Jim's column 30.10.2021

Richard Owen was in contact recently to tell me that his father Rod is soon celebrating the 70th anniversary of his first Coventry City game and asked me to confirm the details. Rod remembers it as a game just before Christmas at home to Notts County when County's star centre-forward Tommy Lawton scored in a home defeat for the Bantams.

                                     Tommy Lawton

Rod thought it was 1951 but after checking the records I was able to confirm that it was 16th December 1950 making it 71 years since his first game. Two weeks ago I wrote about the eight game winning start to that season and City went into that game having not lost at home with nine wins and one draw and second in the table behind Manchester City.

On a snow covered pitch with blue chalk marking the lines the surface was treacherous but Lawton, more renowned for his heading ability, skated over the icy pitch in the first minute and netted with a low shot. The former England striker made it 2-0 after 15 minutes following another City defensive mistake on the slippery ground. Bryn Allen pulled a goal back in the second half and though City piled pressure on the Notts defence they held out for a 2-1 win to end City's unbeaten home record. In those days the last two Saturday's before Christmas were notorious for lower than average attendances and the club must have been pleased with the gate of 25,102.

Tommy Lawton was a prolific scorer before and after World War Two. Signed by Everton as a 17-year-old in 1937 he scored 34 goals as Everton won the league title in 1938-39 and after the war he played for Chelsea, Notts County, Brentford and Arsenal, making his last appearance in 1955 two weeks before his 36th birthday. He scored 22 goals in 23 full internationals in an England shirt and 24 goals in 23 games in war-time internationals. A true giant of the game.

Richard says that his dad tells him that he used to sneak in as a lad when the turnstile operators turned a blind eye occasionally! Richard continues: 'He was a policeman in Coventry, Warwickshire and Birmingham from the 1960s into the 1990s so policed occasional Coventry games as well as Birmingham City. It was actually through Blues that he got us Cup Final tickets in 1987. He started taking me and my sister in the late 1970s and we went together right into the mid-1990s when I went to the USA. But he kept going with friends of mine and I rejoined him on my return in 2008. When we got relegated to the fourth tier he almost retired having got back to where he started, but Mark Robins has given him a new lease of life and is going now with my 6-year-old lad and the thought of making the trip back to the top for the second time is keeping him going!'

Even though it is 71 years and not 70 Richard is hoping to do something special for the Stoke home game just before Christmas.

Jon Burton had some interesting questions for me recently. He wanted to know which City players had scored 40 or more goals in a season as well as the youngest and oldest players to score hat-tricks for the club.

Clarrie Bourton is the only City player to score 40 or more league goals – he scored 49 in 1931-32 season and 41 the following season. He was a veritable goal machine and went on to net 189 goals in league and cup for Coventry.

The youngest hat-trick scorer is Adam Armstrong, on loan from Newcastle, who was a month short of his 19th birthday when he scored three goals in the 5-0 win at Crewe on New Years Day 2016.

The oldest is probably George Lowrie who was 33 years and three months in February 1953 when he scored three goals in a 4-1 victory over Millwall in a Third Division South match. Lowrie was in his second spell with the club having joined in the summer of 1939 as a 19-year-old and having to wait seven years for his full debut! He was a prolific scorer for the City immediately after the war, scoring 47 goals in 56 games, including five hat-tricks in 1946-47, and earning a big money move to Newcastle United. The move to the North East didn't work out and following a spell at Bristol City he rejoined Coventry in 1952.

One of these days, perhaps not in my lifetime, the Sky Blues will win at Preston! Not for the first time City took the lead there with a stunning shot from Tyler Walker only to be pegged back and beaten by a lively home display in the second half. The Deepdale hoodoo continues and City have now failed to win in all 20 league visits there.

If you have a question about the history or statistics of Coventry City please drop me an email at clarriebourton@gmail.com and follow me on Twitter @clarriebourton

Jim's column 20.2.2016

I'm still on a high from last weekend, one that will remembered for a long time in the city and by the supporters of Coventry City. The service at the cathedral for Jimmy Hill was an emotional affair with some great speakers, beautiful video clips and uplifting music witnessed by over 2000 supporters, dignitaries and a host well-known people from football and the media, including many past and present City players, managers, directors and staff. The event put the city of Coventry and the football club back into the national limelight and was a great credit to all parties. I was certainly proud to be involved in it and so much credit goes to Joe Elliott and Dave Long for their determination in making it happen.

The following day a JH-themed Legends Day was also a great success – probably the most successful in the nine years since CCFPA was formed. 40 former players including special guest Brian Kilcline enjoyed a memorable day with a record number enjoying great hospitality in the Eon lounge. The large numbers ensured a lot of money was raised for JH's favourite charities, Alzheimer's Research and Sparks, as well as CCFPA. A big thank you to those who donated raffle and auction prizes as well as the people who bought tickets and bid in the auctions. To top it all the team on the pitch came good after their rocky patch and notched the biggest home league win since Jimmy Hill was manager.

One has to go back to October 1963 and a midweek game against Shrewsbury Town to discover the last time the team won by a six-goal margin. That night Shrewsbury, with an 18-year old debutant goalkeeper, were thrashed 8-1 with goals from Ronnie Rees (3), George Hudson (2), Hugh Barr (2) and an own goal. Since then City have had big wins in Cup games v Macclesfield (7-0 in 1999) and Rushden & Diamonds (8-0 in 2002), and a 7-2 League Cup victory over Chester in 1985, but big league wins have been rare. Since 1963 there had been only three occasions that the team have scored more than five at home in the league:

1981-82 6-1 v Sunderland (Division 1)

2004-05 6-2 v Derby (Championship)

2005-06 6-1 v Derby (Championship)

You have to go back to March 1958 to find the last instance of a 6-0 home win (over Aldershot). On Saturday poor old Bury didn't know what to do to stem the tide and at one stage it looked as though City might threaten the all-time biggest win - 9-0 v Bristol City in 1934.

Adam Armstrong was on target twice in the second half to take his tally to 19 goals for the season and he has now scored two or more goals on seven occasions. This takes him past one of George Hudson's scoring records from1963-64 – George managed two or more on six occasions as he netted 24 league goals. Adam is the first City player to score seven braces (or more) since Ray Straw scored seven on his way to 27 league goals in 1958-59. In 1931-32 Clarrie Bourton managed it 13 times as he netted an all-time club record 49 goals in Division Three South.

Armstrong is closing in on Callum Wilson's 2013-14 total of 21 league goals and only Callum, Ian Wallace and Bobby Gould have scored more league goals in a season in the last 50 years. Since World War Two only twelve City players have scored more in a season than the young Geordie:

27 – Ray Straw (1958-59)

26 – George Lowrie (1946-47)

25 – Terry Bly (1962-63)

24 – Ken Chisholm (1951-52)

24 – George Hudson (1963-64)

24 – Bobby Gould (1966-67)

21 – Ian Wallace (1977-78)

21 – Callum Wilson (2013-14)

21 – Ken McPherson (1956-57)

20 – Ted Roberts (1948-49)

20 – Eddie Brown (1953-54)

20 – Ray Straw (1959-60)

                                                            Ray Straw

It's frightening to think that Armstrong has potentially another 15 games to overhaul some or all of these goalscoring legends and a post-war club scoring record could be on the cards. Only one man, the legendary Clarrie Bourton, has scored more than 30 league goals in a season – he did it in 1931-32 (49 goals) and 1932-33 (41 goals).

Several people asked me on Saturday when we had last had five different scorers in a game. It's actually quite rare and last happened in December 1995 in a 5-0 thrashing of champions Blackburn Rovers. On a icy pitch with Peter Ndlovu at the top of his game the scorers were: Dave Busst, David Rennie, Dion Dublin, Ndlovu and John Salako. This was also the last time that City won 5-0 at home. The club record for number of different scorers is six, achieved twice in the mid-war years. In 1927 City won 7-0 at Aberdare Athletic (the club's record away win) with six players netting the goals, then in 1930 City beat London side Thames FC 7-0, again with six different scorers.

Jim's column 7.11.15

Two home wins in four days have lifted the Sky Blues to within one point of the League One leaders, Walsall, and excited the Ricoh faithful. Six points, seven goals, with four of them from the goal machine Adam Armstrong. He just cannot stop scoring at the moment and is setting new records every week. He has now netted 12 league goals in his first fourteen games, the most impressive start to a Coventry City goalscoring career since Mick Quinn scored fourteen goals in his first fourteen games in 1992-93. The legendary Clarrie Bourton netted 1eighteen goals in his first fourteen games in 1931.

His two doubles in the past week have taken his total to five doubles in the league already and emulates Quinn's feat that season. You have to go back more than 50 years to find the previous scorer of five League doubles – in the 1963-64 promotion season George Hudson netted six, one of which was a hat-trick, something that Armstrong must surely score soon. In the intervening years several players have scored five doubles in League & Cup including Leon Clarke two years ago, David McGoldrick in 2012-13 and Michael Mifsud in 2007-08.

On Saturday against Peterborough he became the first City player to score 10 league goals before the end of October since Mick Ferguson in 1977-78. In 1963-64 the legendary George Hudson had scored 14 by the end of October and added a further six in November!

City fans are just praying that his club, Newcastle, don't recall him to St James' Park and instead perhaps consider letting him stay for the season.

The Sky Blues are one point of automatic promotion pace. I believe an average of two points a game (92 points total) will ensure a top two finish and therefore avoid the risky play-offs. Only once in the last twenty seasons would that total have failed to get automatic promotion. After 16 games played and 31 points gathered, City are close to that target.

Poor old Peterborough must dread playing the Sky Blues away. For the second season running they lost after leading 2-0 at half-time. Last season goals from Ryan Haynes, Jim O'Brien and Frank Nouble gave City the points with the first two goal turnaround for 19 years. Almost a year to the day City repeated the feat, but left it till injury time to secure the points. Two years ago at Sixfields Posh also lost 4-2 to the Sky Blues after leading 2-1 at half-time.

Tuesday night's game was another thriller with some vibrant attacking, four great goals and a somewhat scary period in the second half when a desperate Barnsley team threw everything at a tired City. The final score of 4-3 was the first such scoreline in a City match since 2001 when in Roland Nilsson's first home game as manager following the departure of Gordon Strachan, the Sky Blues beat Manchester City 4-3. It was also the first time City fans have seen seven goals in a game at the Ricoh since the first season when on Dennis Wise's debut the Sky Blues beat Derby 6-1.

In Derby's defence that day was a youngster called Lewin Nyatanga who must dread playing at the Ricoh. He was in Barnsley's back four on Tuesday night in what was his eighth visit to the stadium- more than any other player other than Jobi McAnuff. Thanks to Geoff Moore for that fact. In eight visits the Welsh international has been on the winning side just once (for Bristol City in 2010) and he has conceded 23 goals (almost three a game) with Derby, Bristol City and Barnsley).

It is sad for me to report the death of former City player Ken Cornbill. Birmingham-born Ken passed away on 13^th October, aged 78. He was on City's books for 3-4 seasons in the 1950s and although he never appeared for the first team, was a regular for the reserves in that period. Ken, a speedy right-winger with a great cross, was released by City in 1960 and joined Lockheed Leamington. According to Leamington historian Paul Vanes he made a winning debut at Hednesford on December 3rd when the Brakes triumphed by the odd in five and he played at least 17 games scoring 4 goals that season. With another ex-City man Ernie Ward playing at the top of his form, Ken had to settle for a place in the Reserves. The following season he appeared at least 16 times and netted a solitary goal and as a boy I saw him play at the Windmill Ground. In 1963 he joined Tamworth and it is believed he also played for Hednesford & Kidderminster. Away from football he had jobs selling cigarette machines to pubs and as a fork-lift driver in a carpet factory. In retirement he lived in Telford and attended City's Legends Day in 2013.

                                                         Ken Cornbill in 1959