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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.

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.

A new CBS attendance record for the Middlesbrough game

A CBS record crowd of 31,452 for the Middlesbrough game.

The West Brom game on Good Friday attracted 31,167, the largest ever league crowd at the CBS - the third 30k plus crowd in the last five home games. Until the Middlesbrough game only the 31,407 for the Chelsea FA Cup quarter final game in 2009 has topped this crowd 

 

The top ten attendances for Coventry games at the CBS since it opened in 2005 are now as follows:

1.          31,452 Middlesbrough (League) 2024-25
2.          31,407 Chelsea (FA Cup) 2008-09
3.          31,167 WBA (League) 2024-25
4.          31,054 Crewe (EFL Trophy) 2013-14
5.          30,232 Leeds (League) 2023-24
6.          30,219 Sunderland (League) 2024-25
7.          30,175 Birmingham (League) 2022-23
8.          30,011 Stoke City (League) 2024-25
9.          29,914 Leicester (League) 2023-24
10.          29,420 Plymouth (League) 2024-25

It was also the largest home league crowd for Coventry since January 1980 when 31,644 watched the Sky Blues end Liverpool’s 19-match unbeaten run courtesy of a sixth minute headed goal from Paul Dyson. City were inconsistent back then too - seven days later they were dumped out of the FA cup by Third Division Blackburn at Ewood Park.

The Boro attendance takes the average home attendance this season to 27,817 and  the highest since the 1969-70 season. In fact this season’s average has only been bettered four times in the club’s history. Unless the capacity at the CBS is increased with ground developments the top three seasons (City’s first three in the top flight) will never be topped.

Top seasons for average attendances (League only)

34,705 1967-68

33,223 1968-69

32,043 1969-70

28,269 1966-67

When you consider that only seven years ago as the Sky Blues struggled to get out of League Two via the play-offs the average was 9,255 it has been an amazing turn around in the club’s fortunes.

4-0 half time leads and sky high attendances

Last Saturday's defeat at Norwich's Carrow Road was a disappointing and frustrating end to a mixed festive campaign for the Sky Blues, especially the nature of the loss with two goals conceded in added time. The final summary of the Christmas/New Year period was one win, two draws and two defeats but the margins in several games were so thin that with just a little luck it could have been four wins and one defeat. The horror show at Fratton Park on the Saturday before Christmas was the only game in which City weren't in with a good chance of taking three points. However the history books will show an overall mediocre record.

The outstanding performance and result was the 4-0 Boxing Day victory over Plymouth Argyle which helped precipitate Wayne Rooney's departure as the Devon club's manager. All four goals came in a stunning first half - the second time City have achieved this feat in 2025, the other being the 5-0 victory over Rotherham in March.

Coventry scoring four in a first half is not as rare as one might think and the Plymouth occurrence was the sixth in the last ten years, three of them coming in that exciting Tony Mowbray season of 2015-16. That was when his team looked certainties for promotion from League One at Christmas but collapsed in the New Year and finished eighth. There were three other instances at Highfield Road in the early 2000s, including the final game at the old stadium, but it never happened in the top flight years (1967-2001). Before 2001 you have to go back to a League Cup tie in 1964 when City led First Division Sunderland 4-0 at half-time but conceded two in the second half. Possibly the most interesting happening was in April 1963 when City led Halifax Town 4-0 at the break with debutant George Hudson having scored three of the four. The Yorkshiremen staged a brave fightback and Jimmy Hill's team were clinging on to a 5-4 lead by the final whistle.

                                                                     George Hudson

The biggest ever half-time lead occurred in 1933 when City lead QPR 7-0 but that was also the final score.

The last ten 4-0 half-time leads before Plymouth were:

Rotherham 2023-24 (final score 5-0)

Cheltenham 2017-18 (6-1)

Bury 2015-16 (6-0)

Crewe 2015-16 (5-0)

Gillingham 2015-16 (4-1)

Derby 2004-05 (6-2) 

Preston 2003-04 (4-1)

Rushden 2002-03 (8-0) League Cup

Sunderland 1964-65 (4-2) League Cup

Halifax 1962-63 (5-4) 

All except Cheltenham were at home.

On the other side of the coin the Sky Blues have only been on the losing side to a 4-0 lead in the last 50 years, the last time was at Luton in 2021-22 when the final score was 5-0.

Finally a mention of the CBS attendances. The gate at the Boxing Day game was 29,420 which is the biggest Boxing Day gate since 1972 when West Brom provided the opposition at Highfield Road and 31,545 watched a 0-0 draw. It was also the sixth largest crowd at the CBS and the second largest number of home fans (28,237) only bettered by the Johnstone's Paint (EFL trophy) game with Crewe in 2013.

A CBS record crowd for the Oxford game

Coventry City started their home campaign last week with an excellent 3-2 victory over newly promoted Oxford United. Des Buckingham's side had lost only one game in their last thirteen and had comprehensively beaten Norwich City in their opening game. The Sky Blues left it late for Haji Wright to score his 96^th minute goal – his second of the night – but it was a well deserved victory.

The attendance was an excellent 28,051 and despite being only the 13^th highest ever crowd at the stadium it is the highest crowd for an evening league game at the CBS Arena since the club moved from Highfield Road in 2005. The previous highest was for the 'return to Coventry' game against Gillingham in 2014 however substantially reduced prices were in force for that game. 

The top attendances for Coventry games at the CBS are as follows:

1. 31,407 Chelsea (FA Cup) 2008-09

2. 31,054 Crewe (EFL Trophy) 2013-14

3. 30,232 Leeds (League) 2023-24

4. 30,175 Birmingham (League) 2022-23

5. 29,914 Leicester (League) 2023-24

6. 29,208 Sheffield W (League) 2023-24

7. 29,102 QPR (League) 2023-24

8. 28,874 Middlesbrough (Play-off) 2022-23

9. 28,529 Cardiff City (League) 2023-24

10. 28,343 Accrington (League) 2017-18

11. 28,184 Leeds (League) 2007-08

12. 28,120 Middlesbrough (FA Cup) 2005-06

13. 28,051 Oxford (League) 2024-25

It is interesting to note that seven of the top nine attendances have been in the last two seasons reflecting the buzz around the city since the club returned to Coventry in 2021 generated by the exciting brand of football played by Mark Robins' team. Who would have thought that the team would be being watched by the biggest crowds since the early 1970s.

Friday's attendance was also the highest Coventry crowd for the opening league game of a season since 1978 when 28,585 were at Highfield Road to watch City lock horns with the league champions Nottingham Forest. I remember it being a warm August evening and that legendary Coventry athlete Dave Moorcroft was on the pitch displaying his gold medal from the Commonwealth Games 1500 metres held earlier that summer. An 18-year-old Gary Gillespie made his home debut and the game ended 0-0, the same scores as when the two teams had met in the final home game of the previous season, the day Forest had clinched the title. 

If you enjoy this column and would like to hear more about Coventry City's history you can listen to the Sky Blue History Podcast which is available on Spotify and YouTube. Claudio Cardellino and I talk about all things Sky Blue. Just search for 'Sky Blue History Podcast'