Jim's column 15.2.2020

Two home wins in four days have lifted the Sky Blues up to third place in League One a position they were last placed on 1st January after the 4-1 victory at Tranmere. The victories over Bolton and Portsmouth mean the team are unbeaten in nine league games (including seven wins) and thirteen games in all competitions. The latter run is the club's best since 1998 when Gordon Strachan's side combined a strong second half of the Premiership with a fabulous FA Cup run including victories at Liverpool and Aston Villa. The FA Cup run came to an unlucky end in a penalty shoot-out at Bramall Lane but the unbeaten run went on for a further two games before Villa got their revenge with a 2-1 league win at Highfield Road.

The club record for an unbeaten run in all competitions is always assumed to be the 1966-67 promotion team who, of course, went 25 games unbeaten in winning the Second Division title. However that team lost an FA Cup third round tie to Newcastle in the middle of the fantastic league run and their best unbeaten run in league and cup games was 15 from the cup defeat until the end of the season. The club record can be found in another Jimmy Hill season, 1962-63. After losing 5-1 at Portsmouth in a League Cup tie on 17th October, the Sky Blues remained unbeaten in all games until 30th March when Manchester United won the FA Cup sixth round tie at Highfield Road – a total of 22 games (14 in Division Three and eight in the FA Cup). That was the winter of the big freeze and because of postponements caused by weather or FA Cup commitments they were left having to play 16 league games in seven weeks and their promotion push fizzled out and they finished fourth in the table.

This current team's performances reminds me so much of the 1966-67 campaign, especially since Christmas. Narrow home wins and late goals were a feature of that promotion campaign after Christmas. JH's team, like the current side, had two convincing victories at Christmas, beating Rotherham 4-2 and Portsmouth 5-1, but then struggled to overcome sides at home. The next seven home league games went as follows:

14th January Norwich won 2-1 (Ernie Machin scores 89th minute winner)

11th February Preston won 2-1 (Machin and Bobby Gould score in last 10 minutes)

25th February Carlisle won 2-1 (Machin scores 88th minute winner)

18th March Bolton drew 1-1 (City concede 87th minute equaliser)

28th March Northampton won 2-0 (City only secure victory with Gould's 83rd minute goal)

1st April Derby drew 2-2 (Machin scores 80th minute equaliser)

15th April Huddersfield won 1-0 (Gould's second half goal in a scrappy win)

Ironically, in the next home game against their fiercest rivals Wolves, the Sky Blues turned on the style and won 3-1.

In between these home results the team remained unbeaten away with three wins and five draws with all three victories by the odd goal). Older fans may remember that season with fond memories but it was hard going with results, at home and away, ground out every week. Several opposition managers criticised City's physical approach to games with Bob Stokoe of Charlton describing City as the dirtiest side he had seen.

The point I am trying to make is that City's great 1967 team didn't thrash the opposition every week, they fought hard, never gave up and remained unbeaten even when they didn't play well and relied on an outstanding home record with only one defeat at Highfield Road all season. Does that remind you of Mark Robins' current team?

Jim's column 23.1.2016

Dublin-based Pat Sweeney was very sorry to hear of the passing of Jimmy Hill. He never saw him as player but remembers him taking the Sky Blues to Dublin in 1963.

He wrote to me:

'In the winter of 1963 there was "the Big Freeze" in Britain bringing football to stand still. The weather was not as bad in Ireland so some clubs came to train and play in Dublin. Coventry played Manchester United on a Saturday in late January/early February at Glenmalure Park, the then home of Shamrock Rovers. The ground was packed out to the end lines, a great game, ending in a 2-2 draw.

I was 15 years old then, there was no television, the only football news was in newspapers and Football Monthly'.

The winter of 1962-63 was the worst in living memory and City didn't play a game between Boxing Day and the last week in February. Game after game was called off because of snowbound or icy pitches as the country virtually ground to a halt. The FA Cup third round tie at Lincoln, scheduled for the first weekend of January was eventually played in March after 16 postponements because of snow or ice and this pattern was repeated all over the country.

At the end of January after the coming Saturday’s game at Shrewsbury was postponed, Jimmy Hill grasped the nettle. A call to Manchester United’s manager Matt Busby resulted in a hastily arranged friendly in Dublin. Hill always seeking publicity for the club, had realised that Ireland was far less badly hit by the weather and using his contacts in the Fair isle organised this tasty friendly. Hill had first tried Joe Mercer at Aston Villa but Joe’s players were worried about getting injured. Busby however was more adventurous and, like Hill, was desperate for his team to get some competitive play, and duly put out his strongest team including his expensive forward line of : Johnny Giles, Albert Quixall, David Herd, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton.

City flew out of Birmingham's Elmdon Airport on the Friday and the following day, when only four games were played on the English mainland, City and United met at Shamrock Rovers’ Glenmalure Park in a game that belied the two division’s difference in status. With United’s stars rattled by City’s enthusiasm City recovered from an early Quixall goal to lead 2-1 at half-time with goals from Ronnie Farmer and Jimmy Whitehouse. With Willie Humphries and Ronnie Rees giving Shay Brennan and Noel Cantwell an uncomfortable afternoon and Brian Hill marking Law like a limpet, City had chances to increase their lead. Bobby Charlton finally saved United’s red faces nine minutes from time with an equaliser but Coventry City had made a major impression, and also a few bob from a 15,000 crowd.

                                                         Brian Hill

The following Saturday, again after another early postponement (a home game with Port Vale) City flew to Cork to play Wolves in a friendly. Whilst not the force they had been in the late 1950s, Wolves were in the top six in Division One (higher than Manchester United) and fielded experienced internationals Ron Flowers and Peter Broadbent. On a miserably wet day, the muddy pitch suited Wolves’ style perfectly and although City had chances in the first half, Wolves’ strength and experience told and they ran out 3-0 winners in front of a drowned crowd of 6,500.

Pat wanted to know the Sky Blues' line up on that Saturday in Dublin. They lined up as follows: Bob Wesson: John Sillett, Mick Kearns, Brian Hill, George Curtis, Ronnie Farmer, Willie Humphries, Ken Hale, Terry Bly, Jimmy Whitehouse, Ronnie Rees.

Dave Long found my attendance statistics last week very interesting and wanted to know when City had last had more than 15,000 for a night league game before the Walsall game, other than the famous Gillingham game last season. The Walsall crowd was 15,671 and was the largest night crowd, apart from Gillingham, since City were relegated from the Championship in 2012. That season they entertained Leeds in February and the attendance was 15,704 but there were over 3,200 Leeds fans at the game, which City won 2-1 with two Gary McSheffrey goals. You have to go back a further two years, to March 2010 for the previous largest crowd of City fans. City lost 1-2 to Cardiff in front of 16,038 and there were over 15,000 Coventry supporters present. Saturday's crowd of 17,140 takes the average for the season to 13,461, a 44% increase over last season's final average. Let's hope the two results last week were a minor blip and that the higher gates are maintained.

The long unbeaten home run came to an end last Saturday against Burton. The Brewers were the first side to win a league game at the Ricoh since last April when Crewe lowered the colours – a run of 13 without loss. It was the best run from the start of a season since 1955 when City's Third Division South side under the management of Jesse Carver (until New Years Eve) and then George Raynor, remained unbeaten in 15 home games before losing 1-0 to Northampton on the 18^th February. This season's run did set a new record for City at the Ricoh, topping the 12-game run under Micky Adams in 2005-06 and was the best unbeaten home run since a 15-game run without loss under Gordon Milne between March 1978 and February 1979. I heard some fans moaning after the Burton loss but it is worth remembering the woeful home form of last season when between September and the season's end the team won only three home games out of 18. No wonder our crowds slumped to under 7,000.

Jim's column 28.11.15

Last Saturday was a day that will be remembered by Coventry City fans for many a year. For their team to score four goals in a game is a rare enough event (it was only the sixth time in ten seasons since the move from Highfield Road) but to score four in ten minutes left City's long-suffering fans open-mouthed in disbelief. For people like me that follow the club's history and stats, it was a dream day. I don't apologise for focusing this week on some of the records that Tony Mowbray's men are setting.

City's goals were officially recorded at: 33m 59s, 36m 11s, 40m 06s and 43m 12s. I had to scour the record books to find the last time a City team scored four as quickly in a competitive game. I had to go back almost 60 years, to September 1956 in a home game with QPR in Division 3 South. With 13 minutes remaining the score stood at 1-1 then City went mad with goals from Pat Woods (77mins (own goal)), Ken McPherson (81 & 85 mins) and Dennis Churms (83 mins) to make the final score 5-1. That was four goals in eight minutes. The only other quickest salvo of goals in the post-war period came in a 6-0 home win over Newport County in a 2^nd Division game in January 1947 when Ted Roberts, George Ashall and George Lowrie (2) scored four goals in 10 minutes between the 59^th and 69^th minutes. Pre-war goal-times are notoriously suspect but there may have been a faster four goals than eight minutes. I did discover a friendly game at Nuneaton in 1967 when City scored four in seven minutes in a 7-3 victory with John Tudor netting all four.

Moving on to Jacob Murphy's hat-trick – only the second by a City player since the move from Highfield Road (Freddy Eastwood scored the other against Peterborough in 2009), which was timed at 10 minutes. The question on Saturday evening was, was it the fastest hat-trick ever by a City player. I quickly ascertained that it was the fastest in the post-war era, beating Peter Hill's 15-minute spree in a 3-0 home victory over Leyton Orient in September 1952. Fellow historian Mike Young helped me out with the pre-war years and identified some spectacular feats. In 1928 a gentleman called Walter Johnstone  scored three in nine minutes in a 6-1 home win over Merthyr Town in Division Three South. Johnstone, signed from Falkirk in 1927, played only 31 games for the club, scoring 12 goals in total. Two weeks after his quickfire hat-trick he signed for Walsall but played only three games for the Saddlers before returning to Scotland where he fell off the radar. That  feat was equalled in 1933 by Billy Lake who scored three in nine minutes in a 7-0 thrashing of QPR. And five years later, Lake was at it again, hitting three goals in 10 minutes in a 4-1 win at Luton..

                                                     Billy Lake                       

I thought the legendary Clarrie Bourton, who netted six hat-tricks in 1931-32 alone, might have scored a faster one but his quickest was in a 6-1 home win over Bournemouth in his momentous season. He scored three of his five goals in 12 minutes!

Prior to Murphy, the last player to score a first half hat-trick was Kevin Gallacher against Nottingham Forest in that famous 5-4 League Cup victory in November 1990. The last in a league game was Willie Carr against West Brom in a 3-1 home win in August 1969.

On the question of goal times, Ellis Romero asked when did the Sky Blues last lead a game 4-0 at half-time. The answer is 2005 in that famous last game at Highfield Road against Derby. Goals from McSheffrey (2), Adebola & John, gave City a 4-0 half-time lead and John and Whing scored after the break with Derby scoring two in reply to make the final score 6-2.

The win over Gillingham which took City to the top of League One, was City's fourth successive league victory, something they had not done since December 2002. Then, with Gary McAllister in charge the team beat Stoke and Wolves (away) and Derby and Reading (home). Unfortunately the roof fell in and the side only won once in the next 21 league games and escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth. By coincidence the Sky Blues went top of the league exactly 50 years after going top of Division Two with a 1-0 win at Birmingham under Jimmy Hill.

The draw on Tuesday night at Bradford City extended City's unbeaten league run to ten games – the best run by a City team since 2001-02 when Roland Nilsson's managerial career commenced with an 11-game unbeaten run. That was the best unbeaten run since Jimmy Hill's Division Two championship team of 1966-67 went 25 games unbeaten – a feat never likely to be repeated. After a defeat at Huddersfield on 19^th November 1966 the Sky Blues did not lose another game. Jimmy Hill's team of 1962-63 went 15 unbeaten in the league, and 22 unbeaten including Cup games whilst before the war, Harry Storer's side started the 1937-38 season with a 15-game run without loss and two wins at the end of the previous season meant it was a run of 17 unbeaten in total.

Jim's column 5.1.2013

Happy New Year to all my readers. Here’s hoping the Sky Blues’ recent form continues into 2013 and that the skies over Coventry are brighter than in the last few years.

Before Christmas I commented on City’s amazing away form and that continued over the Christmas programme and City have now won six consecutive away league games – smashing the four game record run set in 1963 and equalled in 1992 and 2004. The wins over Stevenage and MK Dons were especially satisfying in that in both games the team came from behind to win – for the first time in away games since September 2009 at Watford. That night City won 3-2 thanks to a late Leon Best goal. At Milton Keynes they twice came from behind to win – something unheard of since an opening day Premiership victory over Chelsea in 1997!

The away form is a fitting reward to the Sky Blue Army who follow City away and have had to put up with some dire away form in the last three seasons. City’s away followings are 40% higher this season with an average of over 1200 following the massive turnout of 4,988 at MK – the highest away league following since the Villa Park funeral in 2001.  Before this season the long-suffering Sky Blue Army had seen just 16 away league wins in four seasons (92 games) and to date this season they have witnessed seven wins out of 13 plus two cup wins and seen just one defeat (at Brentford) since Mark Robins arrived in October.

Sadly the home form still gives cause for concern and Shrewsbury provided the banana skin on New Years Day, completing an unlikely double with their first away win of the season and their first ever victory in Coventry not to mention ending a 10-game unbeaten run – the best by a City side for ten years. The Shrews had previously drawn four and lost eight of their games at Highfield Road, including a 8-1 hammering in October 1963 – the last time City scored more than six in a league game. City’s home league form is very poor with only three wins in 13 games and a big improvement will be necessary if a serious play-off challenge is going to be made.

Another record went west on New Years Day; the Sky Blues had scored in 24 consecutive league and cup games and were heading for the club record of 29 set in the 1966-67 promotion season. The run was however the second best of all-time.

People have been asking if promotion is a realistic option this season and I have looked at the last ten season’s statistics for League One. To finish in the top two automatic places has historically required 83 or more points. On two occasions in those ten years the second placed team required less (77 in 2005-06 and 80 in 2004-05) but last season, in a steel city scramble, Sheffield Wednesday needed 91 to pip the Blades into second place. To reach 85 points say, City would require 48 points from their remaining 20 games or 15 wins, 3 draws and 2 defeats. That, to me, sounds a tall order. A more realistic challenge would be for a top six place to go into the play-offs. In the last ten years 71 points has been sufficient to get sixth place on four occasions but in 2003 you needed 81 points and in 2010 80 points. The average to clinch a top six place seems to be around 75 points and City would need a further 38 points from 20 games or 11 wins and five draws. A top six place would require a mammoth effort from Mark Robins’ team.

Thanks to fellow City historian Lionel Bird for his assistance over the question of the nickname ‘Oysters’ used in the original Sky Blue Song. I was under the impression that the Oysters was an old nickname for Colchester United which had been superceded by the nickname the Us. But it turns out that an earlier amateur club in the town, Colchester Town formed in October 1873, had the nickname the Oysters and were the original tenants of Layer Road.  Town folded in December 1937 but for a short time had co-existed with Colchester United who were formed in March 1937 and adopted the nickname the Us from the very beginning.  It appears that both clubs were independent of each other with United never being referred to as the Oysters.  The mystery now is that when the words to the Sky Blue song were penned by Messrs Hill and Camkin in 1962 were they mistaken about the nickname of Colchester United or did they just prefer Oysters to the Us?

Jim's column 7.4.12

             1928: Sid Kimpton (left) alongside Jimmy McIntyre (manager) and Arthur Waters (assistant trainer)

Finally at the 20^th time of asking the Sky Blues notched their first away win of the season at Hull City’s KC Stadium last week. Not only does the victory mean the team won’t have the ignominy of going through a whole season without an away win, and emulating the 1999-2000 side, but it greatly improves the chances of the club remaining in the Championship. There is still much work to be done before safety is assured but two successive wins following four draws means the Sky Blues are the form side at the foot of the table.

The six game unbeaten run might only have been worth 10 points but is the longest unbeaten run by a City side for five years. In 2007 Ian Dowie’s arrival as manager sparked a six game unbeaten run with home wins over Southampton, Hull, Wolves and Barnsley and away draws at Norwich and Colchester. The last time the club had a longer unbeaten run was the autumn of 2003 (in the reign of Gary McAllister) when they drew seven and won one in an eight-game run.

I had to check out how the 20 game winless run compared against the club records and it was two short of the modern day record set between April 1999 and August 2000 which covered the whole of the 1999-2000 season. When you go back further however there was some way to go to break the all-time club record of 28 set in 1924-25. The worst ever runs are as follows:

28                Between 2 Jan 1924 and 4 April 1925 (most of the 24-25 relegation season and half the previous season)

25                Between 23 Oct 1954 and 17 Dec 1955.

22                Between 3 Oct 1931 and 5 Nov 1932 (at a time when Clarrie Bourton was breaking all the scoring records)

22                Between 3 April 1999 and 23 Aug 2000 (during the ‘Entertainers’ era of Keane and Hadji)

At the last Diamond Club lunch Gary Clifford asked if I could through some light on the former City trainer from the late 1920s Sid Kimpton who he believed coached the French national side.

Born in 1887, Sid was christened Gabriel Sibley Kimpton but was also known as ‘George’and came from the Watford area. A tall inside-forward, he played all his football for Southampton in the Southern League, making his debut in 1910 and making almost 150 appearances before the First World War as well as many wartime games. Saints’ manager at the time was Jimmy McIntyre who later became Coventry manager and a close friendship developed. After the war Sid was re-signed by Saints but at the age of 33 his playing career was coming to an end.

His coaching career started on the continent and he coached the now defunct DFC

Prague, Polonia Warsaw and KS Cracovia. There was also a spell in Russia where according to Mike Young he was once falsely arrested with his wife in Germany having arrived from Russia for 'smuggling' a box of chocolates after coaching a 'top Moscow club'.

He arrived at Highfield Road in 1928 and worked under manager Jimmy McIntyre but with little success. He left Coventry in the early 1930s, probably after Harry Storer replaced McIntyre in 1931 and in 1934 turned up in France. After taking  coaching sessions for the French FA he was asked to help coach the French national team in that summer’s World Cup in Italy under senior coach Gaston Barreau. Although France were eliminated in the First Round they gave the tournament favourites, Austria, a major shock only losing after extra-time. Kimpton was feted by the French press but went back to his coaching lessons in Paris at the same time becoming the manager of leading club Racing Club Paris, leading them to the French league title in 1936 and to the Coupe de France in 1936 and 1939. In the summer of 1939 he joined Rouen but soon after the start of the war he was imprisoned as a POW and spent several years in a camp near Paris.

After the war he rejoined Rouen and helped them to win the last War championship before joining AS Cherbourg. He spent his later years back in England and died at Leavesden near Watford in 1968.

The picture was taken at Highfield Road around 1928 and shows Kimpton, McIntyre and according to Mike Young, assistant trainer Arthur Waters.