Today is the 100th anniversary of
Coventry City joining the Football League. On 30th August 1919 City
played their opening match in Division Two against Tottenham Hotspur
at Highfield Road. The Londoners, who would end up winning the
Division Two title, inflicted a devastating 5-0 defeat on the Bantams
(City's nickname in those days).
The defeat was the first of many in
that inauspicious season in which the team failed to win a game until
Christmas Day – a run of 19 games without a victory, but avoided
re-election on the final day of the season thanks to illegal payments
to their opponents.
The circumstances of the club's
election to the League were like a fairy story. Before the First
World War started in 1914 there were only two divisions of the
Football League and Coventry City were members of the Southern League
which comprised of the best non-league sides in the south of England.
Teams like West Ham, Southampton, Portsmouth and Watford graced the
high-class league but City were down in Division Two playing against
clubs such as Brentford and Swansea as well as several small Welsh
clubs, effectively tier four of English football. Before football was
called to a halt in 1915 the Bantams finished fifth out of 12 clubs.
After the end of the war the Football
League decided to expand both divisions from 20 to 22 clubs and as a
result there were four places in Division Two for new clubs.
Amazingly City managed to be included in the vote for the four extra
spots. The club had had a fairly successful transitional season in
the Midland Section of the League including some impressive
performances against First Division sides and with attendances
averaging 10,000 the ambitious directors felt confident enough to put
in their resignation from the Southern League and start a campaign to
join the Football League.
The club's approach was nothing less
than professional. Their case was persuasive: Coventry City had a
‘fine, well-equipped’ ground holding 24,000 spectators;
attendances were good; the team was a ‘big-draw’ at away grounds;
the financial position of the club was sound; the city had good
railway facilities and the population had more than doubled in the
last 20 years to 200,000. The directors led by Alf Collingbourne
lobbied hard and their fate was decided at the League’s Special
General Meeting in Manchester on 10 March 1919. The meeting was
dominated by the vote to fill two extra places in the First Division,
a ballot which controversially saw Second Division Arsenal receiving
more votes than Tottenham, despite their North London rivals having
been relegated from the top division in the 1914-15 season. Seven
clubs faced City in the fight for four places in Division Two and
Coventry topped the poll with 35 votes with West Ham (32), South
Shields (28), Rotherham (28) also elected.
Many believed that entry to the League
would be the start of a golden period in the club’s history when in
fact it would be the start of a period later described as the ‘Stormy
Period’ and one that would last twelve years until the arrival of
Harry Storer as manager in 1931 effected an upturn in the club’s
fortunes. Off the field a large amount of work was carried out on the
ground in anticipation of larger crowds including extensive terracing
in front of the newest stand (Built in 1910), extra banking on both
ends of the ground and extra standing room provided in front of the
old stand. Additional entrances were provided with several new
turnstiles at the top of King Richard Street. The Dressing rooms have
been much improved, particularly bathing facilities. Prices had
increased with ground entrance now 1 shilling (5p) and entrance to
the stands from 1/6d (7.5p) to 3 shillings (15p).
On the Saturday before the start of the
season the club opened the Highfield Road stadium for fans to watch
the public trial between the Stripes (the first team) and the Whites
(the reserve team). The rare picture below was taken prior to the
kick-off.
Tottenham had been relegated from
Division One in 1915 and in many people’s eyes, cheated of a place
in the enlarged post-war top division by Arsenal. City fielded many
of the successful players from the previous season but included four
new signings all with top-flight experience. The game kicked off at
3.30 and the Coventry Silver Band entertained the crowd before the
game.
City were outclassed by the Londoners
and the disappointed 16,500 crowd had little to cheer about as Bert
Bliss (2), Jimmy Chipperfield (2) and Arthur Grimsdell inflicted what
would remain City's record home league defeat until 1990. To rub salt
in the wounds Spurs’ goalkeeper was former City custodian Bill
Jacques.
Four days later City travelled to play
Leeds City and lost 3-0, a result later amended after Leeds were
expelled from the league for illegal payments, and became a 3-0 loss
to Port Vale, who took over Leeds' results. A 4-1 defeat at White
Hart Lane on the second Saturday meant three defeats in a row and
that became nine successive defeats before the first point was gained
with a goal-less draw at Fulham in October. The first win arrived on
Christmas Day with a 3-2 victory over Stoke by which time only two
members of the team from the opening game were playing and manager
William Clayton who had resigned after only seven games replaced by
Harry Pollitt. Pollitt was given several thousand pounds by the
directors to strengthen the woeful team and by the season’s end the
club had used a record 43 different players.
Despite being five points adrift of
safety at Christmas Pollitt turned things around thanks to good home
form (only one defeat after Christmas) and the goals from Dick
Parker, a January signing from Sunderland. With two games remaining
City were one place off the bottom, a point behind Lincoln but with a
game in hand. With the bottom two facing re-election, it was widely
felt that City would be voted out and with the Football League and
the Southern League still at loggerheads it was possible that City
might even find themselves with nowhere to go.
The final games were home and away to
Bury, then lying fifth in the table. City drew 2-2 at Gigg Lane and
needed to win the final game to avoid the dreaded vote. In front of a
record crowd of 23,506 a nervous City struggled to make headway
against a strong Lancashire side and trailed 0-1 at half-time. Two
second half goals from Alec Mercer saved City’s skins and sent the
crowd into wild celebrations. Rumours of skulduggery abounded for
three years and finally in 1923 the FA conducted an inquiry at which
it was concluded that City and Bury had colluded to allow City to win
and six players and five directors and officials were suspended for
life. Directors David Cooke and Jack Marshall, manager Harry Pollitt
and captain George Chaplin were City’s culprits. Both clubs were
fined £100. Ironically City would have been safe even in defeat as
Lincoln lost at Huddersfield making the score from Highfield Road
immaterial. Almost twenty years later the story behind the scandal
emerged in a newspaper interview with Chaplin. He had taken £200 to
Bury before the first game and felt confident that it would ensure
City gained at least three points from the two games. At half time at
Highfield Road one of the Bury players came into the home dressing
room and told him that City were so poor that Bury could not lose.
Later that night Chaplin handed over the final instalment of the
bribe in the cloakroom of the Kings Head.
Despite many poor home performances and
the sad plight of the team, attendances were at a record high and
averaged 16,899, the fourth highest in the division, with several
crowds of over 20,000. Contemporary photographs of games generally
show a healthy, full crowd in the stadium.
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