A tribute to Cyrille Regis

Cyrille Regis

9.2.1958 – 15.1.2018

If George Curtis was the Sky Blue player of the 60s and Tommy Hutchison the player of the 70s, then Cyrille Regis was a strong contender for the City player of the 1980s. Cyrille was a talismatic centre-forward who was adored by Coventry City fans of all ages during his seven years at Highfield Road and was a key player in the Sky Blues' 1987 FA Cup triumph. His death this week at just three weeks short of his 60th birthday has shocked the football world but especially the fans of his two favourite clubs, West Bromwich Albion and Coventry City.

Strong, quick and direct, Cyrille had an excellent first touch and a habit of scoring spectacular goals, powerfully running at defences before unleashing thunderous shots from either foot. He had a strong aerial presence too and many of his goals were headers. He was a true centre-forward who led the line with passion and bravery prepared to take a battering from a tough defender as well as the vile racial abuse from the terraces.

Born in Maripasoula in French Guiana, Cyrille's family moved to the UK in the early 1960s and he grew up in West London, not far from Wembley Stadium. West Brom spotted him playing for non-league Hayes and at the age of 19 he moved to the Hawthorns for a £5,000 fee. He made an instant impact, scoring twice on his debut in a League Cup tie with Rotherham and four days later, like something out of Roy of the Rovers, he scored against Middlesbrough on his league debut. Within a short space of time he become a fixture in an Albion side that included two other outstanding young black players, Laurie Cunningham and Brendan Batson.

Eighteen goals that season and the same number the following season when, with Ron Atkinson in charge, the Baggies finished third in Division One saw Cyrille gain international recognition. In his seven years at the Hawthorns he built a formidable reputation as a goalscorer winning four England caps and narrowly missed going to the 1982 World Cup finals. The Sky Blues crossed paths with Big C several times in that period and two games are not fondly remembered by City fans. In October 1978 Atkinson's rampaging Albion side took a more than useful City team apart at the Hawthorns, winning 7-1 with Cyrille scoring twice. Then, in 1982, Dave Sexton's young City side travelled to the Hawthorns for an FA Cup sixth round tie and Cyrille scored the first goal - one of his screamers – in the 2-0 win. That year he was voted second in the PFA Player of the Year award behind Kevin Keegan. His haul of five England caps was poor reward for years of brilliance and he would have won more but for the outstanding form of Trevor Francis and Paul Mariner and later Gary Lineker, and if he had played for more fashionable clubs.

Cyrille admitted in his autobiography that the years 1983-86 were spent in the wilderness. He lost form in a struggling Albion side, had off the pitch problems and his career had stalled when City manager Bobby Gould paid £250,000 for him in October 1984. His first two seasons at Coventry were disappointing as first Gould, and then Don Mackay used him as target man and his goal return was poor. He almost joined Bordeaux in 1985 and under Mackay there were stories that City were trying to unload him for £40,000. In his first season City had to win their last three games to avoid relegation and in the final game he finally came good, scoring twice (a powerful header and a scrambled effort). There were always glimpses of the old Cyrille , for example he equalled the club's individual scoring record by netting five goals in a League Cup game with Chester. After John and George took over in 1986 Sillett insisted they played to Cyrille's strengths – playing on the deck and getting him to hold the ball up and play off and around him. Immediately City looked a different proposition, the successful partnership with Dave Bennett was formed and the club enjoyed their best season for a long time. Cyrille netted 16 goals including a memorable 90th minute winner against Tottenham in a 4-3 thriller at Christmas but this was only the prelude to a memorable FA Cup run.

Cyrille described City’s 1987 FA Cup win as the greatest football day of his career and his role in that famous team was vital. He scored in the 3-0 win over Bolton in round three and then in the sixth round he set City on the way to a famous victory by scoring at the Kop end against Sheffield Wedneday at Hillsborough. Lloyd McGrath and Dave Bennett did the spade work in the centre circle and a one-two with Benno saw Cyrille take off like a greyhound with the Wednesday defence trailing in his wake. As Martin Hodge the Owls goalkeeper came out Cyrille, from the edge of the penalty area, let fly and the ball rocketed into the net.

His form that season was so good that he was recalled to the England squad and gained the last of his five full caps. Critics said he did not score enough goals but he made many for others purely with his physical presence and the fear he induced into defenders. Whilst John Sillett was in charge Cyrille was guaranteed a place and his post playing career seemed assured when John gave him and Trevor Peake coaching roles. However in 1990 when Sillett was sacked the new manager Terry Butcher wanted change. Several of the '87 boys were let go and in May 1991, to the surprise and disappointment of the fans, Cyrille was given a free transfer, a decision which turned out to be premature.

Ron Atkinson, by now in charge at Aston Villa, realised that Cyrille had more to offer and signed him. The move gave him a new lease of life and he was a first team regular. Then in May 1992 Cyrille scored a goal against City at Villa Park that, but for Notts County’s late winner, would have sent his old club down. After two years at Villa he joined Wolves on a free transfer and later played briefly for Wycombe Wanderers and Chester. He then took up a coaching role at West Brom but quickly recognised that coaching wasn't for him and moved to become a very successful player’s agent. In this role he mentored some big names in the game, passing on sensible advice to young players making their way in the game. In 2008 he was awarded the MBE for his services to the game and for his voluntary work.

The firm bonds of friendship and camaraderie between the players and management that helped carry the team to success in 1987 are as strong as ever and they met regularly. Their next get together will have a sombre atmosphere.

When the Former Players Association was formed eleven years ago Cyrille was one of the first to join, enthusiastic about meeting up with former colleagues, and he has been a great supporter attending most Legends Days. I often bumped into him in the Legends Lounge and was always struck by his warmth and kindness and his special presence. He never said a bad word about anyone and would engage positively with everyone he came into contact with. When he started talking, quietly mostly, about the game and players he was compelling and you hung on his every word. For his young clients his words and wise advice must have been invaluable and inspiring. Since becoming a born-again Christian following the tragic death of Laurie Cunningham in 1989, religion had played an important role in his life.

There were no signs of impending health problems when I last saw him in the autumn, in fact he looked fitter than most men half his age and that makes the news of his death all the more shocking. City fans will mourn him today but at the same time celebrate the passing of a great footballer and a great man. In Latin Regis means 'of the king' and Cyrille lived up to his surname on and off the field. To Coventry City fans he will always be a true King.

Jim Brown

Jim's column 13.1.2018

What a remarkable day last Saturday. I, along with many Sky Blue fans, gave City little chance of beating Premiership Stoke City even with the Potters lack of form. Over ninety enthralling minutes however the team thoroughly deserved a famous victory and a place in the Fourth Round for only the third time in nine years.

Since the club reached the sixth round and faced Chelsea in 2009 the Sky Blues reached the fourth round in 2011 (losing to Birmingham) and 2014 (losing to Arsenal). Let's hope it's third time lucky for the fifth round at Milton Keynes where it will be the first ever FA Cup meeting between the clubs.

Saturday was the club's first victory over a team from a higher division since Steven Pressley's side won at Championship side Barnsley in 2014. It's a welcome relief after being knocked out by teams from lower status in last three seasons. Worcester City, Northampton and Cambridge United have all left egg on City's faces in the last three years.

In the 93 seasons that City have played in the FA Cup since joining the Football League they have now faced 30 clubs from a higher division – obviously in the 34 years between 1967-2001 when the club were in the top flight they couldn't play a team from a higher division. In those 30 meetings they have progressed on seven occasions:

1937 v Charlton Athletic – City, then a Division Two side beat Division One leaders Charlton 2-0 at Highfield Road.

1963 v Portsmouth – Division Three City beat Second Division Pompey in a second replay at White Hart Lane after two draws.

1963 v Sunderland – Sunderland were Division Two leaders when City made it to the Sixth Round triumphing 2-1.

2008 v Blackburn – Ian Dowie's Championship side dumped First Division Blackburn out, winning 4-1 at Ewood Park. (Mark Hughes was Blackburn manager that day).

2009 v Blackburn – Chris Coleman's side repeated the Blackburn result, winning 1-0 in a Ricoh replay after a draw at Ewood.

2014 v Barnsley – Steven Pressley's League One side progressed at the expense of bottom of the Championship side Barnsley, winning 2-1 at Oakwell.

2018 v Stoke City – 53 places (a club record) separated City & the Potters but anyone landing from Mars would have found it hard to identify the Premiership team.

City had a wonderful FA Cup tradition in the early part of the 20th century before they joined the Football League. In 1908 as a Birmingham League side they reached the equivalent of the Third Round and two years later, now in the Southern League, they defeated First Division Preston and Nottingham Forest to reach the quarter-final where they lost to another top flight club Everton in front of a record 19,000 crowd. They caused another upset the following season by winning at First Division Sheffield Wednesday.

Saturday's attendance of 14,199 was City's largest home crowd in the competition since that famous day against Chelsea in 2009 when 31,407 watched the Londoners win 2-0. Since then City had had eleven home games and the biggest crowd in that time until Saturday was the 9,000 who watched the Sky Blues lose 2-1 to Southampton in 2012. It was also the club's biggest gate for almost two years – since 17,140 watched the league defeat to Burton Albion in January 2016.

Jim's column 6.1.2018

In October 1936 Coventry City paid Wolves a club record £3,000 for Jackie Brown. City, newly promoted to Division Two, had lost their star right-winger George McNestry with a bad ankle injury and manager Harry Storer persuaded the directors to sign as his replacement the 21-year old Irish international who was struggling to hold a regular place at Molineux. Brown quickly became a massive favourite with the Highfield Road fans and topped the goalscoring lists with 13 goals in both 1936-37 and 1937-38 as City almost reached the First Division for the first time. However, in September 1938, he was abruptly sold to Birmingham for £3,000 and at the time it was reported in the local press that he had been involved in 'an unsavoury incident at a local ballroom'. City historians, including myself, have always assumed a salacious story, possibly involving a female, behind his sudden departure. Brown played for Blues up until the outbreak of war the following year and after the war he played for Barry Town and Ipswich before retiring in 1951.

                    City in 1937 with Brown third from left on second row, two to the left of Storer.                    

A new book published at the end of last year throws more light on Jackie (or as his family called him, Johnny) Brown. The author, Michael Walker, the great nephew of Brown, has done extensive research into his relative and has discovered a possible reason for his sudden move. Early in September 1938 the Midland Daily Telegraph (the fore-runner of this newspaper) reported on disturbances in Coventry city centre. There were headlines such as: '300 Irishmen in Street Fight'; 'Fierce Clash of Coventry Gangs'. It said trouble had occurred outside 'a dance hall' in Ford Street and it was not the first of its kind. The author leaves the question of Brown's departure open but it is a fascinating theory. Did the club unload Brown because of his involvement in the trouble? Another interesting coincidence is that in 1946 with football beginning to re-organise itself following the hostilities, Birmingham, who had retained Brown through the course of the war, made the winger available for transfer and he signed for Southern League Barry Town. The Blues manager responsible for the decision was – Harry Storer, the man who had bought and sold him for City.

The book, entitled 'Green Shoots', is the inside story of Irish football and blends original research, travel writing and interviews with many of the significant characters in Irish football, both north and south of the border. There are wonderful vignettes on numerous famous and not so famous Irish footballers. The piece on Peter Doherty, until George Best the best Irish footballer of all time, who later managed Northern Ireland to the quarter-finals of the 1958 World Cup, is delightful. The lesser-known Alan McLoughlin's story is equally intriguing. Born in Manchester to an Irish mother, McLoughlin received two letters in the same post delivery, one from the FA telling him he had been selected for England 'B' to play Ireland 'B', the other from the Irish FA telling him he had been picked for Ireland 'B' to play England 'B'. Alan had to choose which country's invitation to take up. There are many other fascinating stories

I thoroughly recommend this excellent book about Irish football which is thoroughly researched, passionate and funny.

The Sky Blues had an excellent holiday period with three wins out of four which lifted them into third place in League Two following the New Years Day game. It may be a surprise to discover that it is the highest league position that the club has been on New Years Day since 1967 when, of course, the team won promotion to Division One. It is one place higher than Tony Mowbray's side were placed two years ago following a 5-0 win at Crewe. Mowbray's team had been higher (up to first in November 2015) but went downhill after the Crewe game.

Today the Sky Blues are in FA Cup Third round action for the first time since 2014. They face higher status opposition, in the form of Stoke City, for the first time since they travelled to the Emirates Stadium and lost 4-0 to Arsenal in 2014. Since they were relegated from the Premier League in 2001 they have faced higher status opposition on eleven occasions and progressed just three times: Blackburn (twice, in 2008 & 2009) and Barnsley (2014), although they did take Middlesbrough (2006) and Portsmouth (2010) to replays. There are however three divisions between City and Stoke and a Sky Blue victory today would qualify as the club's biggest ever shock result – bigger than in 1910 when City, then a Southern League club, knocked First Division Preston and Nottingham Forest out of the competition on their way to the quarter-final. There are 53 places between City and the Potters and in those terms the biggest giant-killing act I can find was in 2008 when City won 4-1 at Premier League Blackburn when there were 28 places between the clubs. Blackburn's manager that Day was Mark Hughes.

Jim's Column 23.12.2017

Eighteen-year-old Tom Bayliss made a dramatic first league start for the Sky Blues last Saturday. Within two minutes of the kick-off he had netted his first goal for the club – the fastest goal by a City league starting debutant since 1956 when Ron Newman netted in the first minute of his debut against Southampton. Newman was a Welsh-born right-winger who joined City from Northampton Town in a straight swap for Charlie Dutton n March 1956 and went straight into the first team. His goal-time was not recorded in seconds but 'Nemo' in the Pink was clear it hit the net within the first minute. City beat the Saints 2-0 with Ken McPherson netting the second goal. Ron scored one other goal in six appearances before the end of the season, in a 4-1 home win over QPR. The following season he made only seven appearances and moved to Torquay United in July 1957 where he played just four games before moving into non-league circles with Bedford Town, Rugby Town and Rushden Town. He later coached Wellingborough Town and still lives in Northampton.

                                                             Ron Newman in 1955

Since then two players have scored faster debut goals as substitutes. Wayne Andrews scored 26 seconds after coming off the bench at Barnsley in 2006-07 and Laurent Delorge scored within a minute after coming on for his league debut at Sheffield United in 2001.

                                                   Wayne Andrews celebrates at Barnsley

Leicester-born Bayliss celebrated his 18th birthday on 6th April which made him 18 years and 254 days when he scored his first goal. However, that doesn't even put him in the top 10 youngest City goalscorers who are:-

1 Brian Hill v Gillingham 1957-58  16 years 273 days

2 Colin Holder v Shrewsbury 1960-61 17y 78d

3 Tom English v Bristol City 1979-80 17y 307d

4 James Maddison v Oldham (a) 2014-15 17y 332d

5 Willie Carr v Charlton 1967-68 18y 21d

6 Peter Hill v Preston 1949-50 18y 33d

7 Ellis Lager v Bournemouth 1935-36 18y 93d

8 Conor Thomas v Blackpool (a) 2011-12 18y 94d

9 Bobby Gould v Mansfield 1964-65 18y 124d

10 Steve Sedgley v Oldham 1986-87 18y 155d

Bayliss was born in April 1999 and the day is fast approaching when the club will field their first player born in the 21st century. Only Jordan Thompson, born two days after Bayliss, who made his bow in the Checkatrade Trophy game with West Brom as a substitute, was born after Tom.

Geoff Moore, who tracks stats on the players who have appeared at the Ricoh tells me that an opposition player born in the 21st century has already appeared – Walsall's Mitchell Candlin was born on 8th June 2000 and was only 16 when he played against the Sky Blues last April.

Geoff also tracks the nationalities to appear at the Ricoh and has advised me that two recent players were 'firsts'. One of Boreham Wood's substitutes in the recent FA Cup tie was Angelo Balanta, the first Colombian to appear at the stadium. Then, last Saturday, Cheltenham's impressive striker and goalscorer was Sudanese Mohamed Eisa. This takes the total of different nationalities to play at the Ricoh to 85.

We are also getting close to the 1000th player used by the club since they joined the Football League in 1919. That milestone will probably be reached next summer.

Jim's column 16.12.2017

I couldn't believe the small attendance at Coventry City's game at Morecambe last Saturday. Despite there being almost 700 City fans present, the gate of 1,773 was the lowest to watch City in an away league game since 1932 when 1,215 watched us play a Third Division South match at Thames AFC.

Since that grey January day in 1932 these are the ten smallest crowds:

1,773 v Morecambe 2017-18

2,077 v Wimbledon 2002-03
2,275 v Southport 1958-59

2,495 v Rochdale 2015-16

2,505 v Clapton Orient 1935-36

2,544 v Stevenage 2017-18
2,607 v Halifax 1961-62

2,611 v Bury 2016-17

2,791 v Northampton 1933-34

2,828 v Accrington 2017-18

Note: four of the smallest ten have occurred during 2017.

Many City fans will not have heard of Thames AFC before but they were a side formed in 1928 to play in the then new West Ham Stadium in the Custom House area of East London. The stadium was primarily used for greyhound racing and speedway and at the outset had a capacity of 120,000! Initially Thames were members of the Southern League but were voted into the league in 1930. Their stay in the league was

short and unhappy as the club failed to attract support. Despite the capacity of the stadium making it the largest ground in England to ever regularly host league football it holds the unenviable record of attracting the lowest Saturday crowd for a league game with only 469 turning up to watch them play Luton in December 1930. They finished 20th (out of 22) in 1930-31 and bottom the following season after which the club did not apply for re-election and was wound up.

The 1,215 who braved a cold East End day saw a thrilling game with Thames causing an upset by winning 5-2. Before the game Thames were bottom of the league and City were in seventh place, just three points behind second-placed Fulham, having scored 59 goals in 23 games. This was the season that Clarrie Bourton finished as the league's top scorer with 49 goals and he had already netted 30 including four hat-tricks. He fired blanks that day and Frank White and Jock Lauderdale scored City's goals as Thames won only their fourth game of the season and ended a run of five consecutive defeats. They would win only three further games and suffered shattering losses at Cardiff (9-2) and Fulham (8-0) and conceded 109 goals in total.

Ed Blackaby asked me a question about a friendly against Bayern Munich he remembers attending in 1998. He remembers Bayern winning 4-2 and they had German international goalkeeper Oliver Kahn and Brazilian Elber in their line up. Ed wants to know City's line up that night and any other details.

The game was played at Highfield Road on 27 January 1998 and City put up a good fight against their strong German opposition. City had a goalkeeping crisis with Steve Ogrizovic and Magnus Hedman injured and manager Gordon Strachan played Motherwell 'keeper Scott Howie as a guest player. City's line up was: Howie: Boateng, Breen, Hall, Salako: Telfer (sub Shilton 58), Gavin Strachan, Soltvedt, Whelan (sub Hamrouni 73): Dublin (sub Haworth 45), Moldovan.

Moldovan was making his first senior start after joining the club just before Christmas and the substitute El Hamrouni was a Tunisian on trial at the club.

Bayern lined up as follows: Oliver Kahn: Christian Nerlinger, Mehmet Scholl (sub Zickler 77), Thomas Strunz, Giovani Elber, Lothar Matthaus (sub Gerster 62), Bixente Lizarazu, Mario Basler, Thorsten Fink, Michael Tarnat, Carsten Jancker (sub Rizzitelli 77). Ten of the starting XI plus two of the subs were full internationals at the time.

Moldovan opened the scoring in the 9th minute before Scholl equalised on 19 minutes. Elber and Jancker made it 3-1 before half-time. Sub Simon Haworth made it 3-2 before Rizzitelli completed the scoring in the 84th minute to the delight of 140 visiting fans. The attendance was 8,409 and the game was beamed back to German TV where an estimated 3 million viewers watched the action.

Jim's column 9.12.2017

The Sky Blues travel north to play Morecambe today in the first of three league games with significant interest to City statisticians. The next three opponents are playing City in a league game for the first time. Morecambe today is followed next Saturday by Cheltenham Town at home, and then Wycombe Wanderers are at the Ricoh on the Friday before Christmas. Morecambe become City's 117th different opponent since the club joined the Football League in 1919, Cheltenham will be the 118th and Wycombe 119th. City are trailing a few other clubs in this total, notably Grimsby who have met 138 different clubs and Lincoln on 136 however after the Wycombe game City will also have faced all of the current 91 other league clubs – a feat only achieved by three other clubs, Port Vale, Swindon and Notts County.

City have played at Morecambe's Globe Arena before – they were Morecambe's first opponents at the ground after it opened in 2010 and suffered an embarrassing 2-0 League Cup defeat, and also played an FA Cup game there last season. They have also faced Wycombe in cup action before – the infamous two-leg League Cup game in 1993 when after winning the first leg 3-0 Bobby Gould's team were losing 4-0 at Adams Park in the second leg before two late goals saved red faces. Last season the clubs met twice in the Checkatrade Trophy.

The Globe Arena is the 149th different away ground City have played at in league action since 1919 and the fourth new league stadium for City fans this year following Cambridge's Abbey Stadium, Accrington's Wham Stadium and the Hive stadium at Barnet. The 149 includes many exotic grounds no longer with us such as Gateshead's Redheugh Park, Nelson's Seedhill, Ashington's Portland Park and Darlington's Feethams. By the end of this season the total number of grounds will creep up to 153 with trips to Forest Green, Wycombe, Newport and Cheltenham. At that point in time there will be only five grounds in the present 92 that haven't hosted the Sky Blues in a league game: The Etihad (Manchester City), the Emirates (Arsenal), the new Wembley (Tottenham), the London Stadium (West Ham) and the Galpharm (Huddersfield).

One of Coventry City's most ardent fans is Colin Heys who has travelled to City's games from his home in Kent for over 40 years. He told me recently that up to the end of last season he had watched 2090 City first team competitive games on 118 different grounds. He has seen 1047 home games, 1038 aways and five on neutral grounds. But for a ruptured achilles tendon in 2012 he would have seen every City game since 1998 and that injury ended a run of 684 consecutive matches. It's a phenomenal record especially when you consider the distance he lives away from Coventry. I'm sure Kevin Monks has a similar impressive record.

City eased comfortably past Boreham Wood last Sunday after a slightly uncomfortable first twenty minutes and recorded their biggest FA Cup victory since they beat Arlesey Town 3-0 in 2012 to reach the third round for the first time in four years. They now face Premier League opposition in the shape of Stoke City who will be the first top flight side to come to the Ricoh in the competition since Portsmouth in 2010. City and Stoke have only met once before in the competition – in 1987 when the Sky Blues won at the Victoria Ground in the fifth round on their way to Wembley.

Next Wednesday evening I will be with fellow author Steve Phelps at Waterstones in Smithfield Way signing copies of our respective new books. We hope to have several former players with us including Ronnie Farmer, Andy Blair, Peter Bodak and Garry Thompson. Both books are excellent Christmas presents with mine, 'Play Up Sky Blues, Champions 1967', telling the fascinating story of the 1967 promotion season and Steve's, entitled '29 minutes from Wembley' recounting the famous 1981 League Cup run. Come and say hello on Wednesday from 5pm until 6.30 and pick up a present for your loved ones.

Allan Harris RIP

It's sad to report the death of former City defender Allan Harris who passed away last week at the age of 74.

There are not many former Coventry City players whose CV includes coaching one of the top club sides in the world and managing a national team but Allan Harris did both. The modest former City, Chelsea and QPR full-back was coach of Malaysia’s national football team and in the late 1980s was assistant to his former Chelsea team-mate Terry Venables at Barcelona.

Although born in Northampton during World War Two, his family came from East London and grew up in Hackney along with his younger brother, Ron “Chopper” Harris. He made an early mark as a schoolboy as a full-back and both boys joined Chelsea. Allan won England schoolboy caps and then progressed to the national Youth team, playing alongside Martin Peters. He was a member of an outstanding Chelsea Youth teams that won back to back FA Youth Cups in 1960 and 1961.

At Stamford Bridge he got a first team chance at the age of 18, making his debut in Chelsea's first ever League Cup game, a 4-2 win over Workington. He kept his place and was on the winning side in his first six games during which the Blues netted 27 goals. It was a golden period at the Bridge with 'Ted Drake's Ducklings' as the press called them, scoring goals for fun. The side included an 20-year old Jimmy Greaves, Bobby Tambling, Terry Venables and Peter Bonetti. John Sillett was also at the club, as well as his brother Peter and competition was tough at full back.

In 1961-62 with Greaves sold to AC Milan the Pensioners struggled and Drake's departure opened the door for Tommy Docherty to become manager. 'The Doc' couldn't stop them being relegated and Allan was now playing in Division Two with his appearances were restricted by the form of Eddie McCreadie. The team bounced back at the first attempt but Allan was no longer a regular and in November 1964, after making 80 league and cup appearances, manager Docherty accepted Jimmy Hill's offer of £35,000 for Allan.

A number of years ago he told me: “I didn’t really want to leave Chelsea or London but when I saw the set up that Jimmy Hill and Derrick Robins had created at Coventry I was very quickly sold on the club.”

He made his Sky Blues debut in a 1-0 defeat at Carrow Road but got a shock a week later as City, without the injured George Curtis, were hammered 5-3 at home by Rotherham. Allan however quickly settled into the Sky Blues team becoming the first-choice left-back and impressing the fans with his stylish play. In 1965-66 he played 40 league games and eight cup games, netting his only goal in a League Cup victory at Leyton Orient.

                                                Allan supporting the legendary George Curtis

Towards the end of the season he told Jimmy Hill that he and his wife had struggled to settle in the Midlands and he was keen to move back to the capital. He made his 69th and final appearance in a City shirt in the penultimate game at Huddersfield when City won 2-0 to keep their thin chances of promotion alive. Before the final game of the season he was transferred back to Chelsea (with JH netting a profit of £10,000). The Blues had an injury crisis ahead of their Fairs Cup semi final with Barcelona and four days after appearing at Huddersfield he played in the first leg of the semi final as Chelsea won 2-0, and two weeks after that he was in the team at the Nou Camp as Barca trounced the Blues 5-0.

His second spell at the Bridge was frustrating and he made only 20 or so appearances, the last of which was at Wembley, alongside brother Ron, as Chelsea lost the FA Cup final to Tottenham. He joined QPR in 1967 where, in his first season, he was a member of Rangers’ Division 2 promotion team under Alec Stock.

He left QPR in 1971 and after brief spells at Plymouth, Cambridge United, Hayes and St Patricks Athletic Allan decided to move into management. In 1976 his ex-Chelsea teammate Terry Venables became manager at Crystal Palace and Harris joined him as a coach. Two promotions in three seasons made Venables and Harris hot property and in 1980 Allan followed Terry to QPR.

At Loftus Road the pairs’ reputation was enhanced by an FA Cup final appearance in 1982 (they lost after a replay to Spurs) and promotion to Division 1 the following year. In May 1984 Venables received a huge offer to manage Barcelona and Allan was Terry’s right hand man as they helped Barca win their first Spanish league title for 11 years. The following season they were surprisingly beaten by Steaua Bucharest in the European Cup final and in 1986 when Venables resigned Allan followed him to Tottenham.

In 1989 he left Spurs to manage Spanish club Espanol. Later spells managing club sides in Kuwait, Egypt and Turkey enabled him to achieve his ambitions and see the world. His last post in England was a spell as number two at Reading in 1997 and between 2000-04 he held the top job in Malaysia and was highly rated in South East Asia.

He retired to his home in Epsom, Surrey but in recent years has been suffering from Alzheimer's and in a care home.

In 2003 he told me: “I had a short but very enjoyable stay at Coventry. The fans were great to me and I have great memories of a club going places in the 1960s. I had no doubt that the club would reach the top division and it was no surprise that they stayed there so long.”