Jim's column 16.5.2020

I would normally be winding up for the season and doing my review of the season. However I’ve still got quite a few reader’s questions to answer so I’ll continue to answer them for a few weeks.

I’ve had several questions about Coventry City kits in recent times. Andy Greeves wanted to know when the Chocolate Brown Admiral kit was first worn. Having had the Red Admiral as a ‘change’ kit for three seasons the Sky blues launched their Brown version at Derby County’s Baseball Ground in September 1978, the same day that Steve Hunt made his debut after signing from New York Cosmos. City won 2-0 with Hunt scoring the first for a dream start and Ian Wallace netting the second. It meant City had plundered seven points out of eight to move into second place in the First Division.

The chocolate brown kit was worn around 20 times between September 1978 and late 1980 at places like Ipswich, West Brom, Man City, Brighton, Birmingham, Blackburn, Tottenham & Derby. Unfortunately it is remembered for that catastrophic 7-1 defeat at West Brom the following month and the FA Cup defeat at Blackburn the following season but overall it was quite a good kit for the club.

                                    Mick Ferguson in the brown kit

Alex Barker asked when Coventry City first won a yellow ‘change’ kit. He thought it was in the 1980s but It was earlier than that Alex. The first yellow kit was an Admiral ‘egg-timer’ version and introduced whilst the chocolate brown version was still in use. The first sighting of it was at a League Cup tie at West Brom in September 1979, maybe to try and erase the memories of the previous season’s nightmare. The kit was only worn half a dozen times and only one win was recorded, at Crystal Palace in early 1981. A different yellow kit, without the egg-timer stripes, was worn a couple of times most notably at the League Cup semi-final second leg at West Ham. The reason for this is unknown but as it was televised it may have breached the shirt advertisement rules.

                                Gordon Milne with his management team in the yellow Admiral kit

Colin Heys was a great fan of the original Green and Black striped ‘change’ kit that was worn between 1969 and 1974. He believed that it was first worn at Crystal Palace. The story of the kit is that the club announced the change from the all red away kit worn throughout the Jimmy Hill era to the new continental-style stripes in the summer of 1969. However the new kit failed to arrive and the team had a problem with successive early season away games at West Brom and Ipswich where City would be expected to change from their usual Sky Blue. The solution was a green shirt with black shorts and socks. Not only was in very fetching (and pretty unique in league football) but also very successful with 1-0 victories recorded at the Hawthorns and Portman Road. Before the next change was required, at Manchester City’s Maine Road in late September 1969, the new striped kit arrived and was given its first airing there. It wasn’t a happy start for the new kit as the Mancs ran out 3-1 winners. The kit was only worn a further three times that season, at Chelsea (0-1 defeat), at Everton (0-0 draw) and Sheffield Wednesday (1-0 win). The kit subtly changed in 1972 with a collar added and continued until the end of 1973-74 season when a new combo of red shirts with navy blue shorts was introduced.

Jim's column 9.9.2017

Fellow historian and collector of Sky Blue photographs and videos Dean Nelson posted an interesting picture on Twitter last week. It featured the green shirts that City wore just twice at the start of the 1969-70 season. The club had ditched the all-red change kit that they had worn since 1962 and had chosen a snazzy green and black striped kit. Unfortunately the new strip wasn't ready by the time of the first colour clash at West Brom on 20th August and a novel solution was found. Instead of digging out the old red kit the kit suppliers came up with some green shirts and black shorts and City took the field at the Hawthorns looking very dapper. A Jeff Blockley goal secured the points for Noel Cantwell's team and three days later, at Ipswich, with City in the green shirts again, a Willie Carr effort made it two away wins on the bounce.

                              Neil Martin in the green & black kit at West Brom in 1969

The next colour clash didn't occur until 20th September at Manchester City and by then the new striped kit had arrived and City duly wore it, only to fall to a 3-1 defeat. The new kit got a second outing at Stamford Bridge in early November and its third appearance, at Hillsborough in January, saw City record their first victory in the kit. Its fourth and final appearance was at Goodison Park in March when City pulled off a brave and deserved 0-0 draw against the champions-elect.

Several City shirt collectors had no knowledge of the rare green shirts, which the Sky Blues were unbeaten in, and are desperate for any information on them. Does anyone know any more about these lucky shirts?

On Twitter, Heath Stansfield wanted to know when Cyrille Regis made his debut for City. Big Cyrille was signed from West Brom by Bobby Gould on 11th October 1984 for a fee of £300,000 and 48 hours later made his debut at home to Newcastle in a 1-1 draw. City were in the bottom three, despite a 1-0 win at Watford the previous week, and had been embarrassingly dumped out of the League Cup by Third Division Walsall in the midweek. Peter Beardsley gave the visitors the lead from the penalty spot after Kenny Hibbitt was adjudged to have handled the ball. Hibbitt went from villain to hero fifteen minutes from time when his swerving free-kick earned a point.

City's line up that day was: Ogrizovic: Stephens, Adams, Hibbitt, Butterworth, Peake, Bennett, Gynn, Regis, Gibson, Barnes. The attendance was 14,030 and the highlights of the game can be found on YouTube, courtesy of Dean Nelson.

Last week I listed the eighteen players who have had two spells at Coventry City and have to admit I omitted two. Thanks to Terje Johansen and Jamie Brown for pointing out that Les Sealey and Gary Gillespie both had second spells at the club. Les came through an apprenticeship at the club and signed as a full professional in 1976, going on to make 178 appearances before leaving to join Luton in 1983. He returned in 1992, on loan from Aston Villa, and made two further appearances under Don Howe.

Gillespie was signed from Falkirk by Gordon Milne in 1978 and played 200 games for the Sky Blues before joining Liverpool in 1983. He rejoined the club in 1994 and played a further four games before leaving the game.

A reminder that my latest book, Play Up Sky Blues, the story of the memorable 1966-67 season, is due to be published in October and is available for pre-order on Amazon.

If you have any questions regarding the club's history please contact me on clarriebourton@gmail.com and I will endeavour to answer them. Alternatively you can contact me on Twitter @clarriebourton