The Records continue to fall

The Sky Blues have taken another massive step towards promotion back to the Premiership in the last seven days. A hard-won 2-0 win at Ashton Gate was followed by a comfortable 3-0 victory over Preston North End at the CBS Arena. The team have now racked up six consecutive league wins for the second time this season. This team has done something no other Coventry team have done in 100 seasons of league football, TWICE. There were two other examples of six in a row but they were over two seasons (in 1954 & 1964) and in 1998 Gordon Strachan's team won seven in a row but included two FA Cup victories.

The two victories this week takes the number of league wins this season to 23, just one short of the club record set in 1958-59 season when Billy Frith's team won promotion from the old Fourth Division. The points total now stands at 77 and with nine games remaining they could easily top 90. It's already the club's highest points total since the rules changed and it became three points for a win in 1981-82. 

In the two points for a win era prior to 1981 there were four seasons when if the three points rule had been in force they would have got more points, all of them promotion seasons:

                                    Pl      W     D     L     F- A     Points     Amended Pts     PPG

Points

1935-36 Div 3 South 42     24     9      9     102-45     57         81                     1.929

1958-59 Div 4             46    24     12   10     84-47     60         84                      1.826

1963-64 Div 3             46     22     16     8     98-61     60         82                     1.783

1966-67 Div 2             42     23     13     6     74-43     59         82                     1.952

The club's best points per game occurred in the truncated 2019-20 season when the season was ended with 12 games remaining with the Sky Blues averaging 1.971 points per game. With nine games remaining this season City's points per game is 2.081 – surely another record to fall.

The three goals against Preston took the season's total to 77 also – an amazing figure and the best haul since 1963-64 when Jimmy Hill's team scored 98 in winning the Division Three title. 77 tops the 1977-78 figure of 75 when Ian Wallace and Mick Ferguson were in their pomp and the club finished seventh in the old First Division but missed out on a UEFA Cup place by virtue of the Cup favourites Arsenal losing at Wembley to Ipswich Town.

We are truly witnessing the most astonishing season in the club's history.

Fortress CBS

The Sky Blues bounced back from the defeat at Wrexham last weekend to record another home victory, 3-1 over Sheffield United on Tuesday night. The CBS Arena has certainly become a fortress for the team, especially since Frank Lampard took charge last November. Only two regular season league games have been lost in the last 23 and those were to last season's promoted clubs, Leeds United and Burnley. History tells us that strong home form is the key to successful promotion campaigns:

1935-36 Division 3S champions Played 21. 19 wins, 1 draw, 1 defeat.

1958-59 Division 4 runners up Played 23. 18 wins, 4 draws, 1 defeat.

1963-64 Division 3 champions Played 23. 14 wins, 7 draws, 2 defeats.

1966-67 Division 2 champions Played 21. 17 wins, 3 draws, 1 defeat.

2019-20 League 1 champions Played 17. 11 wins, 5 draws, 1 defeat.

With 16 home games remaining this season a continuation of the home form would probably guarantee a play-off position even if the team lost all its away games. The outstanding start to the season puts the Sky Blues in a very strong position for an automatic promotion spot. However there is a long way to go and I remind readers that despite a 15-game unbeaten start in 1937-38 the team failed to get promotion after a mediocre second half of the season. Similarly, in 1950-51, City were top of Division Two on New Year's Day but faded and finished seventh.

The goals continue to flow for the team and after 14 games they have scored 39 – the highest in all four English leagues. Readers are asking 'what is the club record for goals scored?' 

The answer is 108 in 1931-32 – the season that the legendary Clarrie Bourton rose to prominence and netted 49 league goals as City finished 12^th in Division Three South. They scored 106 the following season (finishing sixth), 100 in 1933-34 (runners up). In 1934-35 they finished third but only scored 86 goals. Promotion finally arrived in 1935-36 as the Bantams scored 102 goals. Since then the best season has been in the 1963-64 Division Three championship season when 98 goals went into the opposition's net. 

It is interesting to note that in the record breaking 1931-32 season City had scored 32 goals after 14 games whilst the current team has 39 to its credit.

Last week's trip to Wrexham was City's first league visit to the Racecourse Ground since 1963-64 when Jimmy Hill's side drew 1-1 on the way to winning promotion from Division Three. It was only the fifth league visit in 100 seasons of league football. City had the rare occurrence of conceding a hat-trick with Wrexham's expensive striker Kieffer Moore becoming only the third player to score three or more against City in a league game in the last eight seasons (Portsmouth's Callum Lang and Hull's Oscar Estupinan are the others). A lot of fans thought Moore had an excellent scoring record against the Sky Blues but in fact he had only managed three in seven games before last week, two for Cardiff in 2020-21 and one for Ipswich in 2023-24.

Jim's column 5.5.2018

Despite that sensational 6-1 win at Cheltenham, the nerves are still jangling amongst Sky Blue fans ahead of today's game with Morecambe. The added twist is that Morecambe may need something from the game to avoid returning to the Conference after eleven seasons in League Two. That will depend on the 23rd-placed club Barnet keeping their excellent run under new boss Martin Allen going – they have won four of their last six games – and beating already-relegated Chesterfield at home. If Barnet win then Morecambe will need a point at the Ricoh to finish above the Bees and avoid the drop.

The win at Cheltenham was the ninth away win of the season, an impressive record bettered only twice in the Sky Blues' history (in 1969-70 (10) and 2012-13 (11)). The result was rarely in doubt once Tom Bayliss had scored in the twelfth minute and the team went on to record a scoreline that equalled the biggest away league win since World War 2. City have won 6-1 away on three previous occasions in those 73 years, at Carlisle in 1958-59, at Crewe in 2001-02 and at Walsall in 2003-04. The club's biggest away win occurred 91 years ago on Easter Monday 1927 when, in their only ever visit to Aberdare Athletic, City won 7-0 with goals from Jimmy Heathcote (2), Billy Bird, Frank Herbert, Jack Crisp, Alex McClure and Robert Ferguson. Twenty-four hours later in the return game, with fans expecting another hatful of goals, City struggled to win 1-0!

Marc McNulty was at it again at Cheltenham netting another hat-trick to take his league total for the season to 23 and 26 in all competitions. He has overtaken players like Calum Wilson, Adam Armstrong and Ian Wallace and is now the highest league scorer in a season for over 50 years - since Bobby Gould's 24 goals in 1966-67. Today McNulty could overtake George Hudson and Bobby Gould and the two City legends will be at the game to see if he can achieve a remarkable feat. Any potential play-off games don't count as league goals but do count in the all competitions category, therefore Marc could even top Ray Straw's tally from 1958-59.

                                                                 Ray Straw

Most league goals in a season (post WW2)

Ray Straw	1958-59	27
George Lowrie	1946-47	26
Terry Bly	1962-63	25
Ken Chisholm	1950-51	24
George Hudson	1963-64	24
Bobby Gould	1966-67	24
Marc McNulty	2017-18	23

Most goals (all Comps) (post WW2)

Ray Straw	1958-59	30
George Lowrie	1946-47	29
Terry Bly	1962-63	29
George Hudson	1963-64	28
Marc McNulty	2017-18	26
Bobby Gould	1966-67	25

McNulty is also a record breaker when it comes to hat-tricks. He became the first City player to score more than one league hat-trick since 1977-78 when Mick Ferguson scored three in a season. Darren Huckerby scored two hat-tricks in 1998-99 but one was in the FA Cup.

City fan Neil Monaghan posed an interesting question in the pub at Cheltenham on Saturday. He wondered if Michael Doyle has made the most Football League appearances by a player from the Republic of Ireland. We knocked around a few names including Roy and Robbie Keane, Dennis Irwin, Noel Cantwell but I promised to find out for Neil.

I contacted the English National Football Archive (www.enfa.co.uk) whose comprehensive database provides the results, line ups, scorers and league tables of all games since 1888. A search of their database gave me the top ten Southern Irish-born players by appearances in league games as follows:

682 Dennis Irwin

628 Michael Doyle

614 Frank Stapleton

584 Tony Dunne

575 Damien Delaney

572 Don O'Riordan

565 Tommy Eglington

557 Johnny Giles

538 Barry Roche

537 Graham Kavanagh

Doyle will need more than a full season of games to overhaul Irwin's total but it is still an impressive record for the Sky Blues' inspirational captain.

Today is Legends Day at the Ricoh Arena and over 50 former players are planning to attend. This year's event is dedicated to the memory of Cyrille Regis who will be represented by a good number of his relatives including his widow Julia. Former players from seven decades will be joining the traditional half-time parade from Lol Harvey and Brian Nicholas from the 1950s through to Dele Adebola and Andy Morrell from the 2000s. There are some big names attending including George Hudson, Bobby Gould, Colin Stein, Roy Barry, Ian Wallace and Keith Houchen. If you're at the game today make sure you are in the arena to give our former players a great reception on what may be a famous day.

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 29.3.14

Coventry City's topsy-turvy season (when has it been anything else for the Sky Blues?) saw the team succumb to Brentford, arguably the best side in the division, on Saturday and then on Wednesday evening, with relegation clouds gathering, relieve some of the pressure with an ugly but vital 1-0 win over bottom the table Stevenage. The Brentford loss was despite taking an early lead with Callum Wilson's 19th league goal of the season. The accolade of being the highest City scorer since 1967, currently held by Ian Wallace (21 in 1977-78), was now in sight. Then on Wednesday evening at home to Stevenage the dynamic young striker failed from the penalty spot & his run of five scoring league games came to an end, one short of Mick Quinn's six in a row in 1992.

The goals against Brentford & Stevenage took City's league total for the season to 68 & long-suffering fan Colin Heys wanted to know when a City team last scored that many goals. With still eight games to play they have now eclipsed last season's total of 66 and the 67 scored in 2003-04 and could beat the highest total since the club came out of the old Second Division in 1967. That was 75 goals, again set in the 1977-78 season when strikers Wallace & Mick Ferguson were on fire & superbly served by wingers Ray Graydon & Tommy Hutchison. The team scored 75 from 42 games & included two five-goal hauls & four four-goal hauls & only five games in which they failed to score.

On the opposite side of the coin the team have now conceded 68 League goals & are heading for one of their worst defensive performances since World War 2. The most goals conceded in a season since the war was in 1956-57 season when in 46 Division Three South games the team, managed by Harry Warren, shipped 84 goals.

Since the club reached the top flight for the first time in 1967 there have been some pretty miserable defensive seasons, namely:

71 1985-86 & 1967-68

73 2004-05

77 1983-84

One common factor in all these four seasons is that the Sky Blues were fighting relegation until the final or the penultimate game. I hope that is not an omen.

Declan Murphy was in contact with me regarding two friendly matches between Coventry & Tottenham at Highfield Road in the 1960s. In April 1964 in the week after Jimmy Hill's team had clinched the Third Division championship City were scheduled to play Brazilian club side FC America but the FA refused to sanction the game. Hill persuaded Spurs to fill the gap at short notice and Bill Nicholson brought their First Division side to Coventry for a friendly game. It gave the fans a chance to applaud their heroes one by one as they were presented to them in the centre circle before the game. The team were then joined on the pitch by the manager, chairman Derrick Robins and Hill’s back-room team, Pat Saward, Alan Dicks and Peter Hill. Robins thanked the crowd for their wonderful support, and led the players in a rendition of ‘Three cheers’ for their loyal supporters. Spurs, missing only Jimmy Greaves and Maurice Norman from their first team, gave a scintillating display of football and won 6-5 in front of 15,638 with Les Allen scoring an 11-minute hat-trick. Spurs’ Welsh international winger Cliff Jones later said: ‘It was a bit of an experience to see a crowd of 15,000 turn out so quickly for a friendly match. I don’t think I’ve heard a crowd shout so much at a friendly match.’  Spurs' Scottish international, who was tragically killed that in a lightning strike on a golf course that summer, possibly played his final game in a Spurs shirt that night.

The scorers were Hudson (2), Kirby, Farmer, Newton (City) and Saul (2), Allen (3) and White (Tottenham). It was probably the busiest week in the club's history with five games in five days as the Brazilians finally got clearance to play on the Thursday. This was their programme that week:

Saturday: Beat Colchester 1-0 to clinch championship. Players & wives at celebration dinner at Hotel Leofric.

Sunday: Day off.

Monday: City play a Dublin XI in Dublin (lose 3-4)

Tuesday: Tottenham game followed by a celebration banquet at the Council House.

Wednesday: Testimonial game at Bedworth (win 4-0)

Thursday: A very tired City lose 2-5 to FC America.

Friday: City travel to Eastbourne for a testimonial game (win 3-1)

In all five games City put out a strong side with several players playing all five friendly games but the following week they got their bonus for winning promotion – a two week trip to Spain.

Almost exactly a year later Tottenham returned to Highfield Road for a repeat game and this time won more easily, 3-0 with goals from Low, Mullery and Saul in front of 13,660.