Jim's column 17.12.22

Coventry City’s excellent run of four victories came to an end at Reading last Saturday with the Royals grabbing a fortuitous 1-0 victory. The goal also ended Ben Wilson’s similar run of clean sheets. Amadou Mbengue’s 57th minute goal was the first goal conceded by Wilson for 427 minutes - since Blackpool’s Jerry Yates 80th minute winner at the CBS Arena.

Wilson bettered his run from earlier in the season when he kept a clean sheet for 384 minutes and his latest run is the fourth longest in league games in the club’s history. 1930s goalkeeper Horace Pearson holds the record (608 minutes) with Steve Ogrizovic (572) in second place for his run in the Don Howe era in 1992. Reice Charles-Cook (445) is third but if cup games are included his minutes without conceding increases to 580 minutes. That was seven years ago and Reice’s career has gone downhill since. After being a virtual ever present in 2015-16 he lost his place to Lee Burge in 2017 and sat on the bench at the EFL Trophy final. That summer the former Arsenal academy player left for Swindon and subsequently played for Shrewsbury and Macclesfield before dropping into non-league with Boreham Wood in 2020. He has bobbed around various south east clubs and is currently with Bromley in the National League. In 2021 he won his first cap for Grenada.

                             Horace Pearson, record-holder

Several readers asked me which Coventry City player was the last to play at the World Cup finals. The answer is Stern John for Trinidad & Tobago in 2006. John played in all three group games, including against England. He was the seventh Coventry player to appear in the finals, the others being Tommy Hutchison (1974), Phil Babb (1994), Roy Wegerle (1994), Viorel Moldovan (1998), Gary Bremen (2002) and Magnus Hedman (2002). Stern won 32 international caps whilst at Coventry between 2004-07.

Mark Smith asked if any former Coventry City players had played in a World Cup final. The answer is no, however a former City manager, George Raynor, managed Sweden to the 1958 final which they lost 5-2 to Brazil. Raynor, who had taken Sweden to the Olympic title in 1948 and third place at the 1950 World Cup, had been brought to Highfield Road as assistant to manager Jesse Carver in 1955. When Carver was lured back to Italy after just six months, Raynor took over. Sadly his progressive tactics weren't suited to Division Three South and after being demoted to coach a year later he left the club and within two years was a national hero in Sweden for his achievements.

                      George Raynor

Glenn Hancock contacted me regarding his father-in-law Joe Davis. Joe was captain of Bristol Rovers when, in December 1963, Rovers beat the Sky Blues 2-1 in a FA Cup second round tie at Highfield Road. Glenn understood that Tv cameras were present that day and wondered if I had access to the film of the game. Dean Nelson helped me out by telling me that the cameras were there to record some excerpts for an episode of the BBC police drama, Z Cars which was aired about a year later. The cup result was a shock as City were leaders of Division Three at the time whilst Rovers were in the bottom half of the same division and had lost the league game between the clubs 4-2 two weeks earlier. Geoff Bradford and Harold Jarman scored the visitor's goals and Ken Hale got a late consolation in front of over 26,000.

            Bob Wesson can't stop Geoff Bradford's goal for Bristol Rovers

Jim's column 31.10.2015

On Saturday at Swindon, Reice Charles-Cook broke Steve Ogrizovic's post-war Coventry City record for the most consecutive minutes without conceding a goal. He passed Oggy's record in the 78^th minute and at that stage it looked like a good day all round for the Sky Blues as they led 2-0 and looked on course for another away victory. Then, as so often happens at the County Ground, the home side roused themselves & with five minutes to go, netted once before scoring an added-time equaliser from the penalty spot.

Reice's record of 580 minutes left him 28 minutes short of the all-time club record, set, as I wrote last week, in 1934 by Horace Pearson.

During the debate over clean sheets, several people have asked me which City goalkeeper holds the record for the most clean sheets in a season. The most by the team in a league season is 18, achieved in 1938-39 and 1958-59. In the latter season, the Division 4 promotion campaign, City used four goalkeepers and three of them, Arthur Lightening (9), Alf Wood (5) and Alf Bentley (4), shared the clean sheets. In 1938-39 Bill Morgan set the record by keeping 17 in 41 games, the other being Alf Wood in his sole game between the sticks. Bill Glazier came close to equalling Morgan's record with 15 in 1968-69 and 16 in 1970-71. Oggy's best season was 1987-88 when he kept 15 clean sheets in 40 games.

Swindon's County Ground has rarely been a happy hunting ground for the Sky Blues and although they have two FA Cup victories there (1966 & 2001), they have failed to win a league game there in nine attempts since the last in December 1960. The Robins also love playing in Coventry – they have won all three encounters at the Ricoh and City last beat them in the league in 1964. Even in Swindon's one season in the Premier League, in 1993-94, in which they won only five games all season, they managed to thump City 3-1 at home and take a point home from Highfield Road with a last minute equaliser.

In the last four seasons City have thrown away a lead at Swindon and squandered nine points in the process. Definitely one of City's hoodoo grounds.

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2012-13 leading 2-0 with 13 minutes left – final score 2-2

2013-14 leading 1-0 with 14 minutes left – final score 1-2

2014-15 leading 1-0 with 18 minutes left – final score 1-1

2015-16 leading 2-0 with 5 minutes left – final score 2-2

The FA Cup draw paired City with old rivals Northampton Town for what will be the two club's first competitive meeting since the Third Round FA Cup tie in January 1990. That game resulted in an embarrassing 1-0 defeat for City who were 11^th in the old First Division at the time and on the verge of a League Cup semi-final place. The Cobblers were 11^th in Division Three & shocked John Sillett's team with the only goal coming from Steve Berry. The game took place on the Cobblers' old ground, the County Ground which they shared with Northamptonshire cricket team and which had only three sides.

The teams have met in the FA Cup on two other occasions, in 1930 and 1954. City triumphed at the County Ground in both games. In 1931 goals from Frank Bowden & Billy Lake gave City a 2-1 success, whilst in 1954 the game was won by a freak 80-yard shot by Roy Kirk that caught former City goalkeeper Alf Wood, off his line, and bounced into the net.

On the subject of freak goals at Northampton, regular reader Arthur Warner wrote to me this week concerning such a goal at the County Ground. Arthur wrote:

My memory took me back to when I was about 11 or 12 years of age and I witnessed a very bizarre and embarrassing own goal by Charlie Ashcroft who was in goal for City. It was in the mid fifties when my Dad took me to Northampton on the train to see the City play the Cobblers at the County ground,that they shared with the County cricket team. We were in the covered end, behind the goal, when Charlie Ashcroft took a goal kick, and Roy Kirk was standing in the centre half position with his back to the goal. Charlie's goal kick hit Roy on the back of head and went into our net for an own goal. I know that the City lost 4-0, so could you please research the details to see if I am dreaming or not. 

                                                              Roy Kirk

 

You aren't dreaming Arthur. The game in question was in August 1957 and City got a 4-0 thumping from the Cobblers. They conceded two penalties in first twenty minutes, both scored by Maurice Robinson, then late in the first half, 'keeper Ashcroft's woeful kick hit full-back Kirk and, as you thought, rebounded into the net to make it 3-0. Poor Kirk, the hero with his 80-yard goal three years earlier, was now the unluckiest man on the pitch but no blame could be put at his door.

Jim's column 24.10.2015

What a week for Coventry City's goalkeeper Reice Charles-Cook who wrote himself into the record books on Saturday against Blackpool with his third clean sheet in a row. He becomes the first City keeper not to concede a goal in his first three league games for the club. When you consider the great custodians the club has had over the years, from Jerry Best in the 1920s, through Bill Morgan in the 1930s, Alf Wood in the 1940s, Reg Matthews in the 1950s, Bill Glazier in the 1960s and of course Oggy, for what seems like forever, none of them matched Reice's record. Then, at Rochdale on Tuesday evening, he proceeded to do it again in a 0-0 draw. If you include the clean sheet at Yeovil in the JPT game then Charles has played five and a half games (or 495 minutes) since he conceded a goal to Donal McDermott on his debut at Rochdale in the League Cup.

On three occasions since the war City have achieved five consecutive clean sheets. In October 2001 Roland Nilsson's team won four and drew one without conceding, in early 1992 Steve Ogrizovic was between the posts as City's defence was not breached in five games and in October 1982 Les Sealey achieved the feat. In 2001 two 'keepers shared the honours with Magnus Hedman playing in the first two games and Andy Goram in the latter three. In total the team went 491 minutes without conceding.

In 1992, under the managership of Don Howe, the run included four 0-0 draws and a solitary 1-0 win. After Manchester City's David White netted the only goal of a defeat at Maine Road on 18 January, the Sky Blues won 1-0 at Crystal Palace (David Smith scoring), then drew four goalless games in a row – Liverpool (h), Southampton (a), Manchester United (h) and Norwich (h). On 7 March City travelled to Hillsborough and there were only seven minutes remaining on the clock when Viv Anderson scored to equalise Kevin Gallacher's earlier goal. That added up to 572 minutes without a goal past Oggy. So another clean sheet at Swindon would take Reice past Oggy's post-war record. (Stop press: Reice went 85 minutes without conceding at Swindon, setting a new post-war record of  580 minutes without a goal going past him)

Oggy's effort just pipped Sealey's record of 558 minutes in 1982 with five clean sheets: Notts County (h) 1-0, Watford (a) 0-0, Fulham (League Cup) (h) 0-0, Norwich (h) 2-0 and Aston Villa (h) 0-0. The Fulham game went to extra-time and the run came to an end somewhat abruptly with a home defeat to lowly Second Division Burmley in the League Cup.

For the club record you have to go back to 1934 when the club kept six clean sheets in a row, straddling two seasons. Harry Storer was the manager at the time and the goalkeeper was Horace Pearson. After a 3-1 defeat at champions-elect Norwich had ended their promotion hopes, Storer was determined to finish as runners up to the Canaries (only one team promoted in those days). A week later City ripped Bristol City apart, with a club record 9-0 victory and Clarrie Bourton netted four goals. A week later the season ended with a 0-0 draw at Clapton Orient. The 1934-35 season started with four consecutive clean sheets: Northampton (h) 2-0, Clapton (a) 1-0, Bournemouth (a) 2-0 and Clapton (h) 4-0, before on September 8^th at Highfield Road, Pearson was beaten by Watford's Jimmy Poxon in the 43rd minute in a 1-1 draw. In total Pearson went 608 minutes without conceding.

                                               Horace Pearson in 1934

So the leader board looks like this:

608 minutes Horace Pearson

572 Steve Ogrizovic

558 Les Sealey

495 Reice Charles-Cook

491 Magnus Hedman/Andy Goram

Finally, before I leave the subject of clean sheets, Richard Home asked what is the club record for clean sheets in a season. The record was set in 1958-59, the Fourth Division promotion season under Billy Frith. The team kept 18 clean sheets out of 46 league games, 15 of them at home. This season Mowbray's team have kept seven out of 13 games, an average which, if were to be continued, would break the record.

The Rochdale result was City's best outcome at Spotland in eight visits stretching back to 1921. Previously they had lost six and although they drew there in the League Cup earlier this season, they lost the tie on penalties. So maybe that is progress!

It was a very disappointing crowd at Rochdale of 2,495 - the lowest to watch a City away league game since 2002 and the third lowest in the post-war era. If you take the City following out the home crowd was less than 2,000.

Since the war there have been five crowds under 3,000:

2,077 v Wimbledon 2002-03
2,275 v Southport 1958-59

2,495 v Rochdale 2015-16
2,607 v Halifax 1961-62

2,866 v Scunthorpe 2014-15