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 8.2.2020

Coventry City's FA Cup run came to a dramatic end on Tuesday evening with a penalty shoot-out going 4-1 in Birmingham's favour but the plaudits going to the Sky Blues for their performance. But for the late goals in the 92nd minute and 120th minutes we would be planning a trip to Leicester in round five. I suppose the positive way of looking at things is that the team can concentrate on the promotion race which couldn't be tighter. Today's home game with Bolton and Tuesday night's six-pointer with in-form Portsmouth are crucial and a bounce-back after Tuesday night is vital.

The game on Tuesday night was City's seventh in the competition and equalled the most FA Cup games in a season since 1962-63 when City reached the quarter finals as a Third Division side and played nine games. City's extra-time record in the competition isn't great – they haven't won after extra-time since the Wembley final in 1987. Since that memorable victory over Tottenham they have now lost four extra-time ties:

1994-95 v Norwich City (a) 1-3 (after 1-1 draw)

1997-98 v Sheffield United (a) 1-1 (after 1-1 draw) (City lost on penalties)

2009-10 V Portsmouth (h) 1-2 (after 1-1 draw)

2019-20 v Birmingham (a) 2-2 (after 0-0 draw) (City lost on penalties)

In total City have now gone to extra-time in 15 FA Cup ties, stretching back to 1908, and have won only three times, at Derby in 1974, the 1987 semi-final against Leeds and the final against Tottenham. In the days before penalty shoot-outs City survived extra-time and went on to play second replays on four occasions, progressing three times, the last time in 1984 v Wolves in the Third round.

The League Cup is a much younger competition and since its conception in 1960 City have played extra-time on nine occasions and have a better record. They have won after extra-time six times including once in a penalty shoot-out (at Peterborough in 2001).

I had an interesting enquiry from the Southampton historian this week concerning former City player George Lowrie. Born in Tonypandy, South Wales in 1919, George was on Second Division Swansea's books as a teenager and made his first-team debut as a 17-year-old in 1937. First Division Preston spotted his potential and just over a year later he moved to Deepdale. He played five games for Preston before Harry Storer signed him for Coventry in June 1939, two months before war broke out in Europe. His City debut took place on the day before was broke out and he netted in a 4-2 Second Division win over Barnsley before the season was aborted.

During the war he guested for Bristol City, Nottingham Forest and Northampton as well as playing in a good number of unofficial games for City and his goalscoring exploits earned him four wartime Welsh caps. When official league football restarted in 1946, having effectively lost seven years of his career, he must have been like a coiled spring. He scored freely in an average City team with five hat-tricks including three in successive home games in a total of 29 in league and FA Cup in 36 games. He carried that form into 1947-48 and by early March 1948 had netted 18 goals in 22 games. Transfer rumours abounded as the deadline approached and his final City game was in a 1-0 home defeat to Southampton. That was on the Saturday and on the Wednesday he appeared for Wales against Northern Ireland at Wrexham. On the Thursday Newcastle's manager and director were in Coventry negotiating his move to the Second Division team. Newcastle were cash-rich from average crowds of almost 50,000 and under the regulations in those days couldn't offset ground improvements against a punitive tax rate but could spend their profits on players. As a result City held out for £20,000, the second highest British transfer fee at that time.

                                                 City's 1947-48 team with Lowrie seated at front

Having played his final City game against Southampton, Lowrie made his Newcastle debut at the Dell two days later, with Saints winning 4-2 (thus the interest from the Saints' historian). He scored only one goal in his first five games before suffering a serious knee injury. Newcastle won promotion and Lowrie returned to the team the following season but made only seven more appearances over eighteen months before joining Bristol City for £10,000. He partly rediscovered his goal touch in the Third Division before making a sentimental return to Highfield Road in 1952 to try and save City from relegation from Division Two. He managed three goals in 12 games but couldn't keep City up. After less than half a season in the lower division George, now 33, moved back to South Wales to play for non-league Lovells Athletic. His incredible goalscoring ratio, 59 goals in 85 games, is bettered by only one other City player, the legendary Clarrie Bourton.

Jim's column 28.9.13

Last week’s piece about the fastest Coventry City goals prompted an email from Russ Malin. His father, Fred who lives in Macdonald Road in Wyken, remembers a game at West Brom just after the war when City’s George Lowrie scored straight from the kick-off. Russ takes up the story: ‘My Dad, who is 87 now, was at the game (still in his Army uniform) and remembers Lowrie receiving the ball from Ted Roberts straight from the kick off, running past Vernon their centre half and then blasting it in the net, all in 11 seconds apparently.’

If accurate this would make it the fastest post-war City goal.  I was able to track down a match report of the game at the Hawthorns on 3 May 1947 and the details are vague: ‘Lowrie scored in the first minute’. Unfortunately I cannot find a copy of the Pink match report to see if the goal time recorded there is more precise. If any reader can throw more light on this goal please let me know.

James Canavan contacted me via Twitter and was interested in knowing more details of a friendly game he attended at Highfield Road in 1998 against Bayern Munich. This game occurred during one of City’s best league & cup runs of the modern era. Between Christmas 1997 and the end of the season the team lost only three of 23 competitive games (and one of those, the FA Cup game at Bramall Lane, on penalties. At the end of January Bayern were emerging from the Bundesliga winter close-down & came to England for some match practice. A crowd of 8,409 watched the German champions beat a makeshift Coventry team 4-2. Viorel Moldovan, still to make his first Premiership start following his record £3.25 million move from Grasshoppers, put the Sky Blues ahead after nine minutes only for Mehmet Scholl to equalise after 19 minutes. Further goals from Brazilian Giovane Elber (40) and Carsten Jancker (50) put Batern in the driving seat. Simon Howarth, a sub for Dion Dublin pulled a goal back after 62 minutes before Ruggiero Rizzitelli completed the 4-2 scoreline.

The teams on the night were:

City: Scott Howie: George Boateng, John Salako, Gavin Strachan (sub Willie Boland 82), Gary Breen, Marcus Hall, Paul Telfer (sub Sam Shilton 58), Trond Soltvedt, Dion Dublin (sub Simon Haworth 45), Viorel Moldovan, Noel Whelan (sub Yasser el Hamrouni 73).

Bayern: Oliver Kahn: Christian Nerlinger, Mehmet Scholl (sub Alexander Zickler 77), Thomas Strunz, Giovane Elber, Lothar Matthaus (sub Frank Gerster 62), Bixente Lizarazu, Mario Basler, Thorsten Fink, Michael Tarnat, Carsten Jancker (sub Ruggiero Rizzitelli 77).

Several City players had picked up knocks in the previous Saturday’s FA Cup win over Derby County and Huckerby, Shaw, Burrows & Nilsson sat the game out. Boateng & Salako played out of position at full-back with Marcus Hall at centre-back. City also had a goalkeeper crisis with Hedman & Oggy both injured & had to draft in Motherwell’s Scott Howie on loan but this was his only appearance. Howie joined Reading a few weeks later & later played for Bristol Rovers & Shrewsbury. El Hamrouni was a Moroccan on trial at City at the time from his Tunisian club Stad Tunisien. He later played for MSV Duisberg in Germany.

Ten of Bayern’s starting XI were full internationals but City manager Gordon Strachan felt that if he had been able to put out his full-strength side it would have been a different scoreline. The game was beamed live to an estimated 3m viewers in Germany.

Follow me on twitter @clarriebourton

Jim's column 14.9.13

 Coventry City's attendances hit a new low last Sunday for the visit of Colchester United to the Sixfields Stadium. The attendance of 1,789 was the lowest crowd for a home league game since the club joined the Football League in 1919, beating a record set in 1928 when 2,059 watched a Monday afternoon game against Crystal Palace.

Several readers have pointed out that according to the Breedon Complete Record book published in 1991 there was a crowd of 1,660 for a home game with Hartlepools United in 1926. The attendances in the book were the gates reported in local newspapers & could often be incorrect. However since the book was published I have carried out research on the official Football League records and confirmed that attendance to be incorrect. There was in fact a crowd of 4,744 at that game. The Football League records only go back to 1925 so there may be other attendance inaccuracies in the Breedon book before that date.

Although the Colchester attendance was the lowest of the three gates at the Sixfields the home contingent was the highest. For the Bristol game there were only 1088 home supporters, 1506 for the Preston game & 1517 for Colchester. Colchester traditionally have one of the smallest away followings (only 173 of them turned up at the Ricoh last season) so City's gates at their temporary home may now have bottomed out.

Several readers have asked me to list other smaller crowds for home games. Here are the ten lowest crowds in league games since official records began in 1925:

1,789 v Colchester  2013-14

2,059 v Crystal Palace 1927-28

2,068 v Preston 2013-14

2,204 v Bristol City 2013-14

3,974 v Newport County 1954-55

4,744 v Hartlepools 1925-26

4,785 v QPR 1953-54

5,073 v Ashington 1925-26

5,329 v Brighton 1930-31

5,479 v New Brighton 1925-26

To find a Coventry City league crowd lower than Sunday's gate you have to go back to the Southern League season of 1909-10 when an estimated 1,500 watched the home game against Portsmouth.

Last week whilst writing about Callum Wilson's goalscoring feats, I mentioned the efforts of George Lowrie who scored seven goals in the first three games of 1947-48. By coincidence I received an interesting email from Colin Turner. He tells me that his daughter is an optometrist working in care homes in South Wales & recently tested the eyes of a 90 year old lady who is the widow of George Lowrie. He wanted me to write something about Lowrie's career that his daughter could show Mrs Lowrie.

George Lowrie was born in December 1919 in Tonypandy, South Wales. His football career started with Swansea in 1935 but he was unable to break into the first team and moved to First Division Preston. Having no luck at Deepdale either he signed for Coventry in June 1939 for £1,750 -  big fee for Coventry then. Manager Harry Storer saw George as the ideal replacement for the legendary Clarrie Bourton who had left eighteen months before but never really replaced. Storer guaranteed him first team football but couldn't have foreseen that World War 2 would take seven years out of George's playing career.

George scored on his debut against Barnsley on the opening day of the 1939-40 season, in a game declared void when war was declared a week later, and had to wait until 1946 for his 'official' debut. During the war he was a prolific scorer as a guest for Northampton, then later back at Coventry where he scored 43 goals in 52 games, and also for Wales for whom he won eight wartime caps and scored a hat trick against England at Wembley. Army duties restricted his appearances later in the war and he was still in uniform during 1946-47, his golden season. He scored 29 goals, including five hat tricks, in 36 games. He attracted the attention of several Division 1 clubs during the following season and it seemed to affect his form, although he still managed 18 goals in 22 games, including another three hat tricks. He was transferred to Newcastle for a then club record fee of £18,500 but because of injuries and form failed to win a regular place at St James' Park and eighteen months later moved on to Bristol City for £10,000. In February 1952 with Coventry facing relegation from Division Two Harry Storer re-signed him but he could not help avoid the drop. In 1953 he was given a free transfer & returned to Wales to play for non-league Lovells Athletic. He died in South Wales in 1989.

JIM'S COLUMN 13.2.10

It was sad to hear of the death of Birmingham goalkeeping legend Gil Merrick who passed away, aged 88, last week. Sparkhill-born Merrick played over 700 games for the Blues between 1939 and 1960 and won 22 caps for England. He was England’s number 1 ‘keeper in an era when there was a glut of outstanding English goalkeepers such as Bert Williams (Wolves), Ted Ditchburn (Spurs) and Ray Wood (Manchester United). Gil was unfortunate to be in goal on the occasions of England’s heavy defeats to Hungary in 1953 (3-6 at Wembley) and 1954 (1-7 in Budapest) and lost his place after the 1954 World Cup. Whilst Gil was a one-club man, he actually played one game for Coventry City, as a guest in a wartime game in 1943. Alf Wood was City’s regular keeper that season but for some reason was unavailable on 3 April for a game at Derby and Merrick played in goal in a 1-1 draw with the Rams.

City’s line up that day in the Football League North championship was: Merrick, O’Brien, Elliott, Snape, Mason (G), Boileau, Coen, Barratt, Lowrie, Lager, Greenway. I think Gil was the last remaining member of that team although Norman Greenway, who originally hailed from Whoberley, was alive in Canberra, Australia about thirteen years ago, and if alive would be almost ninety now.

Leon Best’s move to Newcastle United prompted Frank Hughes, a long suffering City fan, to email me about other City strikers joining Newcastle. He reminded me of two, George Lowrie and John Tudor. Lowrie, who joined the Magpies for a big fee (£18,500) in 1948 never reproduced his City scoring form at St James’ Park. For City he netted 59 goals in 85 games (a bit more prolific than Leon!) but at Newcastle he managed only 12 games in eighteen months and scored five goals. Tudor, on the other hand was never a prolific scorer for City (15 goals in 77 games) although on occasion he did play in the centre of defence, most notably at Forest in 1967 on the night George Curtis broke his leg. He left City for Second Division Sheffield United in 1968 and scored 33 in 76 games before a big money move to Newcastle in 1971. Playing alongside Supermac (Malcolm Macdonald, John was a regular for almost five seasons and scored 58 goals in 187 games. Leon Best’s record for City was 22 goals in 104 appearances although 25 of the appearances were as a substitute.

Talking of Newcastle, City travel there for a league game on Wednesday night for the first time since the Sky Blues left the Premiership. City’s recent record at St James’ Park is not good, they failed to win in eight Premiership encounters between 1992-2000 and picked up a solitary point in March 1998 when Dion Dublin, playing at centre-back, marked the England centre-forward Alan Shearer out of the game. In the seven defeats they conceded 24 goals and scored only two. It is almost 22 years since the Sky Blues last won up there, then goals from Regis, Gynn and Speedie gave City a comfortable 3-0 win. If those stats are not bad enough then United’s home form this season (unbeaten in 17 league and cup) points toward a busy night for City’s defenders. The Forest hoodoo was smashed this week so lets keep our fingers crossed for the Newcastle bogey going west. A blank from Leon Best would help.