Jim's column 13-6-2020

Last week I covered some of the eight instances of Coventry City league games being abandoned since World War Two and promised to complete the story this week.

During the Jimmy Hill era (1961-67) there was only one abandonment of a City game, in December 1962 against Colchester United. The game, on the last Saturday before Christmas, had been earmarked for the launch of the new club song and was the home debut of new signing Ken Hale. It was a pretty murky afternoon when the game kicked off in front of a lowish crowd of 11,803, reduced because of the weather and Christmas shopping. City took a little time to settle on the 'gluey' surface but after 25 minutes nippy winger Willie Humphries was scythed down, twice in 10 seconds and Ron Farmer slotted home the penalty. Despite the floodlights having been on from the start the fog got worse after this and when Hale scored the second on 37 minutes very few in the press box saw the build up to the goal. The ball emerged from the fog and there was Hale to volley past the Colchester 'keeper.

The referee and linesmen came out after the half-time break to test visibility with playing strips held up on each touchline but after waiting for fifteen minutes to see if the fog would lift the ref abandoned proceedings at 4.30. Whilst the fans were waiting for the referee's decision chairman Derrick Robins invited the fans to sing the new Sky Blue Song, the words of which were printed in the programme, and Jimmy Hill conducted the singing from the touchline in front of the main stand. A week later City drew 3-3 at home with Peterborough and that would be their last game for almost two months because of the 'big freeze'. The Colchester game was finally replayed on 26th February and City again took a two-goal lead but were pegged back to 2-2.

It was almost ten years before the next abandonment – a home game with Sheffield United on Saturday 4th March 1972. Heavy rain during the morning had left the pitch saturated and a treacherous playing surface. The Blades adapted far better to the conditions and Alan Woodward scored after 14 minutes before Jeff Blockley headed into his own net before half-time. The rain turned to sleet at half-time and then snow and the conditions became farcical. After 62 minutes with a blizzard raging referee Peter Walters called a halt much to the annoyance of the Sheffield players and management. The crowd, which doesn't appear in the official records was 16,408, the second lowest since the club had reached the First Division five years earlier. The Sky Blues had lost to Second Division Hull City in their previous home game and the performance against Sheffield probably hastened the departure of manager Noel Cantwell. Eight days after the abandoned game, and a day after another defeat, at Leeds, Cantwell was sacked. When the game was replayed chief scout Bob Dennison was caretaker manager and City won 3-2.

Eight months later City travelled to Ipswich under new management with Joe Mercer and Gordon Milne at the reins. The double signing of Colin Stein and Tommy Hutchison had kick started the Sky Blues season and inspired a seven-game unbeaten run with some exciting adventurous football. Ipswich, under Bobby Robson, were fifth in the table, and a tough game was expected at Portman Road. City put on a dazzling display and Hutch ran England full-back Mick Mills ragged. From one of his crosses Stein rattled the post then from another, after 24 minutes, the Scots striker netted with a diving header to give City a deserved lead. Three minutes before half-time there was a partial failure of the floodlights and the half-time break was extended to 20 minutes to try and resolve the issue. The second half got under way under reduced lights and Hutchison looked certain to make it 2-0 but Hunter managed to clear the danger. After 61 minutes referee Pat Partridge called the teams off and the lights went out totally as electricians tried to solve the issue. After a further 15 minutes a loudspeaker announcement was made saying that the game had been abandoned because the electricians couldn't quickly repair things. Joe Mercer summed things up after the game: 'The way we were playing, it was only the floodlights that were going to beat us'.

The game was replayed ten days later and City were affected when they lost Roy Barry with a hip injury after half an hour with the score at 0-0. Alan Dugdale substituted and City held out till just before half-time when David Johnson scored. Trevor Whymark scored a second after half-time and City's eight game unbeaten run was ended.

As I said last week, it was 35 years until the Sky Blues' next abandoned game, at Hillsborough in 2007. There was another post-war abandoned game and that was a supposed friendly against Argentinian side San Lorenzo at Highfield Road in January 1956. I have written about this game extensively in the past but briefly the story is as follows.

San Lorenzo, four times Argentine champions were on a tour of the UK. The game was approaching half-time when the trouble started. Ken McPherson had given City the lead after half an hour, only for Guttierez, San Lorenzo's left winger, to equalise a minute later.

Just before half-time City's Dennis Uphill hit a post and, with the goalkeeper out of position, he was about to score when he was pushed off the ball by two San Lorenzo defenders. Ellis immediately awarded Coventry a penalty, which the whole San Lorenzo team disputed. Sanfilippo, the inside left, went further and kicked Ellis in a temperamental outburst. Ellis ordered him off and there followed five minutes of mayhem.

According to the Coventry Telegraph's reports of the evening’s events, “police were called on to the pitch to give Ellis protection and Sanfilippo was dragged from the pitch by his team’s reserve players and trainer, kicking and struggling like a wild tiger cat”. Ellis, meanwhile, had walked off the pitch and told officials of both clubs he was abandoning the game as he refused to continue under “impossible conditions”.

“The player kicked at my legs and I collared him, although all the Argentine players mingled in so that I could not get at the offender. I told him to get off but he refused to leave the field,” Ellis said.

After half an hour of appealing to Ellis to continue the game, the City chairman, Erle Shanks, told the crowd of 17,357 the game had ended as Ellis refused to continue and under FA rules a substitute referee was not allowed. The crowd, which previously had been whistling and slow hand-clapping, received the decision well and quickly dispersed from the ground. Sanfilippo went on to be top scorer four seasons running in the Argentine league, won 30 caps for his country, scoring 21 goals and appeared for his country against England in the 1962 World Cup.

The interesting footnote to the story is that the current pope, the Argentinian Francis I has been a very keen fan of San Lorenzo since he was a boy. I would love to have a conversation with him about that January night in Coventry.

Finally this week the Sky Blues were confirmed as champions of League One and next week I will be doing my annual statistical review of the season.

Jim's column 6.6.2020

Marshall Stewart was football writer who covered Coventry City in the 1950s and 60s and wrote the excellent book 'Sky Blue Miracle' in 1967. Marshall stays in touch and regularly reads the column. Recently he suggested a topic for the column – Coventry City's abandoned games - a topical subject in what now looks like an abandoned season.

By my reckoning there have been eight instances of City games being abandoned since World War Two but only one in the 47 years. That was on 8 December 2007 at Hillsborough when City's Championship game with Sheffield Wednesday was abandoned after 28 minutes because of a waterlogged pitch with the score 0-0. At the time City's board were in talks with Sisu for the takeover with the club under threat of going into administration the following week. The game was replayed on Tuesday 1 April 2008 and ended in a 1-1 draw.

Coincidentally forty eight years earlier, in November 1949, City and the Owls' game at Highfield Road was abandoned after 63 minutes due to thick fog. The Coventry Telegraph writer, Nemo, wrote: 'It was evident from the start that an abandonment would be necessary and there were periods when, from the press box, it was possible only to see a couple of ghost-like figures nearest to the touch-line. When the game was abandoned it was impossible to see a single player.'

The fog had been bad in the morning but twenty minutes before the kick-off time the blanket lifted and the referee agreed for the match to start. Unfortunately the fog descended almost immediately and when the game kicked off the press corps could see little action on the pitch. Ted Roberts gave City a great start by scoring in the first minute but Nemo reported that no one in the press box could say how the goal had been scored! The fog lifted for a few minutes near half-time to cheers from the fans who could finally see the other side of the pitch but as the second half commenced the fog was as bad as ever. Finally in the 63rd minute it was observed that the players left the pitch but many of the 17,541 fans didn't realise the referee had abandoned play and when it was announced over the Tannoy there were jeers and boos. Wednesday had started the day in second place in Division Two whilst City were bottom of the table and the result would have been a big boost to the Bantams. The game was replayed on 11 February 1950 and City won 3-0 to finally lift themselves out of the bottom two. The result sparked a mini revival and Harry Storer's side rose to finish the season in 12th place. Wednesday bounced back and lost only two more games to seal promotion to the First Division.

The next abandonment occurred at Highfield Road on 26 March 1955. City's newly appointed manager, Jesse Carver, had flown over from Italy to watch the team he would take over that summer, for the first time, playing Southend United in a Third Division South game. Persistent rain had fallen in the city all morning and, according to Nemo had 'turned the pitch into quagmire'. The referee was reluctant to start the game but finally agreed to play, with 'about 2,000 spectators present' in the ground. Conditions were atrocious and players 'slipped and slithered about in a sea of mud'. Barry Hawkings put the Bantams ahead in the fifth minute but Hollis equalised for the visitors after 30 minutes. Colin Collindridge and Jack Lee scored quick goals to give City a 3-1 lead by the 36th minute. Then, inexplicably, the referee blew for half-time, nine minutes early. As the players walked off bemused the referee was given the facts and called the players back. After half-time conditions worsened with the rain still pouring down and the game was finally ended in the 68th minute. The official attendance of 4,100, although expunged from the records, was the lowest crowd at the ground since the 1920s. The game was replayed on Wednesday 4 May and Southend reversed the result comfortably winning 4-1 in the final home match of the season.

                         City's squad in 1954-55

Two seasons later two consecutive Coventry games were abandoned. On the Saturday before Christmas 1956 City entertained Crystal Palace and after 51 minutes, with the score at 0-0, the floodlights had a partial failure. After a half-hour delay, with no sign of a resumption possible, the game was abandoned leaving 8,200 mainly disgruntled fans. It was replayed in early April and ended in a 3-3 draw. Three days after the Palace debacle, on Christmas Day City were involved in a morning kick-off at Newport County when a snow blizzard caused the game to be abandoned after 71 minutes with the score at 0-0. City, in the re-election zone at the time, had given a good account of themselves against top four Newport and Ken McPherson had a 'goal' disallowed. The game was replayed on a Thursday in March and Newport won 3-0 with ease.

I will complete the story of City's post-war abandoned games next week.

Jim's column 30.5.2020

I received an interesting question recently regarding English football's Pools War of 1936 and how it affected Coventry City. The 'war' was all about the growing power and profits being made by the big football pools companies at the time. For younger readers it is worth explaining about Football Pools as they don't exist anymore. Throughout most of the Twentieth century Pools companies like Littlewoods and Vernons allowed members of the public to predict football results, normally to guess the games which would end in draws. They issued coupons which listed all the games being played on a Saturday and the punters would mark their predicted draws and send it, with their bet money, to the company, normally via a door-to-door agent. There were big winnings to be had if you correctly predicted seven draws in a week where draws were scarce, for example. By 1936 these companies were making millions of pounds from the betting – it was stated in 1936 that around £800,000 was being spent on pools compared to around £48,000 being spent on watching football. The Football League were getting increasingly frustrated that the pools companies were using their fixtures to make such large sums and there was also the social issues of betting and the impacts on families much like the recent issues of slot machines in betting shops. The league decided therefore to try and thwart the pools companies by using a different fixture list and not announcing it until the Friday night before games were due to be played, making it impossible for the companies to print their coupons.

After a lot of meetings the Football League put their battle plan into operation on the run up to games due to be played on Saturday 29th February 1936. At the time Coventry City were leaders of Division Three South by one point from Luton Town who had a game in hand. On that Saturday City were due to play at Gillingham but instead they were told to travel to Crystal Palace to fulfil the fixture due to be played on 14th March and the other clubs in the division had their fixtures from the two dates also switched. A similar switch was made in the First Division and the second division clubs were told to play the fixtures for 11th April. The clubs with long distances to travel, e.g Northampton Town were told to play at Torquay, were given this information on the Thursday evening. The pools companies delayed printing their coupons in the belief that the League would back down but on the Friday morning it was clear that the information had been leaked about the switches, newspapers printed the full programme and the pools companies hastily printed their coupons. A mad rush for postal orders by punters on the Saturday morning ensured that the usual vast sums were placed on the coupons and the pools companies were virtually unaffected.

Crystal Palace were due to be playing Torquay United at home that afternoon and the cover of the programme had Torquay replaced with Coventry City but inside there had been insufficient time to replace the 'Welcome to our visitors' piece and it introduced the Torquay players. There had however been time to print the correct team line ups in the centre pages.

On the Friday the Midland Daily Telegraph reported that many City fans were 'in a quandary' as many local Works Associations and private parties had already made plans to travel to Palace on 14th March followed by a night in London with theatre and hotel bookings already having been made. They reported that the opinion of the League officials who had caused their trip to be disorganised was 'unprintable'.

City lost 3-1 at Selhurst Park with the consolation goal inevitably scored by Clarrie Bourton and Luton leapfrogged the Bantams by beating Watford at home. There were 14,000 at the game but in the North and Midlands heavy snow and sleet reduced attendances dramatically. For example there were under 4,000 at Hillsborough for the First Division derby with Leeds and only 18,000 at Villa Park for an attractive home game with Liverpool. Many clubs blamed the low crowds on the League's Management Committee's strategy for thwarting the pools companies.

Seven days later the Football League repeated their actions and City, who had been due to play Bournemouth at home, were told on Thursday night that Northampton would be the visitors instead. There was sufficient time for the programme to printed with the Cobblers' players names and the Bantams comfortably defeated the struggling visitors 4-0 with goals from McNestry (2), Lauderdale and Bourton.

                                      City's 1935-36 squad

There was an above average crowd of 14,700 at Highfield Road but other gates were down again and Leeds and Liverpool had their smallest crowds of the season. When fans returned home they heard unexpected news over the wireless, but this time the headlines were not about the Football League but the League of Nations. German troops had just re-entered the demilitiarised Rhineland. Another war, of far greater proportions, was on the horizon now.

The Pools war ended at a stormy meeting in Manchester on the following Monday afternoon when the clubs unanimously voted to restore the fixtures with immediate effect. So, the following Saturday the Bantams played the match that had been due to take place on the first weekend of the 'war', away to Gillingham. A Les Jones goal gave City a point but a Luton victory gave the Hatters a two point advantage over them, with a game in hand but they failed to take advantage and with only one win in their next six games, allowed Coventry to sneak the title and the one promotion place on the final day of the season.

The Football League backed down in their battle with the Pools companies and it was another 23 years before they reached an agreement whereby the four major pools companies paid ½ per cent of their gross stakes to football, which in the first year amounted to £275,000, for the privilege of using the fixtures on their coupons.

Jim's column 23.5.2020

Last week's article about Coventry City away kits generated a lot of interest and prompted a further question. Tom wanted to know about the all red change strip that was worn up to the summer of 1969 when the club introduced the popular green and black version.

Coventry City's 'change' kit, to be used on away grounds (only) if there was a colour clash with the home team, had traditionally been red. In the 1950s it was red with white sleeves, similar to the famous Arsenal kits, with white shorts but prior to Jimmy Hill arriving in 1961 it had been an all red shirt with white v-neck and white shorts. In 1962, at the same time as introducing the all-Sky Blue kit he introduced the all red 'change; kit. The shirt, which had a round neck and long sleeves, had no piping and was worn with identical coloured shorts and socks. Its first outing came in September at Colchester in a 0-0 draw and was worn on 14 occasions that season. It was a tremendous season that saw the Sky Blues reach the quarter finals of the FA Cup and only fail to gain promotion because of the heavy fixture congestion resulting from the Cup run and the worst winter of the twentieth century. Of those 14 away games the team lost only twice whilst wearing red, at Portsmouth in the League Cup and at Reading near the end of the season and was dubbed 'the lucky kit' by Nemo in the Coventry Telegraph.

                          The red away kit at Cardiff in 1967

The kit continued to be lucky for the team up until the 1967 promotion with more wins than losses notwithstanding some notable losses, at West Brom in the 1965 League Cup (6-1) and at Everton in the FA Cup that season (3-0). The luck ran out in the First Division when in the first two seasons there were only two away victories (at West Brom and QPR) out of thirteen outings for the red strip. The last time the red strip was worn was at Everton on 12th April 1969, a 3-0 defeat. After seven seasons the kit was consigned to the dustbin of history and I can never remember seeing a fan wear a replica version of the shirt.

                             'Gibbo' in red kit

Michael Harrington posed a good question recently. He asked about a game against Preston at Highfield Road in January 1950. City won 1-0 with a goal from Ted Roberts but Michael wanted to know if Bill Shankly, the future legendary manager of Liverpool played for Preston, and also if another future famous manager, Tommy Docherty, played for Preston, and if it could have been his league debut, replacing the great Tom Finney who was injured.

Preston had been relegated from the First Division the previous season and Shankly, who was 36 years old, retired from playing in March 1949 when he was given his first managerial appointment at Carlisle. The Preston Plumber, Tom Finney, was out injured at the time. Docherty played at right half but it wasn't his debut; he had been signed the previous year from Celtic (to replace Shankly) and was already a regular. Preston regained their top flight status the following season but Finney again missed the game at Highfield Road but did finally appear at the old stadium in early 1956 in a friendly. In what I think was Joe Elliott's first ever City game, Finney gave a stunning performance in a 4-1 victory, scoring two goals and mesmerising City's veteran left back Charlie Timmins so much that City's manager George Raynor switched the full-backs at half-time.

Tony Monaghan's memory isn't good. He remembers a day when City were away to Stoke in the late 60s or early 70s. He says: 'we travelled to Stoke on the day only to find the match was postponed on the morning due to snow. We spent a great day in the pub with Stoke supporters. Can you tell me when this was and what was the result when the match was eventually played?'

The postponed game was on 20th January 1973. I remember it well as I travelled up to Stoke with a friend and we heard the game was called off as we came off the M6 at the Stoke exit. We turned round and went home! At the time City were flying high and had beaten Orient 4-1 in the FA Cup the week before. The game was rescheduled for 26th March by which time City had lost to Wolves in the FA Cup Sixth round and were on a run of games that saw them lose 10 of their final eleven games. Colin Stein put City ahead after five minutes but John Ritchie (47) and Sean Haslegrave (64) gave Stoke a 2-1 win.

Thanks to Dean Nelson for picture

Jim's column 16.5.2020

I would normally be winding up for the season and doing my review of the season. However I’ve still got quite a few reader’s questions to answer so I’ll continue to answer them for a few weeks.

I’ve had several questions about Coventry City kits in recent times. Andy Greeves wanted to know when the Chocolate Brown Admiral kit was first worn. Having had the Red Admiral as a ‘change’ kit for three seasons the Sky blues launched their Brown version at Derby County’s Baseball Ground in September 1978, the same day that Steve Hunt made his debut after signing from New York Cosmos. City won 2-0 with Hunt scoring the first for a dream start and Ian Wallace netting the second. It meant City had plundered seven points out of eight to move into second place in the First Division.

The chocolate brown kit was worn around 20 times between September 1978 and late 1980 at places like Ipswich, West Brom, Man City, Brighton, Birmingham, Blackburn, Tottenham & Derby. Unfortunately it is remembered for that catastrophic 7-1 defeat at West Brom the following month and the FA Cup defeat at Blackburn the following season but overall it was quite a good kit for the club.

                                    Mick Ferguson in the brown kit

Alex Barker asked when Coventry City first won a yellow ‘change’ kit. He thought it was in the 1980s but It was earlier than that Alex. The first yellow kit was an Admiral ‘egg-timer’ version and introduced whilst the chocolate brown version was still in use. The first sighting of it was at a League Cup tie at West Brom in September 1979, maybe to try and erase the memories of the previous season’s nightmare. The kit was only worn half a dozen times and only one win was recorded, at Crystal Palace in early 1981. A different yellow kit, without the egg-timer stripes, was worn a couple of times most notably at the League Cup semi-final second leg at West Ham. The reason for this is unknown but as it was televised it may have breached the shirt advertisement rules.

                                Gordon Milne with his management team in the yellow Admiral kit

Colin Heys was a great fan of the original Green and Black striped ‘change’ kit that was worn between 1969 and 1974. He believed that it was first worn at Crystal Palace. The story of the kit is that the club announced the change from the all red away kit worn throughout the Jimmy Hill era to the new continental-style stripes in the summer of 1969. However the new kit failed to arrive and the team had a problem with successive early season away games at West Brom and Ipswich where City would be expected to change from their usual Sky Blue. The solution was a green shirt with black shorts and socks. Not only was in very fetching (and pretty unique in league football) but also very successful with 1-0 victories recorded at the Hawthorns and Portman Road. Before the next change was required, at Manchester City’s Maine Road in late September 1969, the new striped kit arrived and was given its first airing there. It wasn’t a happy start for the new kit as the Mancs ran out 3-1 winners. The kit was only worn a further three times that season, at Chelsea (0-1 defeat), at Everton (0-0 draw) and Sheffield Wednesday (1-0 win). The kit subtly changed in 1972 with a collar added and continued until the end of 1973-74 season when a new combo of red shirts with navy blue shorts was introduced.

Lol Harvey 25 July 1934 – 25 April 2020

Its very sad to report the death of former Coventry City player Lawrence (Lol) Harvey at the age 85. Lol was a one-club player who spent 12 years at Highfield Road and made 148 senior appearances for the club despite an injury affected career.

Born and raised in Heanor, Derbyshire and one of five boys, Lol was spotted playing schoolboy football by scout and former City player Harry Holmes. Harry Storer, the manager at the time, knew the county well and recruited many outstanding young players from the area – long-serving player and trainer Peter Hill also came from Heanor. Lol arrived in Coventry as a 15-year-old with his best mate Frank Austin who hailed from the next village. The pair were soon appearing for the youth team, then playing under the pseudonym of Modern Machines in local leagues alongside other talented youngsters such as Reg Matthews, Ronnie Waldock and Trevor Lewis. Soon he was in the 'A' team in the United Counties League playing against much more experienced and physical players.

In October 1951 Lol, a right-half back in those days, was called up for his reserves debut at Brentford and played alongside the veteran captain George Mason and goalkeeper Alf Wood in a 0-0 draw. Seven days later with the club in an injury crisis, in what must be something of a record, he was promoted to the first team, again at Brentford's Griffin Park. He became the youngest City debutant at 17 years 101 days and in the Brentford team that day was a certain Jimmy Hill. Brentford won 1-0 with an early goal but the Coventry Telegraph praised the Derbyshire youngster: 'he gave a grand display at right-half and was watched by his mother and father who travelled down from Heanor. and also his Coventry 'landlord' who has kept an affectionate eye upon him since he came as a very tender youth to join the groundstaff. Their pleasure at his success was matched by that of the City players and manager. All were agreed that he had acquitted himself with considerable credit.. and never looked out of his class.'

Seven days later Lol was retained in the first team for his home debut, a 1-2 defeat to Doncaster which left City in the bottom two of Division Two and he was featured in the programme. The Coventry Telegraph reported that: 'Young Harvey again showed up well and always tried to get his forwards moving with neat ground passes. Lol's third and final first team game that season was at Everton on the following Saturday and 'the youngster tackled as well as anybody in defence, and showed spirit – although he was a little over zealous on occasions'. City, with two players virtually as passengers for much of the game, were beaten 4-1. Lol was back in the reserves the following week and City's season went from bad to worse and saw them relegated to Division Three after nine seasons in the second tier.

Lol went back to the reserves but in the season following relegation he played 20 games and over the next four seasons he was in and out of the first team and built up a reputation as a whole-hearted player with a bite in the tackle. In December 1954 he scored his first senior goal, the first in a 4-0 FA Cup win over Scunthorpe. In 1955 Jesse Carver arrived from Italy's Serie A as manager and Carver took to the industrious Harvey and Lol was a virtual ever present in Jesse's attacking team. Tragedy struck however in early 1956 when playing for the reserves at Plymouth he suffered a serious knee injury, probably one referred to today as a cruciate ligament, and doctors told him he would never play again. He required a major operation and he was told there was no more than 50-50 chance of it succeeding. Lol, softly spoken and deaf in one ear, replied: 'If you can give me 50 per cent chance, I will give you the other half'.

                                                             Lol in 1955

He recovered – the specialist said it was just as much due to his determination as to anything else – but he was left with a 16-inch scar down his leg. Lol, a true fighter, was out of action for over a year but returned to play his part in the club's promotion from the Fourth Division. Billy Frith brought Lol back into first team action when he returned for his second spell as manager in 1957 and later that season he converted him to full-back. He played 41 games in the promotion season – his best season in terms of appearances despite later admitting that he basically played on one leg. More knee injuries hampered his 1959-60 season and he played only two games. Then, after 148 games for the club, he suffered another injury in a 1-4 defeat at Barnsley on the opening day of 1960-61. He recovered sufficiently to play a few reserve games but on the Saturday before Christmas against QPR reserves at Highfield Road his knee went again. By January 1961 a Harley Street specialist was adamant that Lol, despite his desire to carry on, would suffer irreparable damage if he continued playing. His son Neil told me that the decision left his Dad heartbroken: 'he was devastated at the time, he had a wife and three children to support and was used to living in a house supplied by the club. He had no trade and had to find a home. It taught him a massive lesson and when as a young teenager I was offered schoolboy terms by City he refused to let me do it. He told me that I needed a trade because football was such a precarious career and that if I was good enough then I would be good enough to go to football when my apprenticeship was over. I didn't appreciate it at the time but certainly do now.'

I spoke to Dietmar Bruck who was an apprentice at the club in the early 1960s and his memory is of the card school in the player's lounge after training each day. Lol, Frank Austin, Peter Hill and Reg Matthews (who, although playing for Chelsea by then, was still training with City during the week) would have their lunch then settle down for an afternoon of cards. Another former player Mick Kearns was sad to hear of Lol's passing: 'he was a lovely man who always had a smile on his face and will be sorely missed by all who knew him. His cruciate ligament injury would have ended most player's careers but he fought his way back but sadly was never quite the same player'.

Manager Billy Frith persuaded him to stay at the club assisting Paddy Ryan with the Bantam Fighting Fund pools set-up. In early 1962 Lol decided to leave the club and he joined Haddon and Abbotts, a small local engineering company, and later he moved to Massey Ferguson where he spent 32 happy years alongside other ex-City mates like Alf Wood, Brian Nicholas and Ron Farmer. He loved Coventry and stayed in the city after retirement.

Since the Former Players Association was formed in 2007 I've got to know Lol and his family, wife Janet and son Neil well and he was an active participant in the association, assiduously attending home games at the Ricoh as well as Legends Days every year up until 2018 when his health started to fail. I remember him meeting up with former City man Ronnie 'Polly' Waldock at a Legends Day. The two, who both hailed from Heanor, had not seen each other for over 60 years and it was an emotional reunion. At home games the popular Lol could normally be found sitting with his good friend Brian Nicholas, ironically the man Billy Frith signed to replace him, as they discussed and argued about the pros and cons of the modern game and reminisced about the old days. Often they would be interrupted by autograph hunters but Lol always took time to sign and have a few words with the fans. Neil again: 'Dad loved Coventry City from the day he arrived as a 15-year-old until the day he died. There were only ever two things in his life: Coventry City and his family'.

                                  Lol (left) at Legends Day 2013 with Ronnie 'Polly' Waldock & their sons

Like many ex-footballers Lol was struck down with dementia and just over a year ago he moved into Brandon Care Home where he passed away peacefully in his sleep last Saturday morning. With the current social distancing rules only his very close family will be able to attend the funeral but Neil is planning a celebration of Lol's life when things hopefully return to some normality and I am sure this will be attended by his many friends from inside and outside the football world.

RIP Lol.

Jim's column 25.4.2020

I had lots of complimentary comments about my tributes to Ron Wylie and Peter Bonetti and then heard the sad news Norman Hunter, like Bonetti a member of the 1966 World Cup winning squad, had passed away, a victim of Covid-19. Leeds United legend Hunter played over 700 games for the Yorkshire club and was indisputably one of the finest defenders in the British post-war era. Along with Billy Bremner and Jack Charlton, Norman 'Bite Your Legs', formed the most famous half-back line in British football in the 1960s and 70s as Leeds, under manager Don Revie, rose from the backwaters of the Second Division to win two league titles and many other trophies in a glorious decade. Norman had an impressive record against the Sky Blues – he was only on the losing side to City on three occasions in 23 games between 1967 and 1977, the majority with Leeds but also a handful with Bristol City where he moved to in 1975. One of those defeats was a famous game at Highfield Road in 1971 when City recorded their first top flight victory over Leeds in nine meetings. City winger Quintin Young had the game of his life against the England full-back Terry Cooper and Willie Carr outshone his fellow Scot Bremner as goals from Chris Chilton, Ian St John and Ernie Hunt gave City a 3-1 win. Another famous game, against Bristol City in 1977, saw Norman come face to face with his old Elland Road mate, Terry Yorath, as the two sides battled it out to avoid a relegation spot. In front of almost 37,000 Hunter inspired Bristol to draw level from 2-0 down before the news of Sunderland's defeat at Goodison Park came through. With both sides realising that the draw was enough to keep both sides up, the experienced Hunter and Yorath instructed their players to stop playing and the Bristol back four passed the ball amongst themselves. Norman won 28 England caps and but for Bobby Moore would have won 100 plus caps. In October 1973 Norman was finally preferred to Moore for the vital World Cup qualifier against Poland at Wembley. For a man who rarely made a defensive mistake it was ironic that his error that led to Poland's goal that night and although the game ended 1-1 England were denied a place at the 1974 World Cup finals.

Steve Pittam has been a City fan for over 60 years and was one of the 'famous 50' fans who travelled to Plovdiv for the Sky Blues' European debut in 1970. He has lived in Dubai for many years but still gets to watch a handful of City games each season. In the light of the current situation Steve was thinking about 1939 when war broke out and disrupted the football season. He was interested to know the background to that season and what happened.

Talk of war had been on everyone's lips since the spring of 1939 as Hitler's power and ambitions grew. City had finished fourth in Division Two in 1938-39 missing out on promotion by just four points and they were one of the pre-season favourites to go up. George Lowrie, a young but promising centre-forward had been signed from Preston in the close season and manager Harry Storer expected him to make a big impact.

The season started on 12 August with the traditional public trial match and 4,058 watched the Stripes beat the Reds 6-5 with the 19-year old Lowrie scoring a hat-trick for the first team. This game saw the appearance for the first time at the ground of numbers on players’ shirts. A week later Lowrie scored the winning goal as City beat Birmingham 3-2 in the Football League Jubilee Fund friendly match in front of 7,979.

On 26 August, with Hitler’s Panzer divisions on the verge of invading Poland, City opened the league campaign with a 1-1 draw at Burnley. On Monday 28 August 1939 only 18,500 turned up for the first home game of the season, a derby against West Brom. Tommy Green scored twice in a thrilling game in which the Bantams threw away a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3. Many supporters already believed war was inevitable and that football, as a result, was insignificant, and stayed away. On Friday 1 September the evacuation of children from London commenced but it was announced that the fixtures for the following day would go ahead as planned and City defeated Barnsley 4-2 at home with Lowrie marking his league debut with a goal in front of only 11,611- people’s minds were elsewhere and gates all over the country were low. The next day war was declared on Hitler’s Germany and all competitive league football was immediately suspended. It would be six years before it would restart at Highfield Road.

The Coventry board did not waste time in reacting to the outbreak of hostilities. Two days after Neville Chamberlain’s fateful radio broadcast all playing contracts were cancelled and the players and the majority of the staff were paid a week’s money. Only three people were retained: manager Harry Storer, secretary Bernard Hitchiner and groundsman Austin – all three accepted a 50% cut in wages. Amongst the staff paid off were Chief Scout Dick Bayliss and trainers Dick Hill, Leslie Bruton and Arthur Fitton.

The outbreak of hostilities could have not come at a worse time for the club. Despite a healthy bank balance in the spring of 1939 summer wages of around £3000 had been paid out in addition to £1750 for the signing of Lowrie and £1300 on ground improvements. There was a tax bill of around £1000 due in early 1940 and normally the takings from three home games would cover that sum. The pitifully low crowds for the first two home games put a spoke in those wheels and the club were in dire trouble. They owed Sir John Siddeley almost £20,000, having bought the freehold of the ground from him two years earlier. He agreed to a two-year suspension of capital payments but with no income and some fixed costs the club were in serious financial difficulty and had to inform the Football League that it could not meet its commitments.

By mid-September the FA announced that regional friendly matches could be played but no player could be paid, as all contracts had been cancelled and any receipts from these games had to be donated to charity. City played six friendlies on successive Saturdays but attendances were restricted by the Home Office to just 8,000 and City's two home friendlies against Leicester and Wolves were watched by less than this. In October a regional competition was commenced with players being paid 30 shillings (£1.50) per game. Season ticket holders were given the choice of using their tickets for the wartime competition or returning them to the club with a guarantee that when normal football resumed they would get a free ticket.

City’s first game in the new competition on October 21 was a 1-1 draw at Northampton and in the first home game the following Saturday they trounced West Brom 6-3. Several of the players who had appeared in pre-war games had gone off to war but City were able to put out a strong side in the subsequent competition. The club normally issued team sheets for their home games with a typical print run of 1000.

Between October 1939 & the final game on June 8 1940 the Bantams played 28 league games, finishing third in their section, and five Cup games. The public’s reaction to these quasi-friendly games was fairly apathetic with City’s home gates ranging from 1,212 versus Leicester on a foggy Saturday before Christmas, to 8,713 who watched a 5-2 win over the mighty Wolves in May. The winter was a severe one which did nothing to encourage venturing out to watch the game. For six weeks there was little or no football in the whole country with January 27 seeing temperatures the coldest recorded since 1894. The highlight of that first wartime campaign however was a 10-2 win over Luton Town on Easter Monday. Tom Crawley scored eight goals, a club record, including three in three minutes just before half-time. The final four games were played in front of crowds of less than 1,500 and the low gates are not surprising considering that the British Army was in the process of being evacuated from Dunkirk as Hitler’s army forced them to retreat to the French coast.

Finally, Steve asked me to mention the passing of City fan John Howard. Two years ago John had to miss the away game at Cheltenham as he was in the George Eliott hospital having surgery for bowel cancer. This was the first City game home or away that he had missed in over 20 years, including all cup ties. Over the last 2 years he had still managed to get to all City games despite his cancer treatment, including the FA Cup replay at Ipswich, only missing the last 3-4 away games. Three weeks ago he sadly passed away at Myton Hospice. Although based in Coventry, he worked near Weston-super-Mare during the week, travelling to all midweek games from there; Steve remembers meeting him at Scunthorpe the night that Reda Johnson got sent off when we were winning 1-0 - a bit of a journey but such dedication. RIP John.