Jim's Column 27.4.2013

                                                   Bill Patrick - hat-trick scorer

Today is the last game of the season for the Sky Blues and a trip to Notts County’s Meadow Lane for the first time since 1992. The ‘Lane’ was a bogey ground for the Sky Blues in the old First Division with defeats in all four meetings between 1981-1992 including a 5-1 thrashing in 1982-83.

The home season ended last weekend with a disappointing home defeat to Leyton Orient – the first time Orient had won in seventeen visits to Coventry since 1922 when Clapton Orient won 2-1.

My mention last week of Noel Simpson breaking a leg at Highfield Road prompted several readers to send me their thoughts of the incident & memories of other tragic broken legs involving City players.

I spoke to former City player Lol Harvey about Simpson & he remembers Noel breaking his leg whilst playing for Exeter City (who he joined after leaving City in 1957). Jim Hone confirmed that the incident occurred after Simpson had left City but thought it was against Swindon. Mick Sanders recalls him breaking his leg near the centre circle. Barry Ireland remembers it being against Exeter in a game City won 6-1.

The game in question was on 9 November 1957 at Highfield Road & City did win 6-1 with goals from Bill Patrick (3), Charlie Timmins (penalty), Ken McPherson & Ray Sambrook. Noel Simpson, who had left City the previous summer after 270 appearances, was captaining Exeter and the Coventry Telegraph reported that Simpson was carried off after 35 minutes following a tackle with City’s Roy Kirk. The match report however describes his injury as ‘damaged knee ligaments’. Noel never played senior football again and retired the following summer, aged 36. The number of readers who remember the sound of the break seems to indicate the match report was incorrect about the nature of the injury. Several people also seem to think that the protagonists ‘hadn’t seen eye to eye’ prior to Simpson’s departure but it’s probably best to let those sleeping dogs lie.

Other readers remembered other broken legs with 83-year old George Hopkins, a former programme seller at Highfield Road recalling left winger George Ashall breaking his leg in a heavy clash with West Brom’s Stan Rickaby in 1947. Thirty-six year old Ashall, an England prospect before the war, never played football again.

Chris Lambert recalls loanee Craig Hignett suffering a hairline fracture at Bramall Lane in 2002 when he got in the way of a shot from United’s Peter Ndlovu.

Dean Nelson remembers Dave Bennett suffering a broken leg against Sheffield Wednesday at Highfield Road in 1988 but it was in fact against Derby. ‘Benno’ collided with Peter Shilton & came off worst. He later suffered further breaks playing for both Swindon and Sheffield Wednesday.

Peter Louch thought Peter Hill broke his leg in a Boxing Day game in the 1950s but I can find no records of this.

After my piece about Dan Dan the Rhyming Man a couple of weeks ago I had an email from Hag Harris, a City fan exiled in Lampeter, South Wales.

Dan's mini poems amused me as a young chap at Highfield Road and even now going through late 1950s and early 1960s programmes in my forested vastness warms my cockles!  Manager Billy Frith's notes are always worth a re-read as he rails against outrageous bad luck and misfortune, the 'London Press' and discontented barrackers.

Hag goes on to say that he looks forward to the definitive text on the '1920 Bury Affair' and ' The Life and Times of Arthur Lightening' and no, I am too young to have seen Clarrie play.

This is the last column of the season for me but look out for my usual statistical summary of the season next week. Thanks to everybody who has contributed to the column this season and have a great summer. Lets hope the warring parties can resolve their differences and we can watch the Sky Blues at the Ricoh next season.

Jim's column 20.4.13

                                                                Ronnie Rees

Some weeks ago Keith Ballantyne wrote to me regarding former City player Ronnie Rees. Keith was reminded of the Welsh winger after the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy debacle against Crewe. Keith remembers travelling to Gresty Road in 1966 for the FA Cup tie: ‘City trailed until the last few minutes until a Rees goal got them out of jail as I recall’.

You are correct Keith, Rees equalised in the 88^th minute after Crewe had led from the ninth minute, when a Peter Kane shot went in off George Curtis’ face. Fourth Division Crewe’s chance of a giantkilling act had gone & two days later the Sky Blues convincingly won the replay 4-1 with goals from Dave Clements, George Hudson (2) & Ronnie Farmer (a penalty).

Keith recalls that Rees was City's only full international for some years, that at some stage he left for West Brom and that he featured in one if not two thrashings that we suffered at their hands. Like most of us children of the 60s his memory is sketchy but he thought Rees played in a 6-1 Sky Blues defeat.

Ronnie was only the fifth Coventry City player to win a full Welsh cap when he made his debut at the age of 20 against Scotland in October 1964. He went on to win 21 caps whilst he was with the Sky Blues, scoring two goals. He left City for West Brom in March 1968 after making 262 appearances for the club & scoring 52 goals. He wasn’t City’s only international during that time, Dave Clements made his debut for Northern Ireland in 1965 and also won 21 caps between then and 1971. Also during 1964-65 City regularly put out a side with two full internationals on the wings, Rees on the left and Northern Ireland’s Willie Hunphries on the right.

After leaving City, Rees played only one full season at the Hawthorns and appeared against the Sky Blues twice, scoring on both occasions. In City’s 4-2 home win in August 1968 he scored one of the Baggies’ goals, then repeated the feat in a 6-1 Baggies’ league win at the Hawthorns two months later.

In 1969-70 he had joined Nottingham Forest & amazingly repeated the scoring feat, netting in Forest’s 3-2 defeat at Highfield Road and their 4-1 defeat to the Sky Blues at the City Ground. He did appear against City twice the following season without finding the net. Ronnie won a further 18 full Welsh caps after leaving City, taking his total to 39. His club career ended at Swansea City in 1975 and he went to work at the Ford factory in the city but had to retire at the age of 51 after a stroke.

He still lives in Swansea with June, his Coventry-born wife and although Ron is in poor health he likes to keep abreast of news from the Sky Blues.

George Ling, a friend of many years standing through the Coventry City London Supporters Club, posed an interesting question recently: Did Noel Simpson ever break his leg playing for the club? George is confident he was present at Highfield Road when he heard an almighty crack and Simpson collapsed on the floor in front of the Main Stand at the Spion Kop end of the ground.

                                                                    Noel Simpson

I’m afraid I was unable to answer the question but Noel played for the club between 1948-1957, in an era when broken legs took a minimum of six months to recover from. Looking at Noel’s record I can find no periods of that length when he was absent from the side and think George’s memory is playing tricks on him. Perhaps an older supporter can throw some light on the question.

George also asked which players I could remember breaking a leg whilst playing for the club and a few immediately came to mind including George Curtis at Nottingham Forest in 1967, Roy Barry (v Sheffield Wednesday 1970), Dave Busst (v Manchester United 1996), Bill Glazier (v Man City 1965), Lloyd McGrath (v Ipswich (Simod Cup) 1988) & Jim Sanders (v Aldershot 1958). Do any readers remember others?