Jim's column 13.5.23

Congratulations to Mark Robins and the team for reaching the Championship play-offs for the first time. With perfect timing the team entered the play-off places for the first time in game 44 and with a home win over Birmingham and a draw at Middlesbrough sealed the top six finish. It's the highest final position the club has achieved since the club left the premiership in 2001 and all the more surprising with the hurdles they have had to overcome this season. The delayed start to the home season that saw them win only one of their first ten games and still in 22^nd place on 1^st November. A fantastic run of results in the run up to the World Cup break saw them rise to eighth place but then they slipped back after a dodgy December and January. After the narrow defeat at the Hawthorns in early February, when they were 14^th, the team has lost just once in 17 games and completely confounded not only the critics but many of their own supporters. In that period they have picked up 32 points – automatic promotion form – and haven't lost a single away game.

The point at the Riverside meant nine away games unbeaten and the club's best league run since 1988 when John Sillett's team managed ten unbeaten. After losing 1-0 at Old Trafford in February 1988 they remained unbeaten in the final six away games of the season with wins at Watford, Southampton and Wimbledon and draws at Newcastle, West Ham and Arsenal. The 1988-89 season started with three away wins, at Sheffield Wednesday, Wimbledon and Newcastle, followed by a draw at Liverpool. The 10-game run ended at Highbury where the Gunners won 2-0. The all-time club record is 12 unbeaten away games, set by Jimmy Hill's 1966-67 Division 2 champions.

A two-legged play-off against Middlesbrough will now decide who goes to Wembley on May 27^th. I've been looking at City's record in two legged ties in the past and the omens are promising. Including the first two-legged tie in the FA Cup 3^rd round in 1946 (an experiment that was ditched after one season), a 3-2 aggregate defeat to Aston Villa, there have been 33 double headers. City have won 21 ties and lost 12.

There have been two in the European Fairs Cup (1970), one in the EFL Trophy (Crewe 2013), one in a League Two play-off (Notts County 2018), four in the Texaco Cup (1971-73), one in the FA Cup (1946) and 24 in the League Cup. Many of the League Cup two leg affairs were against lower division clubs when the first round of the competition was over two legs and the two semi finals (West Ham in 1980 and Forest in 1990) were both lost.

There was another sell-out away following at 'Boro on Sunday with 2,118 City fans in attendance. The average away following for the Sky Blue Army this season is 2,054, up 11% from last season and the highest average since records were kept in 2006. Prior to that records are hazy but I believe this season's average to be the highest since the golden days of the 1960s. Back then most grounds had bigger capacities and there were few restrictions on the numbers of away fans whereas today the number of away tickets available can be seriously restricted. For instance in 1966-67 season an estimated 15,000 City fans followed City to St Andrews whereas this campaign there was only just over 2,000 City fans allowed in. There were massive followings at local derbies back then with 10,000 at Derby in 1964, 12,000 at Peterborough the same year and 15,000 at Wolves in 1966. I am sure if there were no restrictions on numbers today there would have been much larger contingents of City fans at many of the away games.

City will face Middlesbrough three times in succession after the final game of the regular season and two play-off games. Several readers asked when this last happened. I can recall only two occasions when this has happened in the past. The last time was in the season of the big freeze, 1962-63, when City met Portsmouth in the FA Cup fourth round. The tie was delayed because two months after the scheduled date, City and Lincoln had not been able to play their third round tie because of the freezing temperatures and a snowbound pitch. City duly beat the Imps and seven days later travelled to Fratton Park to face a team one division higher knowing that a home tie with Sunderland was the reward for victory. A 1-1 draw on the Wednesday night was followed by a 2-2 draw after extra time at Highfield Road on the following Saturday. The sixth round draw had been made by this time and the path was clear; the winners of the second replay would face Sunderland and the winners of that tie would face Manchester United in the quarter final. The third Pompey tie took place three days after the first replay, at neutral White Hart Lane and City triumphed 2-1. Three games against Pompey in seven days.

The only other occurrence was in December 1932 when City, a Third Division South club, met Reading three times in successive games. The first was a league game at Elm Park when City recovered from 3-0 to draw 3-3. The following Saturday an FA Cup second round tie at the same venue ended 2-2 and five days later it was 3-3 at Highfield Road in the replay. The tie was eventually decided, after an intervening league game, at neutral Stamford Bridge with the Biscuitmen triumphing 1-0.

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!