Jim's column 30.1.2021

This week I will try and catch up with some of the email correspondence I have received in recent months.

Coventry City's success in producing home-grown talent is well-known in the modern era. Callum Wilson and James Maddison are the stand out products who have both gone on to win international recognition after coming through the club's academy. Others playing league football include Lee Burge, Jordan Willis, Ryan Haynes and Jonson Clarke-Harris. Go back twenty years and we had Gary McSheffrey, Calum Davenport and Chris Kirkland, and in the Jimmy Hill era we saw Willie Carr, Jeff Blockley and Dennis Mortimer leading an array of youngsters developed 'in-house' that went on to have long and successful careers in the game.

It's not that well-known however that the club had a dazzling array of youthful talent in the late 1940s and early 1950s which produced many outstanding players who graced the Coventry City shirt. Back then they played together under the name of Modern Machine Tools and regular reader David Walker wrote to me some time ago to give me some background to that name.

Modern Machine Tools had two factories in Coventry, the original one in Gosford Street, opposite what was then the old Hotchkiss/Morris works (my father and grandfather both worked there) and the purpose-built, newer factory in Maudslay Road, Chapelfields, which later became the Massey-Ferguson design office, both now long gone.

Modern Machine Tools was owned by Harry Weston, former Coventry City Councillor and Mayor, a lovely man, who I met a few times. He had made his fortune from the machine tool business, but then became renowned as a benefactor for all sorts of worthy causes, which presumably included supporting Coventry City. I believe that he died almost penniless, having given most of his fortune away.

                                              Modern Machine Tools photo-call circa 1948

So Harry Weston was an early sponsor of the City Juniors team and his company name appeared in the local football results every Saturday night in the Pink. The teams, I believe they ran several different age group teams, were very successful in local junior leagues winning numerous league titles. Amongst the youngsters who started their Coventry City careers in Modern Machine Tools were Reg Matthews, who went on to play for England, Lol Harvey, Frank Austin, Peter Hill and Gordon Nutt.

I receive some unusual questions about the club but a recent email from Andrew Phillips is the strangest. Andrew is researching a book about 1960s pop band, the Applejacks and wanted to know if the group had ever played a 'gig' at Highfield Road before a City match. The Applejacks were a Solihull-based band who had had three top thirty hits in 1964, including the top ten hit, Tell Me When, and were very popular in the Midlands for a couple of years. In November 1964 the football club engaged them to do a 20-minute slot before the England under 23 international at Highfield Road against Rumania. I wasn't at the game but would love to hear from anyone who remembers the performance. Over 27,000 fans attended the game, the biggest audience the group ever had, which saw City's Bill Glazier make his debut for the under 23s in a 5-0 victory for England. The Applejacks, who were fairly unique in having a female bass player, Megan Davies, disappeared into obscurity soon afterwards but did re-form for a charity concert in 2010.

Staying in the 1964-65 season, a friend who is a Villa fan recently sent me a match report of City's FA Cup Third round tie at Villa Park in January 1965. The report is written by famous cricket correspondent John Arlott for the Guardian newspaper and makes fascinating reading. First Division Villa were in the bottom two at the time and City were a mid-table Second Division side who, with their fans, really fancied their chances. Around 20,000 fans travelled to Villa Park - almost half the 47,000 attendance - and easily out-sung the home fans on a miserably wet day. Jimmy Hill picked a negative side with Brian Hill, as an extra defender, in place of striker Ken Hale, and it backfired as Villa ran out 3-0 victors. Tony Hateley was the Villa hero, scoring twice with his feet, something which surprised Arlott who rightly points out that 'Big Tone's' strength was in the air. Some years later Coventry fans saw first hand how 'ill at ease' Hateley was with the ball on the ground.

Jim's column 23.1.2021

 I was contacted by City fan Mark Lovick last week enquiring about a friendly with Portsmouth in the 1950s. The game was the first trip to Highfield Road for his cousin Robert Satchwell whose dad took him on the Kop that day as he said he would be able to see with it not being a league game and too busy.

I was able to provide Mark with the details of the game, which took place 70 years ago next week, on the 27th January 1951. Pompey were the reigning League champions at the time and the friendly game was hastily arranged when both teams were knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round. A lower than usual crowd of 10,897 ( 25,000 were at the Chesterfield league game the previous week) watched a 2-2 draw. Pompey had had a flu epidemic hit the club the previous week and their highly rated half-back line of Scoular, Flewin and Dickinson, were all ruled out but they still put out a strong team. Ken Chisholm and Norman Lockhart gave City a 2-0 half-time lead but the visitors came back strongly and goals from Micky Reid and Ralph Hunt pulled them level. City were lying second in Division Two at the time and it gave fans the chance to assess the team's performance against a top flight club.

City's team was: Alf Wood: Charlie Timmins, Joe Bell, Harry Barratt, Martin McDonnell, Jim Alderton, Les Warner, Bryn Allen, Ted Roberts, Ken Chisholm, Norman Lockhart.

Mark tells me that Robert has been a season ticket holder for many years in the West Stand at Highfield Road, and then at Ricoh and St Andrews.

This month marks the 50th anniversary of a dreadful Sky Blues FA Cup exit at the hands of Third Division Rochdale. Mike Hoban asked why the game at Rochdale's Spotland was played on a Monday afternoon.

The game was originally scheduled for Saturday 2nd January 1971 but snow caused it to be postponed. Another postponement occurred on the following Monday and in the meantime City manager Noel Cantwell made condescending comments about the Spotland floodlights saying 'they must be the worst in the league'. After announcing that City would not play under the lights, the game was rearranged for the afternoon of Monday 11th January.

It is believed that the Rochdale schools were given a half day off to attend the game and 13,011 watched a workman-like home team inflict an embarrassing 2-1 defeat on a team that two months earlier were playing Bayern Munich in European football. Rochdale's first goal was scored by David Cross who would later join the Sky Blues.

                       Rochdale's Dennis Butler scores the winning goal

Ian Croston has been in touch regarding the recent death of Gordon Pettifer. Gordon was the groundsman at Highfield Road and the Ryton training ground around 20 years ago and lived in Allesley Village. Ian says that 'Gordon was proud of the fact that he was involved with the club and that he taught John Ledwidge, who is now at Leicester City as groundsman, everything he knew. Andy Turner remembers Gordon as a 'lovely, quiet and unassuming chap who always said hello and obviously worked in all weathers, toiling away from early in the morning to make sure the pitches at Ryton were in pristine condition before the players rolled in for training at 10'.

Last week I wrote about 1930s winger Fred Liddle in response to a question from Alastair Laurie. Ian Greaves has been in touch with some information gleaned from Noel Rogers, a family history buff friend of his. According to Noel's research Fred was born on 29th November 1910 not in December 1909 as I stated. There were two JF Liddle's born around that time in the North East and our man was born in Mickley, near Prudhoe in Northumberland rather than in Great Lumley in Durham. The information comes from the 1939 UK National Register census at which time Fred was living in Tynemouth with his wife Elizabeth. Noel advised that Fred was still living in Tynemouth at the time of his death in 1975.

Jim's column 16.1.2021

 Defeat at Carrow Road last weekend meant an early exit from the FA Cup for the Sky Blues but there was no disgrace in losing to the Championship league leaders. Seven days previously the team notched their second away win of the season by winning at Millwall and the historical significance of a rare victory there cannot be overlooked. In 19 league and Cup visits to either the Den or the New Den (they moved in 1993), stretching back to 1955 it was only the second victory. Even in the title-winning seasons of 1963-64 and 1966-67 Jimmy Hill's team failed to win at the intimidating old stadium in New Cross. Tony Mowbray's exciting young team won there 4-0 in 2015 and the following season, City's last visit before this season, there was a 1-1 draw.

Every week we hear of famous footballers from my golden age of the game, the 60s and 70s, passing away and last week it was Colin Bell who died, aged 74. Colin, an attacking midfielder, rarely had a bad game against the Sky Blues and scored nine goals against City – the most ever by a midfield player. He first came on City's radar on a miserable Friday night in December 1964 when as an eighteen year-old for Bury he scored twice in a 5-0 drubbing at Gigg Lane. Just over a year later he was signed by Manchester City, helping them to pip the Sky Blues to promotion to Division One. After Coventry won promotion in 1967 Colin haunted us, scoring home and away as Joe Mercer's Blues won the First Division title, and either scoring or making goals over the next few seasons. England had so many good midfielders in that era and in other times he would surely have won a lot more than the 48 full England caps he gained. Nicknamed Nijinsky after the horse that won the 1970 Derby and was considered the fastest racehorse of the 20th century, Colin could run all day and would have fitted in perfectly with today's fitness dominated game. RIP Colin.

Coventry City London Supporters Club member Alastair Laurie who travels to most home games from his home in Sussex had a question for me. He was chatting to an old friend who lives in Alnwick and is a long standing Newcastle season ticket holder. He had a relative also from the North East who played for City pre war named Liddle. Alastair asked me if I had any information on Liddle.

Fred Liddle was born in Great Lumley, a village near Chester-le-Street, Durham in 1909. He was a left winger and spotted by QPR playing for Crawcrook Albion in 1928 and he spent a season there without making a first team appearance before joining Huddersfield, then one of the top teams in the land but after three months there (and without a first team game) he moved to Rotherham where he played 13 games in Division Three North in 1929-30. Released by the Millers in 1930 he was playing back with Crawcrook the following season before a season on Newcastle's books in 1931-32. In July 1932 he joined Gillingham and over the next two seasons made 80 odd appearances scoring 19 goals.

He came to Highfield Road in the summer of 1934 and was regular in 1934-35 (35 games 7 goals). In the 1935-36 promotion season he played 18 games, 5 goals and was a regular in the second half of the season as the Bantams clinched promotion. In Division Two in 1936-37 he was in and out, playing 17 games scoring 2 goals before joining Exeter in the summer of 1937. He played 48 games in the two seasons before war broke out in 1939 and scored 10 goals. His whereabouts post-war are unknown.

            City's squad at the start of the 1935-36 season including Fred Liddle

George Hudson 14.3.1937 - 28.12.2020

 Sadly, on Monday last George Hudson, the legendary Coventry City centre-forward from the 1960s passed away at the age of 83. 'The Hud' as fans knew him, thrilled City fans between 1963-66 and in an era in which there were so many legends he shone like a star with his silky skills and his phenomenal scoring record.

Friend and fellow City historian David Brassington had no doubts about his legacy: 'One has to rely on our shaky, possibly unreliable memories but no one will ever convince me that 'The Hud' wasn’t the greatest City player I ever saw. What is indisputable, no one - not even Hutch, Cyrille or Dion was so worshipped by the Highfield Road terraces'.

George's arrival at Highfield Road in 1963 caused great controversy within the supporters – he was replacing leading scorer Terry Bly – and his departure, in 1966, similarly brought howls of anguish from his adoring fans; these moments were undoubtedly two of the defining moments of Jimmy Hill's reign at the club.

George was born in the Manchester suburb of Ancoats, one of seven boys. A prodigious schoolboy player, he was recommended for a trial with Blackburn Rovers and after doing his National Service he went to Ewood Park as an apprentice. After signing a full professional contract in 1958 he made his first team debut in the First Division home game with Manchester City in April 1959 playing alongside illustrious stars of the day Ronnie Clayton, Roy Vernon and Peter Dobing. Rovers won 2-1 and George retained his place for the final three games of the season, scoring his first senior goal in a 3-1 home win over Luton. The following season he was back in the reserves and with Derek Dougan scoring prolifically George was unable to get a first team start. Rovers had a good season – they were second at Christmas and although they fell away in the New Year they did reach the FA Cup final only to lose 3-0 to Wolves. In the summer of 1960 Rovers allowed George to move to nearby Accrington Stanley. Accrington were in dire financial straits and finished 18^th in Division Four but George scored 35 goals in 44 games, a total only topped by the man he would succeed at Highfield Road, Peterborough’s Terry Bly. Early the following season Stanley's situation was even worse and they sold him to Peterborough for £5,000 just before the bailiffs arrived and a few months before they resigned from the league.

At Posh Hudson was playing one division higher but continued his goalscoring feats, and scored 25 goals in 1961-62, alongside Bly who netted 29. Jimmy Hill signed Bly for the Sky Blues and the tall, rangy forward proceeded to score 29 goals in 42 games as the Sky Blues reached the sixth round of the FA Cup and were well placed for promotion. At London Road Hudson had scored 25 goals but Hill believed that the Mancunian was the man City needed to get out of Division Three.

Four days after losing to Manchester United in the FA Cup, the transfer deadline approaching, and a better than good chance of promotion, Hill paid a club record £21,000 for Hudson making it clear that there was no place for the goal-machine Bly as Hudson would be his first choice centre-forward. Not since 1950 when the club had paid £20,000 for Tommy Briggs had City paid out such a large fee.

Posh were managed by former City manager Jack Fairbrother who said that Hudson had never been put up for sale but: ‘…a staggering fee is offered and we would have been silly not to have taken it.’

A week earlier Fairbrother had been quoted as saying: ‘I will not sell…within the next two seasons Hudson will get an international cap.’

Hill was known to be an admirer of Hudson but apparently had no hint that Posh would be prepared to sell until he read that Middlesbrough and Newcastle were bidding for him. There was a risk he would lose Hudson and he moved fast.

Former colleague Dietmar Bruck remembers Hudson’s arrival at Highfield Road: ‘He arrived in a smart grey suit with a velvet collar with his hair in an ‘Elvis-like’ quif - a real dandy. He had this Charlie-Chaplin-like walk and looked nothing like a footballer. Any doubts the other players had went after his first game – he was pure genius.’

The fans were mystified – why had Hill had rejected a centre-forward who had scored virtually a goal a game that season – but in time the fans realised that the manager had pulled off an inspired deal. Hudson scored a hat-trick in the first half of his debut, a 5-4 win over Halifax, to leapfrog Bly in the scoring charts but Hill faced a barrage of criticism from supporters for weeks afterwards before Bly joined Notts County where his career went downhill.

After the Cup run and the dire weather City’s fixture list was impossible. Despite the powers extending the season until the end of May the team played 16 league games in seven weeks after the Cup exit and missed out on promotion by five points. George netted six goals in 15 games which when added to his goals for Posh made him Division Three's leading scorer.

In the autumn of 1963 he was devastating, by the end of November he had netted 24 league and cup goals as City raced towards promotion, leading the division by eight points at New Year. He scored hat-tricks in three successive games for the club, against QPR in the league, German club Kaiserslautern in a friendly and Trowbridge in the FA Cup. His goals were put away with clinical disdain. He’d spit on the turf, turn and waddle back to the halfway line with that curious Charlie Chaplin walk. There was no fuss or kissing and cuddling and he never milked the crowd’s adulation.

In January he picked up a groin strain and needed an operation when he returned he looked out of touch and meanwhile City had failed to win in 11 games and the fans were biting their nails. Hill signed another centre-forward George Kirby and Hudson was dropped after just one goal in six games. Kirby's arrival steadied the ship and promotion was back on. On the final day in a game City needed to win to go up Hudson was recalled and playing alongside Kirby he netted the only goal, his 28th of the season, that defeated Colchester and confirmed City as champions.

                     The goal that clinched the Division Three title in 1964

Division Two held no fears for George and another 25 goals hit the net in 1964-65 including one in a 3-0 Christmas home win over Preston on a frozen, snow covered pitch, a game in which the Coventry Telegraph described his performance as ‘almost beyond belief’. The only blemish on another good season came at Huddersfield when he took offence at a bad challenge by John Coddington and got his marching orders for landing a punch on the centre-half.

George started the 1965-66 season in regal form. Four goals in a pre-season friendly victory over First Division Nottingham Forest was followed a week later by a brace in a victory over Wolves and he was averaging almost a goal a game by the end of October. In September in a 5-1 win over Southampton he scored arguably his most memorable Coventry goal when, with his back to goal he flicked the ball over Tony Knapp’s head, turned, then casually headed past a startled keeper. In his match report in the Coventry Telegraph Nemo wrote prophetically: 'It was the sort of goal that will live in the memory and even two of the Southampton players applauded it as the crowd exploded with excitement.'

                    George's 'wonder' goal v Southampton (September 1965)

The goals however dried up for George over the winter and he netted only twice in 15 games. Hill gave Bobby Gould a few games and then, desperate to win promotion, signed another striker, Ray Pointer, at Christmas. George netted twice in an FA Cup replay with Crewe but there were signs of frustration about his performance against Bristol City a few days later. In the second half Hill moved George to the right-wing, frustrated with the number 9’s first half input. ‘The Hud’ scored City’s second equaliser but on the Monday Hill named Hudson in the reserve team to play Southampton the following evening. With an FA Cup fifth round tie at Goodison Park looming speculation rose that George may be dropped for the game. Nemo explained that it was the first ‘official admission that Hudson’s form has been below par’ and he reminded supporters that their favourite had scored only five goals in his last 18 appearances. Reading between the lines it is difficult not to conclude that Hill had been concerned for some time but some were convinced that there had been a fall-out between the manager and the player that was never made public. For many fans however George could do no wrong and they chose to overlook the statistics because Hudson was their God.

Almost 8,000 fans plus hordes of club scouts watched City’s Reserves thump Southampton 7-1 and Hudson scored one goal but was overshadowed by 19-year-old Gould who scored two and ran the Saints’ defence ragged all night.

The next morning Hill took a phone call from Northampton boss Dave Bowen who offered Hill a large fee for Hudson. The Cobblers were having a hard time in their first ever season in the First Division and were trying to keep their head above water near the foot of the table. Bowen saw Hudson as the man who might just save them. With the transfer deadline less than two weeks away Hill knew this was the time when fees were inflated by desperate buyers.

Not for the first time Hill made an unpopular decision and faced the wrath of the supporters. He agreed a fee of £28,500 with Northampton – a profit of £7,500 - and then spent weeks trying to justify his decision to angry fans. He knew that time would be the judge of his actions – and he was probably proved right - but City’s stuttering form to the end of the season didn’t help his cause.

Several coach-loads of City fans travelled to Northampton to see Hudson’s debut against Leeds United rather than travel to Goodison Park to support City in the FA Cup and ITV television rubbed salt in the wounds by showing the highlights from Northampton with Hudson at his cultured best, bamboozling the England centre-half Jack Charlton and scoring a superb goal in the Cobblers’ 2-1 victory.

                          Coventry City 1964-65 with George next to JH

Hill justified the shock sale: ‘With every player, there is a time to sell and a time to buy. I give the fans this assurance – I would never do anything against the interests of Coventry City.’ Looked at in retrospect, Hudson, despite scoring a few goals, failed to keep the Cobblers in the top flight and was sold to Tranmere for £15,000 less than a year later. Apart from helping dump City out of the FA Cup in 1968 he never set the football world alight again and his recurring groin injuries forced him to retire the following year. His son Alan believes there were other factors in his decline: 'He was sad that he had left Coventry, where the fans adored him and he and the family were settled. He told me later that he fell out of love with the game after leaving Highfield Road'.

Some City fans believe 'The Hud' could have been thrived in the First Division for Coventry and still believe it was a mistake by Hill to sell him. Perhaps, some argue, it exposed a flaw in JH's management style, namely an apparent inability to handle the flamboyant star – he later had bigger problems with Ian Gibson. We'll never know the answer.

City, in the short-term, missed promotion that season but they got an inflated fee for George which went towards signing Gibson in the summer. In Bobby Gould Hill had a ready-made replacement centre-forward who, whilst not the exciting, charismatic player that Hudson was, would score the goals that got City promotion a year later.

In his book Miracle in Sky Blue, Marshall Stewart sums up Hudson: ‘He was a rare combination: a player without personal glamour who attracted the fans’ adulation by his disregard of the unnecessary and his ability to reap the maximum effect from the most discreet amount of effort. He had star quality without the spotlights…’

He scored 75 goals in 129 games for the Sky Blues and holds the unenviable record of being the only City player sent off in the five-year era under Jimmy Hill. His career league record was 298 appearances and 163 goals. He once told me that his toughest opponent was Everton's Brian Labone who he faced playing for Accrington in a League Cup tie however he never relished a training game with City's legendary captain, George Curtis.

After retiring from the game he had various jobs the longest which was at the Daily Mirror in his native Manchester where he worked in the machine room. Interviewed in 1987 he was modest about his feats at Highfield Road: ‘I never believed in taking any credit for the goals I scored. I were only one bloke. There were ten other blokes out there with me.’ He did acknowledge his goal against Southampton: ‘Yes that was the best I ever scored. I remember it as though it were last night.’

In retirement he never sought the spotlight and kept himself very much to himself with his wife Bernadette who sadly pre-deceased him, his four children Donna, Anthony, Alan and Colette, and numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren. He was persuaded to join the Former Players Association several years ago and attended several Legends Days, usually with a good number of family members and a good day out was enjoyed by all. There was genuine emotion as he was reunited with his 60s team-mates and the memories transported them back to City's golden era. Despite playing for the club almost fifty years earlier his appearances generated more interest from supporters than for any other former player and the great man was visibly overwhelmed by the reception he got from the Ricoh crowd. RIP George

Jim's column 19.12.2020

 The 0-0 draw with Huddersfield on Wednesday night, acknowledged by Mark Robins as one of the best results of the season, extended the Sky Blues unbeaten run in the league to eight games. I had to go back a long way to find the last such run in the Championship and discovered it was Autumn 2003. In mid-October, under the stewardship of Gary McAllister, the team lost 3-1 at home to Cardiff before going on an eight-game run with one win and seven draws!

The only change that McAllister made after the Cardiff game was to drop goalkeeper Scott Shearer and give a debut to former Leicester and Liverpool custodian Pegguy Arphexad. Three days later City got a hard won 1-1 draw at Watford before winning 3-1 at Derby with Stephen Warnock and Patrick Suffo (2) on target. Then came five successive draws the final one being 1-1 at Crystal Palace when debutant loanee Johnny Jackson came off the bench to score a late equaliser. By this time Arphexad had been injured after just five games and Gavin Ward was between the posts. The run came to an end on a cold night at Rotherham when early goals from Darren Byfield and Shaun Barker gave the Millers the points. As a side note a certain Mark Robins came off the bench for Rotherham near the end. This turned out to be McAllister's penultimate game in charge – a week later he temporarily stood down to take care of his sick wife and Eric Black took the role. At the start of the run the Sky Blues were in 16th place, by the end of the run they were 15th. The eight game run was as follows:

October 21 Watford (a) 1-1 Staunton

October 25 Derby (a) 3-1 Warnock, Suffo 2

November 1 West Ham (h) 1-1 Barrett

November 5 Bradford C (h) 0-0 -

November 8 Sunderland (a) 0-0 -

November 22 Gillingham (h) 2-2 Joachim 2

November 25 Norwich (a) 1-1 McAllister (pen)

November 29 Crystal Palace (a) 1-1 Jackson

Over the last two weeks numerous people have asked me if Coventry City are close to setting a club record of penalties conceded in a season. At Wycombe last Saturday the Sky Blues conceded their seventh league penalty of the season and there have been two others in League Cup games at MK Dons and Gillingham.

The league penalties, which have all been converted, with the culprits, are:

QPR (h) Lyndon Dykes (foul by McFadzean)

Blackburn (h) Adam Armstrong (foul by Rose)

Nottm. Forest (a) Lyle Taylor (foul by McFadzean)

Watford (a) Ismaila Sarr (handball by O'Hare)

Norwich (a) Mario Vrancic (foul by Wilson)

Rotherham (h) Daniel Barlaser (foul by Wilson)

Wycombe (a) Joe Jacobsen (foul by Sheaf)

The penalty at MK Dons was saved by Marosi after Drysdale committed a foul whilst Jordan Graham scored from the spot for Gillingham after a foul by Rose.

The penalties had no effect on the final score in three of the league games but without them City would have picked up an extra point at both Forest and Watford and an extra two points at Norwich. It could be argued that at least five of the seven league penalties were soft and perhaps wouldn't have been given on another day.

The club record for league penalties conceded in a single season is 12, set in 2013-14 (the Northampton season). Goalkeeper Joe Murphy set a club record by saving five of them, so seven were scored.

The record for league penalties scored against City is 10, in 1979-80 season when no opposition penalties were missed/saved. That season some great players of the era netted from the penalty spot including Glen Hoddle (two in a 4-3 loss at Tottenham), John Robertson (scored home and away), Peter Barnes, Sammy McIlroy and John Wark.

In the last ten seasons the Sky Blues have conceded an average of seven league penalties a season whilst the average for the previous 64 seasons (i.e. since World War II) is 4.5 per season. This backs up the theory that there are more penalties given in the modern game. I haven't got the stats for penalties given in the domestic game this season but from watching Premier League games there seems to have been an increase, a number coming controversially as a result of VAR.

City have only been awarded one penalty this season (v Bournemouth) and their average for the last ten years in 3.9, just over half that conceded. Lets hope that the number of penalties conceded is one record that the Sky Blues can avoid this season and they can put an end to the current sequence.

This is my last column of 2020 so I will wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2021 when hopefully we will get back to watching the Sky Blues continue their phoenix-like rise up the leagues.

Jim's column 5-12-2020

 Former Coventry City player Graham Walker asked me for help in tracking down his senior debut for the club. Graham, a centre-half, joined the club's groundstaff straight from school and progressed to the professional staff. He had been in the reserve team for some time before he got his chance in October 1958. In the early years of floodlit football English clubs weren't allowed to play competitive games under lights and whetted fans' appetites for the new innovation by arranging friendlies with higher status teams, foreign teams and Scottish clubs. Between 1953, when the first floodlights were installed, and 1959 City played 26 such friendlies. Almost 17,000 watched City play Queen of the South in the first floodlight game in October 1953 but the novelty slowly wore off and although a similar crowd watched the infamous game with Argentinian club San Lorenzo in 1956, crowds generally slipped under 10,000.

In October 1958 City invited Sunderland to Highfield Road for a floodlit friendly on a Monday evening. The Roker club, known as the Bank of England club just a few years previously because of the number of big money signings they had in their team, had lost their First Division status for the very first time the previous season. They had also been found guilty of illegal payments to players and suffered a heavy fine. In Division Two they were struggling having lost key players such as Don Revie and Billy Bingham and were bottom of the table with just three wins in 14 games. A 4-1 defeat at Bristol City on the previous Saturday had increased the gloom and their party had spent a miserable weekend at Leamington's Regent Hotel licking their wounds.

City, on the other hand were riding high in second place in Division Four after a 2-2 draw at Workington and looked a good bet for promotion from the division at the first attempt. Gates which had dropped to below 8,000 the previous campaign were above 20,000 with the team unbeaten in six games. They would be without their outstanding young centre-half George Curtis who had suffered concussion at Workington and had seen a specialist on the Monday morning. Graham tells the story: On the Monday morning I received a hand delivered postcard requesting me to report to Highfield Road for the evening game in which the “gaffer” Billy Frith was thinking of  playing me in the second half. We often received postcards either sent or hand delivered informing us when to report for certain games'.

                                          Graham Walker in his playing days

Frank Austin, normally a wing-half, deputised for Curtis but at half-time Graham was told to strip off and come on as substitute (in those days subs weren't permitted in competitive games). Austin moved to left half, replacing Mick Kearns and both he and Walker wore a number 5 shirt. It was 0-0 at half-time but Sunderland, even with several reserves, came to life after the break and England B international Stan Anderson put them ahead after 63 minutes. Nine minutes later Sunderland and former England winger Colin Grainger went down under a challenge from Walker and a penalty was awarded.

'It was never a penalty', says Walker, 'and after the final whistle Grainger winked at me and said “never mind kid. Win some lose some”.' Anderson scored from the penalty spot and Maltby added a third goal before Brian Hill headed a late consolation goal for City. Graham remembers the fog descending and that the the old fashioned floodlighting 'wasn't the best in those conditions'. The attendance of 4,979 convinced the club that the days of floodlight friendlies was over and it was the last one for over three years when Jimmy Hill reinstated them. I was able to send Graham a copy of the match report and after reading it he said that it wasn't a surprise that he had forgotten the game.

City's team that night was: Graham Spratt: Roy Kirk, Lol Harvey: Brian Nicholas, Frank Austin (sub Graham Walker), Mick Kearns (sub Frank Austin): Peter Hill, Ray Straw, Jimmy Rogers, Brian Hill, Ken Satchwell.

Maurice Setters (16.12.1936- 22.11.2020)

 It is sad to report the death of former Coventry City player Maurice Setters at the age of 83. He passed away at Doncaster Royal Infirmary last Sunday after a short illness and a long battle against Alzheimer's Disease.

Maurice came to Coventry near the end of a long career and was an inspired signing for the club, inspiring the team to avoid relegation from the First Division in 1968 by the skin of their teeth after looking relegation certainties for most of the season. He is remembered fondly by older Sky Blues supporters and his former playing colleagues.

Born in Honiton, Devon, Maurice joined his local club Exeter City from school and after winning England Schoolboys and Youth honours he made his debut for the Grecians as a 17-year-old in 1954. Within twelve months, after just 10 games, he was transferred to West Brom, then a leading First Division club. Two goals on his home debut against Portsmouth endeared him to the fans and it wasn't long before he was a regular at wing-half for the Baggies. In his three full seasons at Hawthorns the club never finished below fifth in Division One and Maurice's form earned him 16 England Under 23 caps. Although he never won a full cap he was named in England's 22-man squad for the 1958 World Cup squad.

In those days Maurice had an American-style 'crew-cut' hairstyle which added to his image as a hard man and whilst he was a fine footballer he earned a reputation as one of the country's toughest players. In January 1960 Manchester United, rebuilding after the Munich air crash that had decimated their team, paid Albion £35,000 for Setters and he was a regular in United's half-back line for the next five years. He was the hard man that won the ball before feeding Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and latterly George Best to turn on the magic. Maurice captained the club and was best man to Bobby Charlton at his wedding in 1961. In 1962-63 he handed the captaincy to his future Coventry manager Noel Cantwell and the pair were in the team that lifted the FA Cup, beating Leicester City 3-1, after ending the Sky Blues' own great run that year.

In 1964-65 Maurice had a serious contender for his club place, Nobby Stiles. The two had many similarities and ultimately Matt Busby plumped for the tigerish Nobby and Maurice left to join another First Division side Stoke City. A few months later he returned to Old Trafford with Stoke and got a standing ovation from the crowd who recognised his role in the re-birth of United.

At the Victoria Ground Tony Waddington converted him to a centre-half where despite his short stature (he was only 5 foot 10 tall) he could compete with the best in air with his timing and strength. Setters played a big part in the Potters' revival alongside renaissance stars such as Peter Dobing and Roy Vernon. In autumn 1967 however he was sidelined with a cartilage injury and struggling to get back to fitness when the call came from Noel Cantwell.

City's first season in Division One could not have started more badly. Manager Jimmy Hill had resigned to go to a career in television, captain and centre-half George Curtis had suffered a broken leg in the second game, inspirational midfielder Ian Gibson was sidelined by injury and star goalscorer Bobby Gould was also out injured. A 0-3 home defeat to fellow strugglers Fulham had left City at the foot of the table with just two wins in 16 games, having conceded 39 goals. Hill's signing of Tony Knapp to replace Curtis had failed spectacularly and rookie manager Cantwell had failed to win any of his five games since arriving. The attack had been strengthened by the signing of Gerry Baker and Ernie Hannigan but the team needed a leader and an experienced defender to shore up the leaking defence. Maurice ticked both boxes.

Former club physiotherapist Norman Pilgrim takes up the story: 'Noel was desperate to get Maurice in but at his medical I told Noel that his knee was dreadful and he needed a couple of months of rehab before he would be ready to play. Noel said he couldn't wait and needed Maurice straight away'.

Maurice made his debut at Elland Road, Leeds where Don Revie's team had won 10 home games in a row. Norman remembers Cantwell introducing him to Revie in the tunnel before the kick-off and says that Revie was a worried man after hearing that City had signed Setters.

Ninety minutes later City had taken a point thanks to an Ernie Hannigan goal and almost grabbed a win. In his match report Derek Henderson prophetically concluded: 'Setters strode about City's penalty box like a Soccer Napoleon. The chunky, lion-hearted Devonian -though clearly a long way from being fully match fit – brought that air of authority and professional outlook that could in the next few weeks transform Cantwell's side.'

Pilgrim had to work like a demon: 'Maurice didn't train with the first team for two months, it was me and him in the gym every day. On a Friday he would do a lap round the pitch at Ryton and a couple of sprints and he was ready to play the following day'.

It would be another three games before City would record their next win but slowly and surely the team got stronger and results improved. Setters, who was appointed captain, missed just one game, ironically City's only away win, at his former club West Brom, and as the season came to a climax he was as fit as any player on the team.

Dietmar Bruck was a team-mate of Maurice and had nothing but praise for him: 'he added a spark to the club that had been missing that season. He was a strong character who spoke his mind and just what we needed after George broke his leg. He always led by example and never gave less than 100% even in training games.'

City's home form kept their head above water and at the end of March Manchester United came to Highfield Road looking for an easy scalp on their way to a second successive league title and European Cup glory. Maurice had other ideas and gave a commanding defensive performance before heading home a corner for the second goal in City's 2-0 victory. Chris Cattlin made his debut that day, marking the mercurial George Best and says: 'I was as nervous as hell before the game but Maurice settled my nerves and gave me some advice for dealing with Best. He talked me through the game and later helped me settle at the club'.

With three games remaining City looked almost safe but then threw away the points at home to Leicester leaving two nerve-jangling away games to save their place. The first, at West Ham's Upton Park, is recalled by Norman Pilgrim: 'West Ham had Moore, Hurst and Peters and always played attractive football. As the team left the dressing-room Maurice turned to the rest and said 'West Ham will be expecting us to kick them today, let's not disappoint them!'' City drew 0-0.

The final game at Southampton saw City repeat the scoreline and earn safety but not before a terrific rearguard action, marshalled as ever by Setters who was up against the 28-goal Ron Davies, the league's leading scorer and recognised as one of the top headers in the country. Rarely did Davies get a clean head on the ball so good was Maurice's aerial antics. I can clearly remember his blood-spattered shirt resulting from a cut requiring four stitches above an eye.

The following season things didn't improve much for the Sky Blues with another relegation battle that went down to the wire. Despite George Curtis being fit again, Maurice started the season in the number five shirt but Noel experimented with the pair as double centre-halves in a League Cup tie at West Ham and it worked a treat in a 0-0 draw. The experiment was tried again at West Brom but City got hammered 6-1 and after one more attempt resulted in a 3-0 League Cup defeat at Swindon the whole idea was shelved. George took over and Maurice spent several months in the reserves helping develop youngsters Jeff Blockley and Alan Dugdale. Unhappy at not being in the first team, he was in trouble with Cantwell in the February and placed on the transfer list for critical comments to the press but his performance levels never dropped. With four games remaining and City desperate for points he was recalled to play as an extra defender at Everton, City lost 3-0 but Maurice impressed enough to displace Curtis for the three vital remaining games. Three draws left City having to wait for Leicester to finish their programme but the true grit of Maurice was seen in the final momentous game against Liverpool at Highfield Road. City, with Maurice driving them on, gave everything in a thrilling game but with 30 minutes remaining he committed a late tackle on Alun Evans and after a flurry of fists the referee sent the pair off. City survived to draw 0-0, a point which ultimately kept them up at Leicester's expense.

Maurice spent that summer on the transfer list but despite lots of interest he was still at the club when the new season started. The team started well but injuries meant a recall for him in midfield in and the team were unbeaten in five, including the famous 3-1 win at Derby. The changing of the guard was coming however in the shape of another blood and thunder centre-half, Roy Barry. A 0-0 draw at Burnley saw Barry start for the first time with Maurice in midfield and George came off the bench for his final appearance for the club – the only time the awesome trio appeared together.

Roy remembers Maurice fondly: 'He made me very welcome when I came down from Scotland. I was living in a hotel and he took me home for a meal with Cath and his family. He knew his days were numbered with my arrival but he was so kind. During the next few months Maurice, Ernie Hunt and myself got on like a house on fire and were nicknamed the Three Amigos and we had so much fun.'

Maurice was never on the losing side in his nine league games that season and made his final bow for the club, alongside Roy, at Anfield in an FA Cup replay. It ended in a 3-0 defeat and after a handful more reserve games he was on his way to Charlton on a free transfer. He only played eight games for the Valiants but helped steer them away from relegation from Division Two before hanging his boots up at the end of the season.

Within a year he was appointed manager of Fourth Division Doncaster Rovers and spent three and half seasons at Belle Vue the highlight of which was a creditable draw at Anfield in the FA Cup. He became Jack Charlton's assistant at Sheffield Wednesday in 1977 and stayed at Hillsborough for six years before coaching at Rotherham and being chief scout at Newcastle. He later linked up with Jack again from 1986 to 1995 as assistant manager with the Republic of Ireland and as a honorary Irishman helped Jack take the team to the World Cup finals for the first time in 1994.

Maurice was a member of the Former Player's Association but illness prevented him for attending any Legends Days. The Association send their condolences to his family which includes his grandson the former City player Robert Betts.

My friend and fellow City historian David Brassington on hearing the news of Maurice's death summed up everyone's feelings: 'If one player did more than any other to keep us up in that first season in Division One it was Maurice Setters'.