Eighteen-year-old Tom Bayliss made
a dramatic first league start for the Sky Blues last Saturday. Within
two minutes of the kick-off he had netted his first goal for the club
– the fastest goal by a City league starting debutant since 1956
when Ron Newman netted in the first minute of his debut against
Southampton. Newman was a Welsh-born right-winger who joined City
from Northampton Town in a straight swap for Charlie Dutton n March
1956 and went straight into the first team. His goal-time was not
recorded in seconds but 'Nemo' in the Pink was clear it hit the net
within the first minute. City beat the Saints 2-0 with Ken McPherson
netting the second goal. Ron scored one other goal in six appearances
before the end of the season, in a 4-1 home win over QPR. The
following season he made only seven appearances and moved to Torquay
United in July 1957 where he played just four games before moving
into non-league circles with Bedford Town, Rugby Town and Rushden
Town. He later coached Wellingborough Town and still lives in
Northampton.
Since
then two players have scored faster debut goals as substitutes. Wayne
Andrews scored 26 seconds after coming off the bench at Barnsley in
2006-07 and Laurent Delorge scored within a minute after coming on
for his league debut at Sheffield United in 2001.
Wayne Andrews celebrates at Barnsley
Leicester-born Bayliss celebrated
his 18th birthday on 6th April which made him 18 years and 254 days
when he scored his first goal. However, that doesn't even put him in
the top 10 youngest City goalscorers who are:-
| 1 Brian Hill v Gillingham 1957-58 16 years 273 days |
| 2 Colin Holder v Shrewsbury 1960-61 17y 78d |
| 3 Tom English v Bristol City 1979-80 17y 307d |
| 4 James Maddison v Oldham (a) 2014-15 17y 332d |
| 5 Willie Carr v Charlton 1967-68 18y 21d |
| 6 Peter Hill v Preston 1949-50 18y 33d |
| 7 Ellis Lager v Bournemouth 1935-36 18y 93d |
| 8 Conor Thomas v Blackpool (a) 2011-12 18y 94d |
| 9 Bobby Gould v Mansfield 1964-65 18y 124d |
| 10 Steve Sedgley v Oldham 1986-87 18y 155d |
Bayliss was born in April 1999 and
the day is fast approaching when the club will field their first
player born in the 21st century. Only Jordan Thompson, born two days
after Bayliss, who made his bow in the Checkatrade Trophy game with
West Brom as a substitute, was born after Tom.
Geoff Moore, who tracks stats on
the players who have appeared at the Ricoh tells me that an
opposition player born in the 21st century has already appeared –
Walsall's Mitchell Candlin was born on 8th June 2000 and was only 16
when he played against the Sky Blues last April.
Geoff also tracks the
nationalities to appear at the Ricoh and has advised me that two
recent players were 'firsts'. One of Boreham Wood's substitutes in
the recent FA Cup tie was Angelo Balanta, the first Colombian to
appear at the stadium. Then, last Saturday, Cheltenham's impressive
striker and goalscorer was Sudanese Mohamed Eisa. This takes the
total of different nationalities to play at the Ricoh to 85.
We are also getting close to the
1000th player used by the club since they joined the Football League
in 1919. That milestone will probably be reached next summer.
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