City's most familiar opponents

I had a fascinating email this week from City fan Steve Coyne who has compiled the Sky Blues head to head record in Football League games. He has continued from the table published in the book 'Coventry City the Complete Record' published in 1991, which covered all Coventry City matches to the end of season 1990-91.

Up to 1991, Steve writes, we had faced QPR and Southampton 80 times each, followed by Norwich on 74, and Crystal Palace with 70 matches. It should be pointed out that until the 1958-59 season football was regionalised. Although the City, being a Midland club, had played in both Divisions Three North and South, they played all but one season in the Southern section which accounts for the leaders all being Southern teams. For the same reason until 1967 we played very few of the top Division One clubs from the North and Midlands.

City then went on an unbroken run of 34 seasons in the top flight including being founder members of the Premier League in 1992, meaning 68 matches against clubs like Everton and Arsenal with unbroken membership of the top flight. Since the publication of the record book City have played a further 32 seasons. There have been one or two books, mainly by Jim, recording sections of more recent results but no complete run of the completed seasons to the end of last season, 2023-24. Hence I dug out my own records of CCFC matches since, and by adding my figures to the 1991 records have ended up with what I hope is an up-to –date figure. These are Premier, Football League/EFL matches only and exclude all Cup-ties, friendlies, or our one season in the European Fairs Cup. There were also our two forays into the Play-Offs totalling 4 games, plus two Wembley Play-Off final opponents (2017-18 and 2022-23), but none of the four teams we played feature near the top of our table. 

So now the big reveal. On the 22^nd October 2024 our most recent visit to Loftus Road turns out to be of particular significance being the 113^th time the two teams have faced each other in League matches – a new record. Here are the top ten League opponents to the end of last season. Leeds and Watford will move up to join Leicester on 84 matches by the end of this season in May 2025

1= Queen’s Park Rangers 112

1= Southampton 112

3 Norwich City 104

4 Crystal Palace 98

5 Nottingham Forest 90 

6 West Ham United 88

7 Leicester City 84

8= Leeds United 82

8= Ipswich Town 82

8= Tottenham Hotspur 82

8= Watford 82

Figures include the Covid interrupted season 2019-20 where we played only 34 matches including ten clubs (further down the list) who we played just once.

Thanks Steve.

To add to Steve's excellent research I have identified the 15 clubs who City have only met twice (home and away) in their Football League history i.e. were in the same division for one season.

Six were encountered in the League Two season in 2017-18 (Barnet, Cambridge United, Cheltenham Town, Forest Green Rovers, Morecambe, Newport County (new)). Four were opponents in that one season in Division Three North in 1925-26 (Ashington, Durham City, New Brighton and Wigan Borough). Three were met in Division Four in 1958-59 (Chester City, Darlington and Workington Town). Aberdare Athletic were in Division Three South in 1926-27 whilst Leeds City are a defunct club that City met in 1919. The new Newport County are nothing to do with the club who City met 38 times between 1919-62.