Column 12.5.2018

After seventeen seasons of trying the Sky Blues have finally made it to the Football League play-offs by virtue of finishing sixth, their highest league finish since 1970. On Saturday evening the Sky Blues entertain Notts County in the first leg of the semi-finals with the return at Meadow Lane on the following Friday and the chances are there will be a record crowd for a League 2 (or Division 4) play-off semi-final this weekend. The current record is 19,462 and was set in 2004 at the Huddersfield v Lincoln game at the Galpharm Stadium. It wouldn't surprise me to see 25,000 at the Ricoh this weekend.

City's record against the Magpies is not inspiring. City won 3-0 on the opening day but County won on their previous two visits to the Ricoh, which sandwich a 3-0 Sky Blues win at Sixfields in 2013-14. Prior to that City had won six out of seven home league games at Highfield Road, the exception being an amazing 5-1 defeat in 1982, one of the most embarrassing results in City's history. Before that City had not lost at home to the Magpies since 1951. Older fans will remember County being City's opponents on the opening day of the 1962-63 season when goals from Terry Bly and Hugh Barr gave City a 2-0 home win as City wore the new all Sky Blue kit for the first time in a competitive game.

At Meadow Lane City's record is very poor. They haven't won there in eight league visits since the last victory in August 1963 when George Hudson (2) and Willie Humphries gave City a comfortable 3-0 win. That was one of only two wins there, the other coming in 1950, 2-0 courtesy of Ken Chisholm and 'Plum' Warner, when 41,000 packed into Meadow Lane.

The full record of league games is:

Played W D L F - A

Home 19 9 3 7 33 - 25

Away 19 2 5 12 17 - 33

Notts County have been in the play-offs on four previous occasions and have reached the final three times. In 1987-88 they lost 2-4 on aggregate in the Division Three semis to Walsall but two years later they were back under the managership of the legendary Neil Warnock and beat Tranmere 2-0 at Wembley. Twelve months later they were back again to reach the top flight by beating Brighton 3-1. They remain the only club to win play-off finals in successive years. Their stay in the old Division One was brief – they were relegated the following season (and saved the Sky Blues on the final day by sending Luton Town down). They were back at Wembley in 1995-96 in the Division Two (tier 3) but lost 2-0 to Bradford City.

City will go into their first two-legged tie since 2013 this weekend. That was when City played Crewe in the JPT (Football League Trophy) Regional final and lost 3-2 on aggregate after a nightmare home first leg. Before that you have to go back to 2000 when the League Cup second round was reduced from two legs to one. In 22 seasons of two leg ties in that competition the Sky Blues were only defeated on four occasions (Everton, Walsall, Scarborough and Tranmere). I'm pretty sure City's first two-legged tie was in the FA Cup of 1945-46 when for one season only the Third round was played over two legs. City drew Aston Villa and won 2-1 at Highfield Road but lost the second leg 2-0 to exit the competition. They have played two leg games in the UEFA Fairs Cup in 1970-71 and then in the Texaco Cup for the following three seasons. That competition was hardly memorable with victory in only one tie (Falkirk in 1971) and three defeats (Motherwell (2) and Newcastle). Probably the most famous two leg ties were in the League Cup semi finals on 1981 and 1990. In 1981 West Ham were defeated 3-2 at Highfield Road but edged City out of a Wembley trip with a 2-0 win at Upton Park. Nine years later City controversially lost the first leg at the City Ground, Nottingham, 2-1, and Forest held on for a 0-0 at Highfield Road to go through.

I make that 32 two-legged ties with 20 wins and 12 defeats on aggregate. City have been at home in the first leg on 14 occasions and ended up progressing in only seven of those ties.

Finally, congratulations are in order for a good friend of mine, Geoff Moore, who, by watching City at Cheltenham two weeks ago, joined the '92 club'. He has now watched the Sky Blues play at all the current 92 league clubs in a first-class game. There are three current grounds where City have not played (the Etihad, West Ham's London Stadium and Huddersfield's Galpharm Stadium) but Geoff did see the Sky Blues play those clubs at Maine Road, Upton Park and Leeds Road respectively.

His first away ground was Swindon's County Ground for an FA Cup third round tie in 1966 and since then has seen City play on 118 different English grounds not including Wembley Stadium, Sutton United and Motherwell in Scotland where he attended a Texaco Cup game in the 1970s. If City are promoted via the play-offs he will miss out on the new league clubs (Macclesfield and possibly Boreham Wood) but I'm sure he will sacrifice that for football in a higher division.

Are there any other City fans who can match or better Geoff's record. I suspect Kevin Monks must be close!

Jim's column 7.4.2018

What a shocker on Easter Monday! A larger than normal crowd turned up expecting City to put lowly Yeovil to the sword and extend the unbeaten run to eight games only for the Glovers to tear up the form-book and pull off a sensational 6-2 victory. Whilst City's defending was appalling it seemed that every time Yeovil attacked they scored. The statistics bear this out with the Somerset team having seven shots on target and six goals.

There are lots of historical stats resulting from a game which whilst depressing for Sky Blue fans was a thrilling encounter. The start by Yeovil was sensational with three goals without reply in the first 15 minutes. Trawling through the record books I can find only one worse start for City – in September 1956 at Northampton's County Ground the Cobblers were 3-0 ahead in 13 minutes, eventually losing 4-0. Incidentally in the very next away game City were 3-0 down after 16 minutes to Ipswich Town, again a 4-0 defeat. Unfortunately goal-times are notoriously inaccurate before World War Two and there may have been worse starts before then.

The size of the defeat was staggering and the worst at the Ricoh since 2008 when West Brom won an FA Cup tie 5-0. It was only the second time in 92 seasons of league football that City have let in six goals in a home league game – the other a 6-1 thumping by champions Liverpool on the final day of the 1989-90 season. Older fans will remember an 8-1 League Cup home defeat to Leicester in 1964 but there were mitigating circumstances, George Curtis limped off injuries and there were no substitutes.

The total of eight goals in the game was the most City fans have seen at the Ricoh since it opened in 2005 but those who travelled to Sixfields in 2013-14 saw nine goals (5-4 v Bristol City) and eight goals (4-4 v Preston) respectively in the first two home games there. The previous highest at the Ricoh was seven in the 6-1 victory over Derby in 2006.

Three Yeovil players (Fisher, Zoko and Surridge) scored braces and with Max Biamou also scoring two the total of four braces in a City game was only the third time this has occurred and the first in a home game. The last time was in the 5-5 draw at Southampton in May 1982 – arguably the most exciting City game of all-time. Mark Hateley (3) and Steve Whitton (2) netted for the Sky Blues whilst Kevin Keegan (2), Keith Cassells (2) and Alan Ball were on target for the Saints. The only other occasion was at Exeter in 1926 when four home players scored braces in the Grecians 8-1 victory.

Biamou also achieved a personal landmark by scoring two off the bench. He is only the third City player to achieve this in a league game, the others being Bobby Gould (at Forest in 1967) and Chris Maguire (at MK Dons in 2013).

City's outstanding defensive record went to pot – before Monday they had only conceded 32 goals and looked capable of breaking the club's all-time record of 38 in 1970-71 but that won't happen now! They could possibly still set a new record for a 46-game season – currently 47 goals in 1958-59.

Most fans feel that it was just one of those days and a somewhat freak scoreline. The team have a tough away game at Notts County today and the omens aren't good there, it is a real bogey ground for the Sky Blues. They have won only twice in 18 visits there since they entered the league and there have been five defeats and two losses since the last win there – in August 1963 when George Hudson (2) and Willie Humphries netted in a 3-0 victory.

Thanks to all my followers on Twitter for helping with this week's stats.