Jim's Column 24.3.12

                           Terry Yorath receiving his 200th member shirt from Jim Brown

Finally the Sky Blues ended their wretched run of away defeats stretching back to the end of October and narrowly avoiding the club’s all-time record, set in 1926 (ten in 1925-26 and one in 1926-27). The 0-0 draw at Watford’s Vicarage Road was the first away point since the  1-1 draw at Doncaster and the first clean sheet away from home of the season. The run of ten defeats did however equal the club’s worst run in a season set in 1925-26 and equalled in 1929-30.

Whilst most City fans would have taken a point at 3pm on Saturday, Cody McDonald’s late misses and Nathan Cameron’s disallowed effort meant that many went home feeling it was two points dropped. It somehow felt different on Wesdnesday night at Cardiff when Ollie Norwood’s late, late effort made it seem like a victory. It was the first time City have scored more than one goal in an away game and the first time they have come from behind twice to get a point since April 2005. Wolves were the visitors to Highfield Road and led twice before a late Stern John goal made it 2-2.

What a topsy-turvy division this is. On Tuesday night this point was illustrated by two results that were barely believable. Pompey’s 4-1 win over Blues was a big enough shock but Forest scoring seven at Elland Road was the shock score of the season. In 80 minutes at Leeds, Forest scored as many goals as the Sky Blues had managed in 18 games on their travels. If Neil Warnock hadn’t have been just appointed he would have been sacked on Wednesday morning!

7-3 sounds more like a Rugby score than a football result and I checked the record books for previous instances of that scoreline. Since the League started in 1888 only 14 teams have won away by that score, the last time being in 1993-94 when Colchester won at Darlington. City are one of the select 14. In December 1933 at Gillingham with Clarrie Bourton injured his replacement Arthur ‘Rasher’ Bacon netted five goals in City’s 7-3 victory. Bacon had only made his debut earlier that month and was playing only his sixth first team game. He had failed to score in his first two games then netted five in next three games before the trip to Gillingham. A week after his amazing feat he netted another four goals as Crystal Palace were defeated 5-1making it fourteen goals in five games! Once the great Clarrie was fit again Bacon went back to the reserves and played just two more league games over the next two seasons. Bacon and Bourton remain the only City players ever to score five goals in a League game (Cyrille Regis did it in a League Cup tie) but prior to joining City Arthur had scored six in a game for Reading, a club record that still stands today.

Today is the sixth annual Coventry City Legends Day at The Ricoh Arena and over 50 former players will be attending. Please give the club’s legends a great reception when they do their customary half-time parade.

We have managed to keep the mystery guest a secret and he will be unveiled during the half-time parade. He is the Association’s 200^th member and in his playing days was a very popular player in a relatively successful period.(it was Terry Yorath)

All supporters are invited to the G-Casino after the match where the Legends will be signing autographs and chatting with fans, with Billy Bell introducing them on stage in Lady Gs. It promises to be a memorable day.

Jim's column 17.3.12

I must learn to keep quiet about stats at City’s games. With an hour gone last week against Birmingham City I leaned forward to tell Dave Long that statistics didn’t support the view that former players always scored against the Sky Blues. Ten minutes later, bang, and Marlon King had equalised for the Blues.

A couple of years when Stern John scored for Ipswich against us I made the point that it was his first goal in six appearances against City since he had left in 2007 and that there had been only four other former City players who had scored against us in the last five seasons: Dele Adebola, Jay Bothroyd, Andy Morrell and Calum Davenport. 

The famous football writer Brian Glanville calls it the Immutable Law of the Ex, that is a player scoring against his former club. It is the first such occurrence against City this season but last season three old boys (John Eustace (Watford) and Bothroyd and Craig Bellamy (Cardiff)) somewhat wrecked my theory.

By my reckoning nine ex-City outfield players have not scored against us this season: Matt Mills, John Eustace, Jay Tabb, Zavon Hines, Danny Fox, Jack Cork, Ben Turner, Aron Gunnarrson and Jon Stead, and several of those have played against us twice. However I won’t be betting against Ben and Gunner not finding the net when we travel to Cardiff on Wednesday night.

One statistic I will mention today in the hope that it will end the jinx is the terrible run of away defeats. Defeat today at Watford will be the 11^th in a row and will equal the club’s worst run ever in the Football League. Between January and September 1926 the team recorded the following results:-

Jan	23	1926	a	Doncaster R	L	1-8
Jan	30	1926	h	Wrexham	W	2-0
Feb	6	1926	a	Halifax T	L	0-1
Feb	13	1926	a	Nelson	L	1-4
Feb	27	1926	h	Accrington S	W	2-1
Mar	6	1926	a	Durham C	L	1-4
Mar	13	1926	h	Grimsby T	D	1-1
Mar	17	1926	a	Chesterfield	L	3-4
Mar	20	1926	a	Rotherham U	L	1-2
Mar	27	1926	h	Tranmere R	L	1-2
Apr	2	1926	a	New Brighton	L	1-5
Apr	3	1926	a	Walsall	L	1-4
Apr	5	1926	h	Ashington	W	2-0
Apr	6	1926	h	New Brighton	D	0-0
Apr	10	1926	h	Chesterfield	L	2-4
Apr	17	1926	a	Bradford PA	L	0-3
Apr	24	1926	h	Hartlepools U	W	5-2
May	1	1926	a	Rochdale	L	1-4
Aug	28	1926	h	Northampton	L	0-3
Sep	1	1926	a	Watford	L	0-1

In 1925-26 season the team played in Division Three North and then, in the summer of 1926, switched to Division Three South. By coincidence the 11^th and final game was at Watford where the Sky Blues travel today.

That run ended a few days later with a 1-1 draw at QPR but was then followed by a further seven away defeats! Please don’t let history repeat itself.

At least in 1926 the team scored 10 goals in their eleven defeats. The current run has seen the Sky Blues net only three goals: Gary Gardner at Brighton, Lukas Jutkiewicz at Portsmouth and Conor Thomas at Blackpool. City have scored only seven away goals all season, the worst in all divisions, and are heading to break the club record low of nine, set in 1999-2000, the only other occasion that the team have failed to win a single away game. That season however we only played 19 away games.

Next Saturday is Coventry City Legends Day at The Ricoh Arena and at the time of going to press the Former Players Association have received 50 acceptances from former players. It is the sixth year that the event has been held and the FPA committee hope that the fans will give the club’s legends a great reception when they do their customary half-time parade.

At this year’s event there is a mystery guest. The Association have recently signed their 200^th member and it is one of the club’s top players from the last 50 years who has not been to a City game for many years. His identity will not be unveiled until next Saturday but believe me he is a BIG name.

All of the legends will be in the 1883 restaurant before the game and in the G-Casino after the match, signing autographs and chatting with supporters, with Billy Bell introducing them on stage in Lady Gs. It promises to be a memorable day.

Jim's column 25.2.12

                                                                   Harry Hart

I have to report the sad news that former Coventry City player Harry Hart who played briefly for Coventry City in the early 1950s passed away on 11 February in Morecambe aged 85.

Harry was born in Sheffield and started his professional career with Rotherham United. He was spotted whilst playing for Woodthorpe Youth Club. As a 16 year old, he played for Rotherham Reserves against Gainsborough Trinity and Neil Franklin (later to be one of the best England centre-halves of all-time) was one of the guest players for Gainsborough!

Harry Storer brought the inside-forward to Coventry in 1950 but competition for places was tough and Harry managed only ten first team games in his two seasons at Highfield Road. His debut was in a 2-1 win at Grimsby in March 1951 and he scored his only goal in the final game of that season in a 1-1 draw at Luton. His final game was in that home game with West Ham in February 1952 which I featured a couple of weeks ago, when a minute’s silence was observed for the late King George VI.

During his time at City he was a regular for the reserves and on 29 December 1951 at Filbert Street he scored a goal and was sent off in the 3-2 defeat. Harry had lost his hair by the time he was 19 and therefore looked older than he was. He complained that, because referees assumed he was older, they thought he should know better and sent him off!

 He joined Grimsby in 1952, and played under the legendary Bill Shankly. Later whilst still living in Nuneaton, he played non-league for Frickley Colliery and Stocksbridge Works. Post football, he worked at Dunlop and then Massey Ferguson on the furnaces (for 16 years). The likes of Reg Matthews, Dick Mason and Alf Wood were there with him. 

One of Harry’s former teammates at City, Lol Harvey, told me a story about Harry. After one home defeat at Highfield Road Storer came into the dressing room and grabbed Hart by his football shirt collar and marched him out on to a mud heap of a pitch. When they got to the centre circle Storer turned to Hart and said, ‘Come on then Harry, show me the hole you’ve been hiding in all afternoon!’

 

Predictably the Sky Blues lost at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground last week to make it nine consecutive away defeats and equals the club’s post war record set in 1984 and repeated in 1999-2000. In the latter season the team had an excellent home record with Robbie Keane, Gary McAllister and the Moroccans, Hadji and Chippo, in top form. Away from Highfield Road it was a different story however and although they drew seven of the first 10 trips they fell away badly and even lost on the final day against already relegated Watford. The run was ended in the first away trip of the following season with a 2-1 win at Southampton and followed up with a similar scoreline at Maine Road four days later. Ironically the team ended up suffering relegation that season.

Feb	5	2000	a	Man. Utd.	L	2-3
Feb	12	2000	h	Sunderland	W	3-2
Feb	19	2000	a	Middlesbro	L	0-2
Feb	26	2000	h	Tottenham H	L	0-1
Mar	5	2000	a	Leeds U	L	0-3
Mar	11	2000	a	Aston Villa	L	0-1
Mar	15	2000	h	Everton	W	1-0
Mar	18	2000	h	Bradford City	W	4-0
Mar	26	2000	a	Arsenal	L	0-3
Apr	1	2000	h	Liverpool	L	0-3
Apr	12	2000	a	Chelsea	L	1-2
Apr	15	2000	h	Middlesbro	W	2-1
Apr	22	2000	a	West Ham U	L	0-5
Apr	29	2000	a	Newcastle U	L	0-2
May	6	2000	h	Sheff. Wed.	W	4-1
May	14	2000	a	Watford	L	0-1

In 1984 Bobby Gould’s early impact as manager had faded and the club were hurtling down the table. Defeats at Loftus Road and Meadow Lane were unlucky but thumpings at Old Trafford, the Dell and Anfield ensured the Sky Blues went into their final game with Norwich needing a win to avoid the drop. Thankfully the game was at home and City scraped home 2-1. The poor away form extended into the following season with the run not ending until a 0-0 draw at Sunderland.

Mar	10	1984	a	QPR	L	1-2
Mar	13	1984	h	Aston Villa	D	3-3
Mar	17	1984	a	Notts Co.	L	1-2
Mar	24	1984	h	Tottenham H	L	2-4
Mar	31	1984	h	Arsenal	L	1-4
Apr	7	1984	a	Aston Villa	L	0-2
Apr	14	1984	h	Wolves	W	2-1
Apr	17	1984	h	Nottm Forest	W	2-1
Apr	21	1984	a	Man. Utd.	L	1-4
Apr	28	1984	a	Southampton	L	2-8
May	5	1984	h	Luton T	D	2-2
May	7	1984	a	Liverpool	L	0-5
May	12	1984	h	Norwich C	W	2-1
Aug	25	1984	a	Aston Villa	L	0-1
Aug	28	1984	h	Norwich C	D	0-0
Sep	1	1984	h	Leicester C	W	2-0
Sep	4	1984	a	West Ham U	L	1-3
Sep	8	1984	a	Everton	L	1-2

Defeat at Leicester a week today will take the run of losses to 10, the worst since 1929-30, and one short of the club’s all-time record of 11, in 1926.