Sunday 2 September 2018

Jim's column 1.9.2018


This week I thought I would answer some of the fascinating questions I received over the summer months. First of all, Dave Bramwell remembers seeing Coventry City play a friendly game at Bedworth in 1964 and wanted to know more details.

It was the week following the famous Colchester game in April 1964 that saw City clinch the Third Division championship on goal average on the final day of the season. City played five 'friendly' games in five days that week. Dublin on the Monday evening for a testimonial, Tottenham were entertained at Highfield Road on the Tuesday (City lost a thriller 5-6), a trip to Bedworth on the Wednesday night, another home game on Thursday against Brazilian side FC America following the open-top bus parade in the city centre and a trip to Eastbourne on the Friday night where they beat the local team to lift the Eastbourne Charity Cup. The following day the exhausted players (and wives) flew off to Spain for a well-earned rest in the resort of Gandia.

The game at Bedworth Town (as the Greenbacks were known then) was won 4-0 with goals from Graham Newton, Dietmar Bruck, Bill Tedds and Ronnie Rees. The line up with substitutes in brackets was:

Wesson(Meeson): Tedds, Kearns (Barr), B.Hill (Kearns), Curtis (Dicks), Farmer (Bruck), Humphries (Newton), Hudson (Hale), Kirby (B.Hill), Smith (Rees), Rees (Mitten).

A crowd estimated at 4,500 watched the game at The Oval.
                                                                   1963-64 team  

City fan Peter Shilton asked me a while ago to provide him with details of the Texaco Cup game between City and Motherwell in the 1972-73 season. The competition, sponsored by the oil company, was an Anglo-Scottish competition initially for top division teams from both sides of the border who hadn't qualified for European competitions. All ties were over two legs and in 1971-72 City eliminated Falkirk (3-1 on aggregate) in the first round before losing to Newcastle (2-6 on aggregate).

In 1972-73 City, under the new management team of Joe Mercer and Gordon Milne, were drawn against Motherwell. The first leg, at home, was a 3-3 draw with Billy Rafferty (2) and Dennis Mortimer on target and Martin and Lawson (2) for Motherwell in front of a crowd of 7,370. Two weeks later City travelled to Firhill and lost the second leg 0-1, McClymont scoring to eliminate the Sky Blues in front of 9,812.

City's line up for the first leg was: Glazier: Coop, Cattlin: Machin, Blockley, Barry: Mortimer, Young, Rafferty, Carr, Smith (sub Alderson).

For the second leg Dugdale replaced Cattlin, McGuire replaced Machin, Green replaced Young and Alderson replaced Smith. Within a month of the first game Machin, Blockley, Young and Rafferty had all left the club as the Mercer/Milne revolution took place.

The following season City were drawn against Motherwell again and lost 2-4 on aggregate. It was to be the last time City took up the invitation to play in the competition which lost its appeal somewhat with English top division sides shunning the tournament. 1974-75 was the last year that Texaco sponsored the cup and the competition became the Anglo-Scottish Cup and ran until 1981.

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