Jim's column 14.1.2017

With the Sky Blues not playing last weekend I was able to ponder the recent run of form. They managed to end the dreadful run of losses in league games with draws against Peterborough and Bolton, in fact City should have won both games. The defeat at Bristol Rovers on Boxing Day was therefore the end of the run of seven straight defeats, equalling the worst run by a City team since 1924, and two short of the worst run since they joined the Football League in 1919.

City have still failed to win in nine league games – the longest run since 2012 when Andy Thorn's relegated side failed to win any of their last six games in the Championship and then went eight games into 2012-13 without registering a league victory (under Thorn, caretakers Lee Carsley and Richard Shaw and Mark Robins). Let's hope that's not an omen and Russell Slade can end the run quickly and pull the club away from the relegation zone.

The form shown in the last two league games and the FL Trophy victory over Brighton on Tuesday evening has cheered some City fans up and with more signings expected in the January window I expect the side to have a stronger look for the last three months of the campaign. Against Bolton Slade introduced three new players, all of whom made an instant impact, and the number of players to represent the club since they joined the League in 1919 edged towards the 1000 mark. No-nonsense defender Nathan Clarke (the 966^th to wear the shirt), midfield loanee Callum Reilly (967) and all-action striker Stuart Beavon (968) all played their part in a much-improved display. Beavon became the 106^th player to make his debut in the 4 ½ years since we were relegated from the Championship in 2012. By comparison, Jimmy Hill in his six years as the club's manager only gave 40 players their debuts. Back then new signings were rare and a number of the players he inherited in 1961 were still at the club when they reached the First Division six years later including George Curtis, Mick Kearns, Ronnie Farmer &  Brian Hill.

The rate of new players has accelerated in recent years, for example Steve Jacobs was the 500^th player in May 1980 (the club's 55^th season in the league) and now 37 years later we are approaching the 1000 mark. Last season we gave 24 players their first game, one less than the 2014-15 when a record 25 got their debuts. This season there have been 15 so far – maybe the inability for clubs to take loans outside of the transfer windows has had an effect – but I expect there to be several more.

Stuart Beavon comes from a footballing family and it makes me feel very old to say I remember watching his father and grandfather play. Cyril Beavon, his grandfather, was a no-nonsense full-back in the Oxford United team admitted to the Football League in 1962 after the demise of Accrington Stanley. He was a regular in their side in the 1960s that included Ron Atkinson and his brother Graham, who sadly passed away recently. Cyril's son Stuart senior was in the Reading side that knocked City out of the Simod (Full Members) Cup at the semi-final stage in 1988. In a game which had a delayed start because of traffic congestion, City and Reading drew 1-1 after extra time and Reading won the penalty shoot-out to book a Wembley final place. They met Luton in the final and won 4-1 becoming the only side outside the top flight to win the trophy and Stuart scored one of the goals from the penalty spot.

Two weeks ago I wrote about the days when football was played on Christmas Day, usually with the return of a double header on Boxing Day. City had numerous long trips to make on Christmas night to fulfil a return game the following afternoon but Rod Dean reminded of the two worst Christmas double headers from a travel point of view. On Christmas Day 1929 City entertained Plymouth Argyle, the previously unbeaten league leaders of Division Three South, and won 1-0 in front of over 26,000, more than double the crowd that had watched them play Luton at home four days earlier. Somehow the two teams got to Plymouth, 207 miles away, in order to play the return twenty-four hours later (probably by train in the days when BR ran a Christmas Day service). Argyle won 3-0 in front of over 27,000. Rod also mentioned the Christmas of 1958 when the fixture compiler (pre-computer days) matched City v Torquay, a round trip for both teams of 370 miles. The clubs met at Highfield Road on Boxing Day morning with City retaining top spot in Division Four with a 3-0 win in front of over 27,000. Twenty-four hours later the teams clashed again at Plainmoor with honours even in a 1-1 draw. There was very little time for footballers to have a Christmas with their families back then and I wonder what the modern managers and players would have to say about two games in two days with or without a long journey!

Jim's column 15.9.2012

                                   Horace Pearson pictured at Highfield Road

I am always happy to assist relatives and friends of former Coventry City players and this summer I had an interesting email from Les Turner, a friend of the daughter of City’s 1930s goalkeeper Horace Pearson. Les was trying to piece together the playing history of Horace and sent me some old photos of Pearson’s playing career.

Horace was born in Tamworth on 6.4.1907. His football career started with Nuneaton Town where he was spotted by Luton Town in 1928. He never appeared in the Hatters’ first team and the following summer joined Blackpool. The timing of his arrival at Bloomfield Road was perfect and he helped the Seasiders to gain promotion to Division One for the first time in his debut season. Life in Division One was tough for the Tangerines and although they avoided relegation by the skin of their teeth they conceded a record 125 goals (Horace played in 40 of the 42 games).

The following season Horace, who was only 5 ft 9 ins tall, lost his place in the first team and in November 1931 he joined Oldham, playing 38 games in eighteen months before a move to Highfield Road in May 1933. Between then and March 1936 he was a virtual ever-present in goal for the Bantams playing 114 games in a golden period of Coventry City’s history. The Bantams finished 2^nd in 1933-34, 3^rd in 1934-35, before winning the Third Division title in 1935-36. In early 1935 Horace was suspended for two games for a 'breach of club discipline' - the details of which I haven't got. Sadly Horace lost his place 12 games from the end of the promotion season, being replaced by Bill Morgan, and although he received a medal he never appeared in the first team again.

In May 1937 he joined Newport County where he played one season, moving briefly to non-league Barry Town and then for the last season of pre-war football to Bristol City. It is believed he was released by Bristol just before the outbreak of war and settled in Bristol. Horace's uncle Hubert and cousin Harold both played in goal for WBA.

Last week I mentioned the ‘other’ Jimmy Hill who played for Coventry City between 1949-1956. The piece sparked some interest with Ron Dickinson having good memories of Jimmy:

I got to know him from youth football so it is a long time ago. I believe that he did live in Binley and played for Binley Youth club along with Billy Gray, another former City player who you wrote about a few months ago. As I recall Jimmy worked in a gent's outfitter shop so had difficulty in getting off for games on Saturday. I met him later in the early 1980s when he was manager of a cleaning company operating in Birmingham. He was a nice guy. I am sure that there was an article in the Telegraph maybe 5 to 10 years ago about his grandson who was setting out on a football career.

Lockheed Leamington historian Paul Vanes was also in contact and confirmed that after leaving Shrewsbury in 1958 Jimmy joined Lockheed, then in the Birmingham League. At the Windmill Ground he joined several other ex-City men including Jack Evans, Charlie Timmins and Ernie Ward. Paul had some useful information:

In 1958-59 season he played between 25-30 games and was second top scorer with 14 behind Robertson on 23. He played inside left for the Brakes in the Birmingham Senior Cup final at Villa Park on 13th April 1959 against Stourbridge who beat Lockheed 2-1 thanks mainly to a brilliant display by the Glassboys German born goalkeeper Newman (Neumann). Hill was picked to play in the penultimate game at Hereford with a 6.00pm kick off on Saturday 25th April 1959 but he never turned up.  Jimmy was not in the Brakes squad for 1959/60 season. 

Coventry City’s run without a win was extended to 11 on Sunday against Stevenage (equalling the dreadful run under Andy Thorn last autumn) and if a win is not forthcoming today at Prenton Park it will be the worst run since 2003. Like the present dire run, that sequence of 16 games was over two seasons, during the stewardship of Gary McAllister, and consisted of the last 12 games of 2002-03 and the first four games of 2003-04. It ended with a 4-2 home win over Stoke City. 

Next Saturday is another special day at the Ricoh Arena when a host of former City players will gather for a mini-Legends Day specifically to celebrate the life of Ernie Machin who passed away in July. Around 30-40 former players are expected to attend including many from Ernie’s time at the football club from 1962-72. Fans wishing to attend the pre-match lunch with the Former Players, in what is always an electric atmosphere, should contact the football club. The Memorial Service for Ernie Machin has been re-arranged and will now take place at Coventry Cathedral on Wednesday 3rd October 2012 commencing at 3pm.  All Ernie’s friends and City fans are welcome.

Gate footnote: Last Sunday’s crowd for the Stevenage game was 9,485 – the smallest City home crowd since November 1991.

JIM'S COLUMN 12.2.11

Some readers criticise me for ‘putting the mockers’ on good form when Coventry City are in a good run, rare though it may be. Last December I wrote about City’s strong run and their successive clean sheets, but that day they lost for the first time in a long time and haven’t won a league game since. Last March, I seem to remember, I waxed lyrically about City’s four straight wins under Chris Coleman that pushed City into the top eight and speculated about their play-off chances, only for the Sky Blues to collapse with a run of 11 games without a victory.

So today I thought I would write about the dreadful run without a win that Aidy Boothroyd’s are having right now, put it into a historical context and hopefully help end the run!

After 10 games without a win we are getting close to the club’s worst run for eight years. The worst league sequences since City fell out of the Premier League are:

2003 16 games over two seasons under Gary McAllister.
2009-10 11 games at the end of the season under Chris Coleman.
2010-11 10 games under Aidy Bothroyd.
2009-10 10 games in mid-season under Coleman.
2004-05 9 games in early season 2004-05 under Peter Reid.
2008-09 8 games at the end of the season under Coleman.
2003-04 8 games pre-Christmas under McAllister (incl 7 draws).
2002-03 8 games in Jan & Feb 2003 under McAllister.
2006-07 7 games prior to Micky Adams’ departure.
2001-02 7 games at the end of the season under Nilsson which cost a play-off place.

The club’ worst ever series of results was back in 1919 when, after joining the Football League they failed to win any of their first 19 games and finally broke their duck with a 3-2 win over Stoke City on Christmas Day. The current sequence is beginning to look similar to the dreadful times in Division 1 in 1983 and 1984 when in both seasons City collapsed after Christmas after being in top six positions early in the New Year. In February 1983 Dave Sexton’s young team were fifth in the league after beating Manchester City 4-0. Garry Thompson was sold over the head of Sexton and the team’s form imploded. They went 13 games without a win and only a face-saving 3-0 win at Stoke pulled City out of their seemingly suicidal plummet towards Division Two. The following season, under Bobby Gould’s inexperienced management, another 13-game slump saw City fall from sixth to sixteenth before Gould pulled them out of their freefall and avoid relegation on the last day of the season.

The above list is a terrible indictment on the Sky Blues recent history and it is no surprise that we are the only club (apart from seemingly doomed Preston) of being in this division consistently for the last ten years. At least Preston have reached the play-offs three times and before this season had an enviable home record stretching back a number of years. City regrettably have never beaten Preston at Deepdale in that time.

Another bogey side Crystal Palace are in town today, supported by a large following which may help their team to continue their amazing five-game unbeaten league run at the Ricoh but will at least boost City’s depleted coffers by £100,000 or more. Let us hope that the recent FA Cup victory over Palace has banished this particular bogey.

Manchester City fans paid tribute to the late Neil Young last week. Young, who died after a long fight against cancer, was one of the classiest players I ever saw at Highfield Road and had a remarkable record against the Sky Blues. Between 1964 (when City came up from Division Three) and 1971 (when Young was prematurely losing his touch following the sudden death of his younger brother) he played 10 games for the Manchester Blues against City, was never on the losing side, consistently tormented Mick Kearns and other City defenders with his classy left foot and scored six goals. The only time he was on the losing side was in a League Cup game at Maine Road in 1965 which Coventry won 3-2. Young was somewhat overshadowed by the bigger names in Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison’s team of the time, namely Mike Summerbee, Colin Bell and Francis Lee, but the record books show he was the top scorer in both the Second Division (1966) and First Division (1968) Championship sides as well as scoring the winning goal in the 1969 FA Cup final and in the Cup Winners Cup final a year later – not bad for a player considered to be a midfield player. When you look at the mediocre players selected for England in the modern era it is a travesty that Neil Young never played for his country.

Make a note in your diaries for Thursday 24 February. That night the Coventry Transport Museum, supported by Dean Nelson and the Former Players Association are hosting a film night especially dedicated to displaying archive film material covering some past games of the Sky Blues (culled from his extensive archive). Dean will be showing Coventry City highlights from TV and celluloid coverage of old games from across the years. The event is timed to last from 7pm – 9pm. Tickets will cost £1 each and can be booked by telephoning Coventry Transport Museum – Tel: 024 7623 4270

Neil Young