Premier League to League Two and return. They are also only the fourth team to rise from the Fourth tier to the top tier twice, the others being Swansea, Brighton and Luton Town.

Games: Coventry City played 49 competitive games, 46 league, 1 FA Cup and 2 League Cup. 28 league wins is the most ever by a Coventry City team beating the 24 wins in 1935-36 (42 games) and 1958-59 (46 games).

Points: From 46 league games the Sky Blues gathered 95 points, 28 more than the previous season and the highest number ever in the club's history. The margin over second placed Ipswich Town was 11 points – the highest margin in the EFL Championship since Reading in 2005-06. The points per game of 2.065 betters the previous record of 1.971 set in the truncated 2019-20 title-winning season.

Home Form: 17 wins, 4 draws, 2 defeats. Ipswich and Southampton were the only sides to win at the CBS. No side won more home games. Only Ipswich lost less home games. The team gathered 55 home points, the best in the division and the most ever in a season beating the previous record of 46 in 1986-87. 

Away Form: 11 wins, 7 draws, 5 losses. The 11 away wins equalled the club record set in 2012-13 but 40 away points is a new record. The 4-0 victory at Millwall was the biggest midweek away win since 1958. The five away defeats equals the club record for a full season of five in 19 away games in 1988-89.

Biggest win: The biggest league win of the season was the 7-1 home win over QPR in August. It was the biggest league victory since City beat Shrewsbury 8-1 in 1963 and obviously the biggest at the CBS.

Biggest defeat: The biggest defeat was 0-3 at Ipswich in December. 

Goals for: The total of 97 league goals was 33 more than 2024-25 and the best in the whole Football League. It was only one short of the highest since the war, 1963-64 (98) and the fifth highest in the club's history. In total they failed to score seven times in 46 games, the lowest since 1977-78 when Gordon Milne's team failed to score in just five games. The team scored 51 home goals, easily the highest in the division and the most since 1965-66 when Jimmy Hill's side scored 54. There were 46 away goals, a club record beating the previous highest of 37 in 2012-13.

City scored five goals or more four times, equalling the post-war record set in 1963-64 but this is still less than everyseason between 1931-32 and 1935-36 in Division Three South. The 5-3 win at Derby was a good way to come back from the false-start against Hull on the opening day; the 7-1 v QPR was a great way to celebrate the news that City had acquired the stadium; the 5-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday took City top and was City's first 5-0 away win in the second flight; and the 5-1 v Portsmouth was a great celebration of winning the Championship title.

Goals against: City conceded 45 goals, 13 less than 2024-25, the lowest in the division and the lowest in the club's history from a 46-game season.

Goal difference: City's goal difference of +52 was the highest in all four divisions, and City's best by far since goal difference replaced goal average in 1976-77. The previous best had been +18 when City finished 8^th in League 1 in 2015-16 and the truncated League 1 title season in 2019-20 when only 34 games were able to be played. +52 is City's second best total, only surpassed by +57 in 1935-36.

Clean sheets: The team kept 17 league clean sheets, four more than 2024-25. Carl Rushworth won the Golden Gloves title for keeping the most in the division. However it was four short of the record set by Ben Wilson in 2022-23. Carl also set a new club record by keeping a clean sheet for 613 minutes in the autumn including five consecutive shut-outs.

Final position: The club finished as Champions of the division. The fifth time they have topped a division in 100 seasons in the Football League and the first confirmed before the end of a season – all the others were confirmed on the final day or, in 2020, post-season. After going top on 4^th October with the win at Hillsborough the Sky Blues led the table for 128 days (a club record) and only lost top spot for seven days but regained it with a 3-1 home victory over Middlesborough. Thereafter they led the table until the season's end. In total 204 days in top place which is longer than in the previous 58 seasons cumulatively! City were actually top of the table after every game they played from 4^th October until the end of the season.

Leading scorers: For the third season running Haji Wright topped the league scorers list with 17 goals putting him in third place in the Golden Boot competition. Brandon Thomas-Asante and Ellis Simms shared the runners up position with 13 each. For the first time since 1963-64 five Sky Blues players scored 10 or more league goals. Fifteen different City players were on the score-sheet in league games. Wright has now scored 49 goals for the club (45 league, 4 cup) and is now the seventh highest league scorer in the post-1967 era and has the best goals per minute ratio of the top ten.

Doubles: City achieved ten league doubles, easily a club record, breaking the previous best of six. For the third successive season the team did the double over Middlesbrough. It was the first over Swansea since 1946-47, the first over West Brom since 1969-70, the first over Stoke since 1984-85 and the first over Sheffield United since 2001-02.. Only Ipswich did the double over City.

Appearances: Matt Grimes and Carl Rushworth started all 46 league games. Rushworth played every minute (4140) but Grimes was subbed three times and played 4126 minutes. Two other players, Ellis Simms and Ben Wilson, were in every league squad.

Players used: 27 players were used in league games (one more than 2024-25) - and one, Ben Wilson, appeared in all three Cup games. Of the 27 players, eight made their debuts during the season. In addition to the 27 players used four more: Callum Perry, Justin Obikwu, Oscar Varney and George Shepherd sat on the bench as substitutes but were not used. Five of the 27 players, Sheaf, Rodrigues, Andrews, Yang and Markelo only made substitute appearances in the league and Brau made one league start. Of the main squad of 21, seven made 40 or more league appearances, thereby demonstrating the importance of a close-knit, settled side.

Substitutes: Ellis Simms made the most substitute appearances (28 league, 1 Cup) – the most off the bench by a City player in a season beating Andy Morrell's record from 2005-06. Jamie Allen has now made 69 sub appearances in total and overtook Max Biamou's previous record of 55, but Ellis Simms and Josh Eccles are hard on his heels with 66 and 61 respectively. Haji Wright was the most substituted player (27 times in league, 2 Cup) and Eccles has now been subbed 55 times, second only to Jordan Shipley who was hooked 61 times. Seven goals were scored by substitutes: Ellis Simms 2 (Millwall (a) & Sheff Wed (a)) Victor Torp 2 (Southampton (h) & Wrexham (h)), Kaine Kesler-Hayden (Millwall (a), Jack Rudoni 2 (both Derby (h)), Haji Wright (Leicester (h)). Rudoni became only the ninth City player to score two as a sub. Ben Wilson was the most unused substitute, staying on the bench 46 times and Jake Bidwell was unused in 35 games. 

Appearance milestones: Jamie Allen made his 200^th City appearance when he came on as a substitute on the last day of the season at Watford. On the same day Jake Bidwell made his 150^th City appearance and Joel Latibeaudiere played for the 100^th time. This set a remarkable record of eight players reaching the 100 appearance milestone, the others being Ellis Simms, Bobby Thomas, Haji Wright, Jay Dasilva, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, Liam Kitching and Victor Torp.

Won from behind: (6) City won from a losing position on six occasions compared to two in 2024-25. Derby (a), Sheff United (h) & (a), WBA (h), Leicester (h), Charlton (h). Twice they came from behind to draw (Norwich (h) & Blackburn (a)). Against West Brom they came from two down to win. . The team won 20 points from losing positions. The Sky Blues scored first in 30 league games.

Lost from in front: (4) City lost three league games from a winning position (at Wrexham, QPR and Norwich (for the third season running). On four occasions City took the lead only to be pegged back for draws – Oxford (a) Preston (a), Southampton (a) & Charlton (a). 17 points were lost from leading positions.

Best run: The Sky Blues best unbeaten run was 12 games from the start of the season. This was the second best ever start to a season for the club, only bettered by the 15-game start to 1937-38. During that run the team won six in a row for the first time in a season and followed it up in February/March with another six in a row. The season ended with the team unbeaten in eight games. Between the end of September and the end of December the Sky Blues won eight consecutive home games – the best run since 1958. 

Worst run: There were three runs of three league games without a win, the first in August-September, then again in December-January and the third in January-February. The first was three draws and the latter two were 2 defeats and a draw.

Hat-tricks: (2) Haji Wright netted a hat-trick in the important home win over Middlesbrough in February Wright is the first Coventry player to score a league hat-trick against Middlesbrough since David Speedie in 1988. Ellis Simms scored his third hat-trick at Watford on the final day of the season – the first away hat-trick by a City player since Matty Godden at Tranmere on New Year's Day 2020 and the first against Watford since Clarrie Bourton in a 5-0 win in 1932.

Opposing hat-tricks: (1) Keiffer Moore was the only opposition player to score a hat-trick against the Sky Blues – in the Welsh club's 3-2 victory in October. He is only the third opponent to score three in the last eight seasons, Portsmouth's Lang and Hull's Estupinan the others.

Former Players: City faced many of their former players during the season but only one, Sheffield United's Sam McCallum, managed to score against them. 

Own goals: For City: (3) Three opposition players scored goals in their own net: Bright Osayi-Samuel (Birmingham (h)), Andrew Hughes (Preston (a)) and Regan Poole (Portsmouth (h)).

Own goals: By City: (1) Bobby Thomas was the only City player to score in his own net – in the 4-2 win at Middlesborough.

Penalties: For City: (6) Six awarded, all scored. Wright 3 (Derby (a), Millwall LC (a), Middlesbrough (h)), Grimes (Preston (h)), Torp (Southampton (h)) & Thomas-Asante (Swansea (a))

Penalties: Against City: (3) Three awarded, all scored. Derby's Carlton Morris (for the second season running), Watford's Imran Louza and Derby's Ben Brereton-Diaz.

Fastest Goal scored: Three goals were timed at three minutes: Thomas-Asante at Sheffield Wednesday, the same player v Watford and Simms at Charlton.

Fastest Goal conceded: Birmingham City's Marvin Ducksch scored in the sixth minute at St.Andrews.

Late goals: Once again the team excelled in late goalscoring with 17 goals after the 80^th minute six of them after 90 minutes and six of them winning/decisive winning goals. The super six were: Sheff United (h), Stoke (h) and (a), Middlesbrough (a), Leicester (h), Derby (h). The Sky Blues conceded six goals after the 80^th minute with two in added-time but none of them were winning goals. 

Defenders scoring: At Middlesbrough Liam Kitching became the first Coventry defender to score two goals in a league game since Reda Johnson at Bradford in 2014.

Red cards: Coventry: (3): Dasilva (Southampton (a)), Thomas (Birmingham (a)) and Latibeaudiere (Bristol City (a)).There was also a retrospective red card for Thomas-Asante at Norwich.

Red cards: Opponents: (6) Six opponents were sent off against the Sky Blues. This season's culprits were: Robinson (Birmingham), Abankwah (Watford), Molumby (WBA), Lindsay (Preston), Lankshear (Oxford) and Randell (Bristol City). Liam Lindsay is only the second opponent to be sent off twice against the Sky Blues (the other being Chris Whyte).

FA Cup: City fell at the first hurdle, losing 1-0 to Stoke City thanks to a very late goal.

League Cup: After defeating old rivals Luton Town the Sky Blues put out a weakened side at Millwall and lost 2-1.

Bookings: Liam Kitching had the dubious honour of most yellow cards with ten cards. Milan Van Ewijk and Bobby Thomas were close behind with eight each. Van Ewijk was the only player who received a one-match ban for clocking up yellow cards.

Home Attendances: The average home attendance increased again. Boosted by a record 24,000 season tickets the average was 30,290, up 9% from 2024-25. That is the highest since 1969-70 when the Sky Blues finished sixth in the old First Division and qualified for Europe and averaged 32,043. It was the highest in the Championship and the fourth highest in the club's history, only bettered by the three seasons between 1967-70. There were 15 league attendances above 30,000 which is the most since 18 in the first season in Division 1 in 1967-68.

An average of 1,710 away fans attended City's games at the CBS.

Away Attendances: An average of 22,521 watched City's away league games, an increase of 2.6% and the fifth highest in the Championship.

Highest home attendance: The CBS attendance record for a City game was broken twice during the season. First the Stoke game attracted 31,516, topping the Middlesbrough game in 2024-25 by 64. Then for the Sheffield Wednesday game a new record of 31,647 was set. You have to go back to 1981 to find a larger home crowd, 35,411 v West Ham United in the League Cup semi final. In total there were fifteen crowds over 30,000, nine of them over 31,000. 

Lowest home attendance: 27,835 v Preston when there were only 350 away fans.

Highest away attendance: The biggest league crowd was 30,857 at Leicester's King Power Stadium.

Lowest away attendance: The smallest league attendance was 10,617 v Wrexham. There were 7,048 at Millwall for the League Cup tie.

Away followings: An average of 2,849 City fans followed the team away up 31%. The largest away following was at Blackburn where 7,375 City fans attended. There were also an incredible 4,866 at Preston for a midweek game in December, with the smallest 1,291 for the game at Wrexham in October. Norwich and Birmingham had followings of over 2,600 before the away allocation at the CBS was reduced to just over 2,000. The smallest following at the CBS was 358 for Preston's visit.

Captains: After having six different starting captains the previous season there was far more continuity this season. Ben Sheaf started the season as club captain but did not start a game. Liam Kitching wore the armband for the first four games before Matt Grimes was appointed on Sheaf's departure. Sheaf took the armband from Kitching in the opening game when he came on as substitute but handed it to Jamie Allen when he went off injured. In the home games against Derby and Wrexham Kitching took the armband when Grimes was subbed and in the final game at Watford Grimes passed the armband to Allen when the latter came on as a sub.

Kits: City wore four different kits during the season. The Sky Blue kit was worn in all 24 home games and 11 away games (5 wins, 3 draws, 3 defeats) . The hot coral kit was used in 10 away games (4 wins, 3 draws, 3 defeats). The navy blue kit was worn in three away games (1 win, 1 draw, 1 defeat) The Brown retro kit was worn once and resulted in a win.

Bogeys: City failed to end their dreadful record at Preston's Deepdale where they have never won a league game in 24 visits to the ground. Norwich continue to be a bogey side for City – in fifteen meetings since 2009 City have failed to beat the Canaries. Despite Leicester being relegated the Sky Blues have still not managed to win at the King Power Stadium for the ninth time. City have definitely become a thorn in Middlesborough's side – the Sky Blues have won the last seven meetings and are unbeaten in ten.

Awards: Frank Lampard was selected as Manager of the Season as well as winning Manager of the Month awards in October and November (the first Coventry manager to win two monthly awards in a season).  Four City players were selected for the EFL Championship Team of the Season: Rushworth, Van Ewijk, Grimes and Wright. Rushworth was nominated for the Championship Player of the Season but lost out to Hayden Hackney of Middlesbrough. Thomas-Asante and Simms won EFL player of the month awards in October and November respectively. 

Game of the season: There were so many outstanding performances in this incredible season. At the CBS the standout games were QPR, West Brom, Derby, Portsmouth and Middlesbrough. Away from home the memorable games were at Middlesbrough, Sheffield United and, of course, Blackburn. Overall the Middlesbrough home win is top for me especially considering that Boro had overtaken us the previous week and we seemed to have hit the wall with only two wins in nine. The 3-1 win put the verve back into the team and the fans and made a serious dent in Boro's confidence.

Internationals: Club form in a very strong season earned full international call-ups for: Haji Wright (USA), Joel Latibeaudiere and Ephron Mason-Clark (Jamaica), Jay Dasilva (Wales), Frank Onyeka (Nigeria) and Brandon Thomas-Asante (Ghana). Probably the most players capped in a season since the Premiership days pre-2001.

Goal of the season: How can you choose one from the 99 goals scored by the Sky Blues in League and Cup games. The standouts for me were Torp's 2nd v QPR (h), Mason-Clark at Stoke (a), Simms' 1st v Middlesbrough (a), Rudoni v WBA (a), Torp v Wrexham (h), Torp v Watford (a). My vote goes to Ephron's late winner at Stoke for not only the technical ability and bravery but the context of the game (1^st v 2^nd, Lampard v Robins). It was the result that convinced me that we were serious promotion candidates.

With many thanks to Paul O'Connor.

We Are The Champions

Coventry City are promoted to the Premier League as Champions after an absence of 25 years. What a dramatic rise from the depths of League Two. In eight seasons the club has won three promotions and finally got back to the EPL. In an interesting coincidence the club took eight years to go from Division Four to Division One between 1959 and 1967 under the management of, first, Billy Frith and later Jimmy Hill. The majority of the media have rightly been focusing on the 25-year timescale but for me the eight-year rise is just as important. 

Eight years ago this weekend the Sky Blues lost 2-4 at home to Lincoln and even a play-off place looked in jeopardy. They recovered to reach the play-offs and won promotion in dazzling style with a 3-1 Wembley win over Exeter City. Mark Robins then worked wonders with a limited budget and with shrewd recruitment and transfer business built a new side that took League One by storm in 2019-20 and were deservedly anointed champions of the unfinished season. The team continued to evolve and after two seasons of acclimatisation in the Championship were good enough to reach the play-off final only to lose to Luton Town. The stars, Vik and Gus, were sacrificed to fund a major rebuild which has paid off with three phenomenal seasons culminating in the Championship title in 2026. 

The progress appeared to have stalled in the autumn of 2024 and Robins left to be replaced by Frank Lampard. Doug King’s decision to bring Frank in has been vindicated and Frank’s detractors local and national have been silenced with a season of exciting, outstanding football, goals galore and memorable moments many of which will be talked about for generations.

It’s hard to pick out my favourite moment, there have been so many. The 7-1 demolition of QPR on the day that the deal to buy the CBS Arena was sealed was one of numerous home games where the opposition was overpowered and put to the sword. On the road sell-out away followings were treated to an unheard of 10 away wins (with one game to go) and 42 goals amongst the best wins coming at Middlesbrough, Sheffield United and Millwall. My personal favourites were the home win over ‘Boro in February and the 1-0 at Stoke in November. ‘Boro had chased down our 13 point lead through December and January and the previous week had wowed the pundits by easily beating Sheffield United at Bramall Lane to overtake us. ‘Boro we’re now the team on everybody’s lips and many were writing the Sky Blues off but City defied their critics and rediscovered their mojo with an impressive 3-1 win courtesy of a Haji Wright hat-trick. Back on top the Sky Blues never looked back and went on to win eight games out of nine. It was at Stoke that I realised we were true promotion candidates. At Stoke City were not at their best against the second-placed Potters but dug in and were rewarded with Ephron Mason-Clark’s spectacular last minute winner.

I have to admit I was emotional at Ewood Park last Friday as promotion was confirmed and I thought especially of two friends with whom I had shared the few ups and many downs over the years. I’ve known Rod Dean for almost 60 years and we’ve travelled together all over the country and abroad (Munich 1970) watching City. It was Rod who piqued my interest in the club’s history and we collaborated on the Complete History book with David Brassington and Don Chalk over 35 years ago. We were also two of the founder members of the London Supporters Club in 1976 which has gone from strength to strength in the subsequent 50 years. Sadly, Rod has advanced dementia and is in a care home. Geoff Moore was another I shed a tear for at Ewood. A good friend for the best part of 40 years, Geoff, like me, was a serial school escapee to get to City games in the 1960s and was a member of the 92 club and reckoned to have seen City Play on over 100 different away grounds. Geoff passed away in March 2020 just as City were about to clinch the League One title and I missed being with both him and Rod on Friday night. One consolation was being with Geoff’s sons Andy and Chris for one of the special nights in Coventry City’s history.

Frank's team have broken so many records this season and I'll be covering the stats over the next couple of weeks but one new one emerged this week. It is City's fifth title in exactly 100 seasons in the Football League and the first to be clinched before the end of the season. In 1936, 1964 and 1967 the title was confirmed on the final day, and in 2020 the season was curtailed and the title not confirmed until two months later.

We're back!

As I write this Coventry City are on the brink of promotion to the Premier League and it might well have been confirmed last night at Blackburn. The Sky Blues have dominated the division all season and except for seven days in February have topped the table since October 4^th. It is a fantastic achievement bearing in mind the parachute payments available to the three relegated clubs as well as Sheffield United. With Ipswich losing to Portsmouth in midweek the title may not be far away either and could happen this weekend or in midweek. 

Last Saturday's game with bottom club Sheffield Wednesday was a lack lustre affair and I thought the nerves of the occasion got to both players and fans in the CBS Arena. The club managed to squeeze in enough fans to break the record attendance at the stadium for the second time this season with 31,647 fans crammed in. It was the 14^th time in this momentous season that the attendance has been over 30,000 and six of the all-time top ten gates have occurred this campaign.

The average home attendance for the season is now 30,214 and with the final two home games sold out the final average is certain to be greater than this figure. That will be the fourth highest seasonal average in the club's history and the best ever average outside the top flight. The highest averages are as follows:

1. 1967-68 Division 1 34,705

2. 1968-69 Division 1 33,223

3. 1969-70 Division 1 32,405

4. 2025-26 Championship 30,214*

5. 1966-67 Division 2 28,269

6. 2024-25 Championship 27,817

The Good Friday victory over Derby County was a bit of a nail-biter but the Sky Blues got the victory thanks to a brilliant performance from substitute Jack Rudoni. Jack hasn't had the best of seasons with injuries – he missed two months in the autumn then on his return he struggled for form. Finally, in March, we saw the best of him with three goals in three games before another injury blow. There were no signs of rustiness when he entered the field as a substitute against Derby and within five minutes he had conjured up a magical goal out of nothing and followed it up twelve minutes later with a striker's finish to win the game. He is only the ninth Coventry player to score two goals off the bench and he joins an impressive group started by Bobby Gould back in 1967 at Nottingham Forest – he was substitute for George Curtis after the Iron Man was carried off with a broken leg.

The full list is:

Bobby Gould Nottingham Forest (a) 1967-68 (3-3 draw)

Jay Bothroyd Rushden & D (LC) (h) 2002-03 (8-0 win)

Patrick Suffo Torquay United (LC) (h) 2004-05 (4-1 win)

Chris Maguire MK Dons (a) 2013-14 (3-2 win)

Ryan Haynes Wycombe (EFLT) (a) 2016-17 (4-2 win)

Max Biamou Yeovil (h) 2017-18 (2-6 loss)

Amadou Bakayoko Charlton (a) 2018-19 (2-1 win)

Matt Godden Oxford U (FAC) (h) 2023-24 (6-2 win)

Jack Rudoni Derby (h) 2025-26 (3-2 win)

The Derby victory was the club's 25^th win of the season and sets a new club record surpassing the 24 wins of 1935-36 and 1958-59. Both those seasons were promotion campaigns and relied heavily on strong home form. In 1935-36 City won 19 out of 21 home games and only five on the road. In 1958-59 there were 18 out of 23 home wins and only six away wins. This season the away form has been better than those two seasons with 10 wins so far and the potential for two more.

City on the Verge

Nine years ago when Coventry City were sliding into League Two with barely a whimper and if you had told me then that by 2026 we would be back in the top division I would have laughed in your face. A Checkatrade EFL Trophy victory at Wembley gave the fans a taste of success but didn't disguise the fact that their opponents in the old Division Four would include Accrington Stanley, Forest Green Rovers, Morecambe and Cheltenham Town. Even then Mark Robins' team made hard work of getting out of the basement division, trailing champions Accrington by 18 points and only sealing a play-off spot in the final game, a 0-0 draw with Morecambe. Massive performances over Notts County and at Wembley against Exeter sealed promotion and a second promotion, this time as champions, arrived two years later in the Covid affected 2019-20 season. Since then Robins and then Frank Lampard have overseen a gradual evolving squad getting closer and closer to the promised land with the Luton play-off heartbreak at Wembley in 2023, a magnificent semi-final defeat to Manchester United a year later before more play-off grief at Sunderland last season. The club is on the verge of emulating the achievements of the 1960s by going from the fourth tier to the top tier in eight seasons. City won promotion from Division Four in 1959 under Billy Frith before Jimmy Hill took over to win Division Three in 1964 and Division Two in 1967.

City have got there by playing an exciting brand of football all season which their 84 goals, 15 more than their closest rivals, attests to. The defence hasn't been shabby either with 42 goals conceded only bettered by two clubs. They took the division by the throat in the autumn winning 11 games out of 12 allowing them to have their dip in December and January. Then, with Middlesbrough wowing the pundits and nudging into the top spot, City produced a master-class performance to beat 'Boro at home and regain the top spot. City were back on the rails and it turned out to be the first of six straight wins that left their opponents stunned and the Boro-praising pundits eating humble pie.

The Records continue to fall

The Sky Blues have taken another massive step towards promotion back to the Premiership in the last seven days. A hard-won 2-0 win at Ashton Gate was followed by a comfortable 3-0 victory over Preston North End at the CBS Arena. The team have now racked up six consecutive league wins for the second time this season. This team has done something no other Coventry team have done in 100 seasons of league football, TWICE. There were two other examples of six in a row but they were over two seasons (in 1954 & 1964) and in 1998 Gordon Strachan's team won seven in a row but included two FA Cup victories.

The two victories this week takes the number of league wins this season to 23, just one short of the club record set in 1958-59 season when Billy Frith's team won promotion from the old Fourth Division. The points total now stands at 77 and with nine games remaining they could easily top 90. It's already the club's highest points total since the rules changed and it became three points for a win in 1981-82. 

In the two points for a win era prior to 1981 there were four seasons when if the three points rule had been in force they would have got more points, all of them promotion seasons:

                                    Pl      W     D     L     F- A     Points     Amended Pts     PPG

Points

1935-36 Div 3 South 42     24     9      9     102-45     57         81                     1.929

1958-59 Div 4             46    24     12   10     84-47     60         84                      1.826

1963-64 Div 3             46     22     16     8     98-61     60         82                     1.783

1966-67 Div 2             42     23     13     6     74-43     59         82                     1.952

The club's best points per game occurred in the truncated 2019-20 season when the season was ended with 12 games remaining with the Sky Blues averaging 1.971 points per game. With nine games remaining this season City's points per game is 2.081 – surely another record to fall.

The three goals against Preston took the season's total to 77 also – an amazing figure and the best haul since 1963-64 when Jimmy Hill's team scored 98 in winning the Division Three title. 77 tops the 1977-78 figure of 75 when Ian Wallace and Mick Ferguson were in their pomp and the club finished seventh in the old First Division but missed out on a UEFA Cup place by virtue of the Cup favourites Arsenal losing at Wembley to Ipswich Town.

We are truly witnessing the most astonishing season in the club's history.

Two victories at bogey grounds take City closer to promotion

Four successive victories have enabled the Sky Blues to not only regain the leadership of the EFL Championship but build a five point lead over second-placed Middlesbrough who although they beat Birmingham comprehensively on Monday night had suffered two home draws against relegation candidates Oxford and Leicester. It's interesting how quickly things can change in this division as we Sky Blues fans know only too well from the post-Christmas charges City have made in the last three seasons. I'm sure there will be twists and turns over the final two months of the campaign but right now Coventry City have their destiny in their own hands.

After the long run of away games without a win it was good to get back to their winning ways at West Brom. Since the win at Middlesbrough at the end of November they had gone seven away games without a win, with four defeats and three draws. Thankfully the home form, with the exception of the Ipswich game, has remained solid. The Hawthorns hasn't been a happy hunting ground for City in many years and the 2-0 win was the first there in six visits since 2007 when, under Iain Dowie, a 4-2 victory was achieved with two goals each from Leon Best and Michael Mifsud just three weeks after Tony Mowbray's Baggies had won 4-0 at the CBS. West Brom recovered to go on and win the title whilst two months later Dowie's time at Coventry was over.

Four days later Lampard's team came out on top in a thilling 2-1 game at Sheffield United with a tremendous comeback and goals from Haji Wright and Jack Rudoni. Like the Hawthorns, Bramall Lane has been a bit of a bogey ground for City and the win was the first in six visits since February 2013. That was one of the final games of the first Mark Robins spell as manager and Leon Clarke's two goals gave City a 2-1 win. In 33 visits to Bramall Lane this was only City's eighth win.

Last Saturday marked the return to the CBS Arena of Mark Robins and his Stoke City side. City, dominant for most of the game, failed to put the game to bed when they were on top and needed a 94^th minute goal from Jack Rudoni following a mistake from the Stoke goalkeeper Tommy Simkin to seal the victory. In the thirteen months since Robins took over at Stoke he has lost all three league games to the Sky Blues, all to a single goal and all in the last few minutes of games. Last season at the CBS Stoke thought they had grabbed a point when Sam Gallagher scored in the 86^th minute to make it 2-2 but Bobby Thomas popped up in the seventh minute of added time to score the winner. Then at the Bet365 stadium this season it was Ephron Mason-Clark's 86^th minute goal that clinched the points. Stoke's form has been abysmal since then with only five wins in 20 games and they have slipped from second place to fourteenth and with Stoke's record of changing managers Robins' position must be in jeopardy.

The Stoke game attracted 31,516, the biggest attendance of the season at the CBS and also a new ground record topping the previous record of 31,452 set in the final regular game of last season against Middlesbrough. That takes the home average to 30,140 and it looks virtually certain that Sky Blues will record a final average over 30,000 for the first time since 1969-70 when they averaged 32,043 in the old First Division. Seven years ago in the season the club were relegated to League Two the average was 9,203 – how times have changed.