Coventry City fell at the final hurdle, agonisingly losing on penalties to Luton Town in the Championship play-off final on Saturday. Even to reach the final though was a mighty achievement for the Sky Blues and has rightly been acclaimed by the media and the football community.
The penalty shootout was a cruel and brutal way for the adventure to end but the players, staff and fans will always have memories of this incredible season. It might have ended sadly but has still exceeded all expectations.
The standards in the Championship were as high as they have ever been and it was believed that Mark Robins had one of the bottom six budgets in the division with a wage bill probably a quarter of many of the sides in the division, several of whom were in receipt of £40m plus parachute payments following relegation from the Premiership. Notwithstanding this, for the sixth season running Mark Robins improved the club's final league placing – the club's first manager to achieve this. Off the field the club changed hands with Doug King buying out Sisu and clearing any debt. King also tried to buy the stadium when Wasps fell into administration but Mike Ashley's Fraser Group won the day. Later in the season a new five-year deal at the stadium removed much of the uncertainty surrounding the club's home.
In a cash-strapped summer transfer window there was the lowest turnover for many years and this probably helped the stability of the squad. The club were able to fend off serious interest in the big three Gyokeres, Hamer and O'Hare, although O'Hare may have been sold if he hadn't been injured. The one permanent signing was Bristol City's Kasey Palmer, a former Chelsea academy player under Adi Viveash. Three young loan players arrived: Callum Doyle from Manchester City, Jonathan Panzo from Nottingham Forest, another Adi protege, and Tayo Adamarola, the latter quickly returned to Crystal Palace after a horrendous debut. Doyle arrived as a direct replacement for Dom Hyam who was sold to Blackburn for £2 million plus to assuage a short-term cashflow issue resulting from the postponement of the first three home games on the back of the pitch damage from the Commonwealth Games Rugby Sevens.
In addition to O'Hare's injury wows several others had periods out of the team through injury. The rock McFadzean was injured in training during the World Cup break and missed 11 games. Ben Sheaf, a revelation in midfield, missed seven games during the run in. Liam Kelly hadn't started a game for over a year but returned to play an important part in the final four games of the regular season and the play-offs. Kasey Palmer, after a slow start, was in top form when he suffered injury in February and was ruled out for the season. Probably the saddest injury was Fabio Tavares who suffered a hamstring injury in only his second senior start and like Palmer missed the rest of the season.
In the early part of the season with Palmer struggling for fitness, Hyam sold and O'Hare injured, the team looked weaker on paper than the previous campaign and the results looked ominous with City bottom with only one point from the first five games and three games behind everyone else. A watershed came at Luton in game six when with Simon Moore dropped, Ben Wilson grasped the opportunity and the team twice came from behind to gain a point with a gritty performance.
The result was the lift-off for an eight-game run with only one defeat (to Burnley) and six clean sheets with important wins over Sheffield United and Stoke. Callum O'Hare also returned from injury and though there was a blip with a home defeat to Blackpool four straight wins without conceding a goal on the run up to the World Cup break lifted the Sky Blues into a crowded mid-table.
After the break the team lost their momentum for a while and also lost O'Hare through a serious injury. They only won one game in nine including an embarrassing FA Cup exit to Wrexham. The return from injury of Kyle McFadzean and the arrival of Luke McNally (on loan from Burnley) stiffened the defence and sparked the remarkable run of 20 games with only one defeat that took them from 15th place in February to the play-offs through a crowded mid-table. The team remained unbeaten away after the West Brom loss in February and there were big wins at Huddersfield, Blackpool and QPR. The shock 4-0 home defeat to Stoke was the only blot on an otherwise pristine copybook.
Whilst the under performing expensive teams such as Norwich and Watford slipped out of contention and the inconsistent teams like Blackburn and Millwall faded, the Sky Blues overtook them all and entered the top six for the first time after game 44. Birmingham were defeated in front of over 30,000 and the play-off place sealed with a point at the Riverside in a rehearsal for the play-off semi final.
Throughout the season the team continued to play attacking football and winning plaudits from opposition managers for their style. The biggest crowds at the CBS Arena for almost 20 years generated an amazing atmosphere which I'm sure inspired the team and the travelling Sky Blue Army regularly outsang home supporters.There were more and more innovative songs for players and the roar when Josh Eccles netted the first goal against Birmingham could probably be heard at St Andrews.
All the players deserve enormous credit but two players shone more brightly than the rest – Viktor Gyokeres and Gustavo Hamer. They are arguably the best two players the club has had since the club left the Premiership 22 years ago. The fans were treated to virtuoso performances on a regular basis from the Swede whose goals and all round play earned him a regular place in his national side and envious looks from the rest of the division as well as many Premiership clubs. Hamer bounced back from a disappointing start to the season when he picked up two red cards. After returning from a three-game suspension his disciplinary record was exemplary, his form blossomed and any doubts about his stamina were forgotten. Sadly it seems that both glittering stars may move on this summer; their contracts have less than a year to run and the club cannot let them run down and the players leave for nothing. They will both leave the club as true legends and remembered with affection for many years.
2022-23 Appearances & goalscorers
| PLAYER | LEAGUE | CUP & OTHERS | SEASONS TOTAL | ||||||
| GYOKERES | 44 | 2 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 47 | 3 | 22 |
| WILSON | 43 | 1 | 4 | 47 | 0 | 1 | |||
| BIDWELL | 40 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 44 | 6 | 1 | |
| DOYLE | 39 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 43 | 3 | 0 | ||
| HAMER | 39 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 42 | 3 | 11 |
| McFADZEAN | 34 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 38 | 1 | 2 | ||
| ALLEN | 34 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 37 | 5 | 7 |
| SHEAF | 33 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 36 | 2 | 3 | |
| ECCLES | 27 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 29 | 9 | 1 | |
| PANZO | 24 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 25 | 7 | 1 | |
| GODDEN | 22 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 10 | 8 | |
| DABO | 20 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 22 | 9 | 0 | ||
| McNALLY | 19 | 3 | 22 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| PALMER | 19 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 11 | 4 |
| ROSE | 18 | 6 | 2 | 20 | 6 | 0 | |||
| NORTON-CUFFY | 14 | 7 | 3 | 17 | 7 | 0 | |||
| O'HARE | 8 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 0 | ||||
| KELLY | 3 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 0 | |||
| BURROUGHS | 5 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 0 | ||
| WILSON-ESBRAND | 5 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 0 | ||||
| WALKER | 3 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 1 | ||
| WAGHORN | 3 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 1 | |
| MOORE | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| TAVARES | 9 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 0 | ||||
| KANE | 2 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 0 | |||
| HOWLEY | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | |||
| HYAM | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| MAGUIRE | 1 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 0 | ||||
| ADARAMOLA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| og | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
(All records are for the regular league season unless specified)
Games: Coventry City played 51 competitive games, 46 league, 1 FA Cup, 1 League Cup and 3 Play-off games.
Points: From 46 league games the Sky Blues gathered 70 points, six more than the previous season and the highest since 2017-18 when they reached 75 points in League Two. It was the highest total in the Championship since the club dropped out of the Premiership in 2001.
Home Form: 11 wins, 7 draws, 5 defeats. The team gathered 40 home points the club's best haul since the League Two season in 2017-18 (43) and the best at tier 2 since 2005-06 (43). It was also the fifth best in the division.
Away Form: 7 wins, 9 draws, 7 losses. A strong away record with 1 more point than 2021-22. 30 points is the club's best away haul in the Championship since 2001. The early season away record was poor but from February the team were unbeaten in 11 away games (counting the Wembley result as a draw), equalling a run by John Sillett's team in 1988 and the best away run since the 1966-67 promotion season.
Biggest win: The biggest league win of the season was the 4-0 away win at Huddersfield in March. City also scored four at Blackpool. They only scored more than two goals twice at home, a 3-3 draw with Swansea and a 3-4 loss to Wrexham in the FA Cup.
Biggest defeat: The 0-4 defeat at home to Stoke was the heaviest league defeat of the season and the heaviest home loss since Blackburn won 4-0 at St Andrews in 2020. It was the heaviest defeat at the CBS Arena since Yeovil won 6-2 in League Two in 2018.
Goals for: The total of 58 league goals was two less than 2021-22. In total they failed to score twelve times in 46 games.
Goals against: City conceded 46 goals, thirteen less than 2021-22 and the fourth best in the division. This is the lowest conceded in a season since 1997-98 when 44 were conceded in a 38-game season. 46 is the lowest for a 46-game season in the club's history.
Clean sheets: Ben Wilson kept 20 clean sheets in the regular season, 10 more than the 2021-22 season. There were two club records broken this season. The team record of 18 set in 1938-39 and equalled in 1958-59 was smashed and Ben took the individual title from Bill Morgan who kept 17 of the 18 in 1938-39. In a remarkable run in the autumn the team went 427 minutes without conceding a goal, the best run since 2015 and recorded 10 clean sheets in 13 games, conceding just five goals.
Final position: The final position of 5th was a remarkable achievement. In mid-October, after 11 games, the team were 24th, albeit with three games in hand and only got into the top six on 22nd April. They spent far less time in the top six than the 2021-22 season and far less than teams such as early season pacesetters Reading and QPR. Fifth in tier two is the highest league position the club has achieved since leaving the Premiership in 2001.
Leading scorers: For the second season running Viktor Gyokeres was leading scorer with 22 goals, 21 in the league, and one in the FA Cup. Gustavo Hamer with eleven (9 league, 2 play-offs) was runner up. Thirteen different City players were on the score-sheet during the season. Gyokeres' equalled Callum Wilson's 22 goals in 2013-14 and only one player, Mark McNulty, with 23 league and 28 in all comps, in 2017-18, has scored more in the last 45 years. No Coventry played had scored 20 or more league goals in a tier two season since Bobby Gould scored 24 in 1966-67.
Doubles: City achieved only two doubles - over QPR and Huddersfield. It was the first double over Huddersfield since 1971-72, although the clubs have rarely met in the intervening years. It was the first over QPR since 2005-06. Two teams did the double over City – Norwich and Burnley. Norwich's double was their first over City since 1980-81 when Greg Downs scored the winner for the Canaries at Highfield Road.
Appearances: No player started all 46 league games but Viktor Gyokeres with 44 starts and two sub appearances was involved in all but one game. The Swede has only missed one game in the last two seasons. Jake Bidwell appeared in 45 league games (40 starts, 5 subs) whilst Ben Wilson started 43 games. Gyokeres is only the third outfield player to appear in all 46 league games since City left the Premiership – Richard Keogh (46) in 2011-12, Callum O'Hare (40+6) in 2020-21 are the others.
Players used: 28 players were used in league games (three more than 2021-22) - and one, Tayo Adamarola, appeared in one League Cup games. Of the 29 players, eight made their debuts during the season – six of them loanees and one, Maguire on a short term deal. In addition to the 29 players used, three more: Josh Reid, Cian Tyler and Harrison Nee sat on the bench as substitutes but were not used.
Records: Ten of the Sky Blues squad have played 100 games or more for the club with Liam Kelly and Kyle McFadzean over 150. Seven of the ten played for the club in League One. Ben Wilson became only the second Coventry City goalkeeper to score a goal when he scored the late equaliser at Blackburn – the only other 'keeper to score was Steve Ogrizovic at Sheffield Wednesday in 1986.
Substitutes: Tyler Walker made the most substitute appearances (15 in the league) with Kasey Palmer second with 10. Jamie Allen was the most substituted player (14 times in league). Only three goals were scored by substitutes: Martyn Waghorn (Sheffield United h), Walker (Huddersfield a) and Godden (Blackpool a). Waghorn was only the sixth substitute to score a penalty for the club. Simon Moore was the most unused substitute, staying on the bench 39 times and Jack Burroughs was unused in 16 games. There were two games where Mark Robins didn't use any substitute, the QPR and Watford home games. Previously there was only one occasion in six seasons that he has kept all his subs on the bench.
Won from behind: (0) In 2021-22 the Sky Blues came from behind to win a record seven times but amazingly in this memorable season they failed to comeback to win. They did achieve draws after falling behind seven times, at home to Rotherham, Luton, Hull and Watford and in away games at Sunderland, Luton and Blackburn. Only seven points were won from losing positions compared to 27 points in 2021-22.
Lost from in front: (2) City lost two league games from being ahead (at Millwall and at home to Blackpool). At Millwall they lost after taking a two goal lead for the first time since 2011 in an FA Cup tie at Birmingham and for the first time in the league since 2009 at home to Watford. They had not lost a game at the CBS Arena after taking the lead since August 2018 when Scunthorpe won 2-1 but Blackpool took advantage of a flu-ridden City side to win 2-1. On four occasions City took the lead only to be pegged back for draws – Swansea and Bristol City at home, Wigan and Middlesbrough away. The Swansea game was a major aberration – the first time City have drawn from being three up since a home draw with Brighton in 1980. 14 points were lost from leading positions.
Best run: If you count the Wembley outcome the Sky Blues best run was ten, from the Stoke home loss until the end of the season. They were nine unbeaten in the league between the defeat at West Brom in early February and the home loss to Stoke on 1st April.
Worst run: The worst league run was seven without a win at the start of the season. The run contained four defeats and three draws and was ended with a 1-0 home victory over Middlesbrough. During that awful run the team also lost to Bristol City in the League Cup.
Hat-tricks: (0) No player scored a hat-trick for the Sky Blues. Gyokeres (3) and Godden (1) scored braces.
Opposing hat-tricks: (1) Hull City's Colombian striker Oscar Estupinan became the first opposition player to score a hat-trick against the Sky Blues since Northampton's Keshi Anderson in March 2017. Estupinan also scored in the return at the CBS and achieved a rare feat of four goals against City in a season last achieved by Cambridge United's Luke Berry in 2016-17.
Former Players: Only one former City player scored against the Sky Blues – Blackpool's Gary Madine, for the second season running.
Own goals: For City: (1) Blackpool's Curtis Nelson was the only opposition player to score in his own net (in the away game at Bloomfield Road).
Own goals: By City: (2) Michael Rose scored an own goal for Norwich in the game at Carrow Road. Kyle McFadzean scored in his own net in the 1-1 draw at Wigan.
Penalties: For City: (7) Seven awarded, six scored. Three scored by Gyokeres, two by Godden and one by Waghorn. Gyokeres missed one at Sheffield United.
Penalties: Against City: (2) One factor in the team's improvement this season has been the penalty area discipline. Seven penalties were conceded in 2021-22 but only two conceded this campaign. Jerry Yates netted from the spot at Blackpool after McFadzean's foul and Wrexham's Paul Mullin netted in the FA Cup tie after Panzo's handball.
Fastest Goal scored: Kyle McFadzean scored in the second minute at Millwall.
Fastest Goal conceded: Luton's Tom Lockyer scored after 35 seconds in the game at the CBS.
Late goals: In season 2021-22 City scored 11 goals in added time – many of them to secure victories or draws. This season there were six with the latest being Gyokeres' solo effort at home to Wigan and Ben Wilson's equaliser at Blackburn, both timed at 95 minutes. In total there were ten goals after the 80th minute. In addition to Wilson's vital goal there were two crucial Gyokeres penalties in added time, an equaliser at home to Rotherham and a winner against West Brom. By contrast only two teams scored against the Sky Blues in added time and neither affected the outcome of the game.
Red cards: Coventry: (4): Four players were sent off. Gus Hamer twice (at Millwall and Birmingham), Jonathan Panzo (Wrexham) and Josh Wilson-Esbrand (Luton (h))
Red cards: Opponents: (2) Two opponents were sent off Jake Garratt (Blackburn h) and John Egan (Sheffield United a)
FA Cup: The Sky Blues were knocked out in a thrilling third round tie by National League side Wrexham. It was the fourth exit to a non-league side since World War Two and the eighth since the club joined the Football League in 1919.The only positive was the attendance of 18,218, boosted by a large away following, the largest FA Cup crowd at the stadium since the Chelsea tie in 2009.
League Cup: The Sky Blues fell at the first hurdle suffering defeat to Championship side Bristol City in a game moved to Burton because of the CBS pitch issues.
Bookings: Kyle McFadzean topped the yellow cards chart with 12 but managed to avoid suspension. Ben Sheaf wasn't so lucky, he picked up nine yellows and got a one match ban. Gus Hamer, who had picked up 24 in the previous two seasons, had only eight but dramatically improved his behaviour after his second red at Birmingham. Following his suspension he went 23 games without a booking.
Home Attendances: The average home attendance for the second season back at the CBS Arena was 20,369, up 4% from the previous campaign. It was the sixth highest in the Championship and is the highest home average since 2005-06, the first season at the Arena when the average was 21,211. Other than the last five years in the Premiership (1996-2001) when the average was typically around 20,000, you have to go back to the 1970s when home gates were so high.
Away Attendances: An average of 19,592 watched City's away games, an increase of 12% – the second highest in the Championship.
Highest home attendance: The final home game of the regular season against Birmingham City attracted the largest crowd, 30,175. The 'home' element of the crowd that day was 25,675. The attendance was the highest league attendance at a home game at the Arena. You have to go back to January 1980 for the previous highest when 31,644 watched a 1-0 win over Liverpool.
Lowest home attendance: 16,446 v Millwall on a Tuesday night in February. There were 2,680 at Burton for the League Cup game.
Highest away attendance: Wembley obviously was the highest attendance of the season with 85,711 watching the play-off final – the third highest crowd ever to watch City after the 1987 Cup final and Charity Shield. The highest league crowd was 40,851 v Sunderland which was the highest league crowd to watch a City game since they left the Premiership in 2001. That season over 67,000 watched City at Old Trafford.
Lowest away attendance: 9,546 at Luton in September.
Away followings: The average away following to watch the Sky Blues' league games was 2,054, an increase of 8% on the previous campaign. I believe it is the fourth highest in the Championship. If there had been no restriction on the number of away fans at some grounds this figure would have been higher. This figure is the highest since accurate figures were recorded from 2006 and probably since the Jimmy Hill era in the 1960s for which there are no accurate records. The largest away following, apart from Wembley, was to Blackpool when 3,777 City fans were there with the smallest 846 for the midweek game at Preston. There were some very large away followings at the CBS with the highest being Birmingham who brought 4,500 and West Brom and Wrexham a few less. The smallest at the CBS was 624 for Wigan's midweek visit and there were 354 Bristol City fans at Burton.
Television: There were seven live televised games for the club, all on Sky. Four were home games (Norwich, Sunderland, Watford and Middlesbrough play-off game) plus the Sunderland and Middlesbrough play-off away games and the Play-off final against Luton.
Captains: City had three different starting captains during the season, Liam Kelly, who was club captain, Kyle McFadzean, Jamie Allen all took the armband during the season. Gus Hamer and Matt Godden did take the armband following substitutions.
Awards: Viktor Gyokeres won two EFL Player of the Month awards – the first City player to achieve this honour and was also chosen in the EFL Team of the Season along with Ben Wilson. The only surprise was that Gus Hamer wasn't selected. The Swede was also nominated for the Player of the Season award which was won by Middlesbrough's Chuba Akpom. Manager Mark Robins won the EFL Championship Manager of the Month for November – his fourth such award whilst at the club (a club record) – and was one of three nominations for Manager of the Season but was pipped by Vincent Kompany.
Kits: City wore three different kits during the season. The Sky Blue kit was worn in 22 home games and 11 away games. The purple kit was used in three away games (1 draw, 2 defeats). The Cathedral third kit was worn in one home game (Cardiff) and ten away games (3 wins, 5 draws, 3 defeats).The purple kit was a retro version of the away kit in 1995-96 and failed to produce a victory then when it was worn on six occasions. By far the most successful kit for away games was the Sky Blue one; it was worn in 12 away games and although it was unsuccessful in the first three away games it proved unbeatable subsequently. In an unbeaten run there were five wins, one draw and three defeats.
Bogeys: City failed to end their dreadful record at Preston's Deepdale. They have never won a league game in 21 visits to the ground but at least got a point. City drew both games with Swansea but have now gone 14 league games since their last victory back in the old First Division in 1981. Luton continue to haunt City and have not lost any of the last nine meetings between the clubs. At least the West Brom CBS bogey was broken with City's first win over the Baggies at the CBS at the sixth attempt. City's win at the Riverside in the play-off semi final was the first ever win at Boro's 'new' stadium. Previously they had failed to win in 12 visits going back to 1995 when the stadium was opened. Norwich are becoming a bogey side for City – in nine meetings since 2009 City have failed to beat the Canaries.
Player of the Season: Gyokeres and Hamer picked up most of the Player of the Season awards from the various supporters' clubs. I record my 1-2-3 man of the match for every game and although it is very subjective my overall 1-2-3 were: 1 Hamer 2 Sheaf 3 McFadzean.
Game of the season: Another remarkable season saw so many highlights. For me the best game was the home victory over league leaders QPR in November. The performance of the campaign has to be the victory in the play-off semi final at the Riverside. That night was up there with the great nights I have had following the Sky Blues for the last 60 years.
With many thanks to Paul O'Connor.
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