Coventry City

Coventry City FC were formed in 1883 as Singers FC by workers at the cycle firm of that name. They changed their name to Coventry City in 1898 and moved into their Highfield Road home in 1899 after brief spells at Dowells Field and Stoke Road

In 1908 the club joined the Southern League before being admitted into the Football League in 1919. City played out the majority of the next forty years in Division Three South. Things changed dramatically in 1961 when the former Fulham player and PFA chairman, Jimmy Hill was appointed as manager.

Hill set about revolutionising the club in what was called 'The Sky Blue Revolution' starting by changing the club colours to sky blue from royal blue and white. He wrote the fans the Sky Blue Anthem to the tune of the Eton Boating Song and took the team to promotion to the second tier in 1964. Three years later he took them to the top flight, then Division One. During his time at the club he also implemented the first proper matchday programmes and pre match entertainment while two new stands were built.

Hill controversially left the club before their first season in the top tier to pursue a career in the media. Noel Cantwell took over and led the club to sixth place in 1970 to qualify for the UEFA (Fairs) Cup, only to go out to Bayern Munich. After that the side were mainly involved in battles at the wrong end of the table.

To see a great moment in the clubs history, go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wjq2xT-tx38

Hill returned as Managing Director and then Chairman and in 1981 Highfield Road became the first all seater stadium in England in an attempt to avert hooliganism, but the idea didn't work so areas of terracing were reintroduced. Hill tried to get around the ban on shirt sponsors being displayed on live TV games by applying to change the club name to Coventry Talbot, in a deal with the local car manufacturers. However, the plan failed.

 

A few years earlier Hill had caused more controversy when City needed a better result than relegation rivals Sunderland. Hill had Coventry's home game against Bristol City put back ten minutes 'to allow latecomers entry' while Sunderland kicked off on time at Everton and proceeded to lose two nil. The news was displayed on the scoreboard so City knew they only had to draw to stay up which they did.

In 1987 City won a classic FA Cup Final, defeating Tottenham Hotspur after extra time. In the league they continued to dice regularly with relegation. In 2001 they were eventually demoted from the top flight, then the Premier League.

They found second tier football hard at times and in an attempt to raise finance outside football the club left Highfield Road to move to the outskirts of the city to the newly built Ricoh Arena in 2005. Unfortunately the move nearly crippled the club financially and they were saved by a consortium under the leadership of former full back at amongst others Manchester City, Ray Ranson in 2007.



 

City's struggles continued as gates gradually fell with manager Aidy Boothroyd losing his job as a consequence. Andy Thorn took over but he could not prevent his side being relegated at the end of the 2011-12 season. Soon into the new season Thorn departed to be replaced by Mark Robins with the team near the bottom of the table who set about the difficult task of trying to steady the ship and get the team back up.

Robins did a fine job, but the uncertainty behind the scenes along with an offer to take the managers job at Huddersfield Town, with Steven Pressley taking over. Owners SISU did a deal to place part of the club into administration and moved the team to Sixfields, the home of Northampton Town for the 2013-14 season. This was despite the owners of the Ricoh Arena offering City a rent free deal and much outcry from the Sky Blue fans. The owners announced that they were closing in on a deal to build a new stadium for the club elsewhere in the city.

Coventry City FC will play in the Football League One in the 2013-14 season.


My visits

Coventry City 5 Sunderland 0 (Wednesday 24th January 1990) League Cup Fifth Round Replay

I was at a loose end in Scarborough after finishing work at lunch time, so the chance of going to a new ground definitely appealed to me. I went in the car with fellow Seadog and Sunderland fan Jon 'Doomie' Dyer and a couple of others.

We arrived and parked up relatively early and saw a pub outside the ground that was full of away fans so we tried to get in for a beer. Unfortunately many of the fans were in 'high spirits' and damage had been done, meaning the local constabulary shut it got the evening before we got served. Instead we had to make do with an Indian takeaway and a bottle of pop.

We got inside well before kick off into the already packed away section. We were close to the players tunnel which was at that time near to the corner flag. David Speedie had managed to cause a near riot in the first game at Roker Park getting a Black Cats player sent off. The travelling support weren't slow in showing him their feelings.




 
 








Highfield Road was a decent ground. We were in the Swan Lane End which was separate sections of open terrace. To our left was the Main Stand, This was a single tier of seats with boxes at the front and then a disused paddock. The last two sides were all seated. Behind the goal was the two tiered Nicholls Street Stand. Finally was the Thackhall Street Stand which was a stand behind a large converted paddock.

Sunderland were in the Second Division at the time and were no match for City who slowly got on top before outclassing the visitors. Once again Speedie upset a Sunderland player until he did something silly off the ball to receive his marching orders. The away fans were superb to the end of the game, giving the team an ovation at full time.

We stopped off in Hinckley on the way home for a brief wander round a few pubs where I sampled some majestic Marstons before we suppered on pizza to keep us going on the way home.

Highfield Road after my visit

In its final fifteen years Highfield Road was given a tidy up to deal with the demands of the Premier League and the new age corporate supporter. A single stand was built at the Swan Lane End with a high roof which continued around and covered the Thackhall Street Side. The Main Stand was made single tier with seats right down to the pitch. The final game there was on Saturday 30th April 2005 and saw a 6-2 victory against Derby County.

Coventry City 1 Cardiff City 2 (Tuesday 19th October 2010) Football League Championship (att: 14,604)

 

I was on my way back to London after a marathon few days on the road visiting grounds and watching games in Dublin, Merseyside and Nottinghamshire. A week or two earlier I looked at rail fares and match ticket prices to see if there was any value about.

I got a return from Liverpool to London including a stop at Coventry for £21 and City were offering advanced tickets for a tenner, so it was an easy decision to make. I arrived early in Coventry but found out that the railway station wasn't in the city centre and nowhere near the bus station where I'd need to catch the shuttle to the Ricoh Arena.



 










The Pool Meadow Bus Station didn't have a lot around it so I kept warm in an internet cafe for thirty minutes until I went for the bus. I'd bought a 'match day ticket' which covered all my travel for the night for £3.50 and soon I was on my way. The stadium really did seem a long way out and took a good fifteen minutes to arrive there.

I had a walk behind the impressive complex which also has a theatre, exhibition centre and casino built into the back of the stand on the far side. I soon found my entrance which was opposite where the players come out. The facilities under the stand were fine and much like many other new stadiums. There was the usual bookies, bars and refreshment counters in a very wide concourse with TVs showing Sky Sports News.

I went up to my seat a few minutes before kick off with a bovril and a pie. Purchasing those was interesting in itself. There were stalls for card holders. The prices at these concessions were slightly cheaper but you had to charge your card up in denominations of a fiver. I suppose it saves money if you are a regular, but I bet the club gain money when fans lose them or don't use the full credit.

The Ricoh Arena was impressive once inside. Three sides had a continual single tier of steeply raked seats. The final side had a small tier of seats overhanging the larger lower tier, with a row of corporate hospitality boxes, running along the back of the lower section.

The noise created by the fans was extremely loud and I was struggling to hear the updates on my radio. Cardiff had over a thousand fans in attendance and were soon celebrating when they were awarded a dodgy penalty much to the disgust of the bloke sat opposite me. He was certainly guilty of using industrial language. The stand wasn't very busy and I moved further back. I was glad of the space as I had my travel bag with me.


 









Cardiff had two former Coventry men up front in Craig Bellamy and Jay Bothroyd. Bellamy was getting plenty of abuse, caused by his comments when he'd left the club slating the club, the city and its supporters. In fairness he was having a decent game and The Bluebirds looked good.

Coventry equalised through a fine Gary McSheffrey goal before half time although they couldn't capitalise on it. At the interval the DJ tried to enthuse anyone listening with a competition on the pitch and then the news that one of the prizes to the half time draw were tickets to see Jim Davison at the Arena that weekend. Hardly a good selling point for the vendors I wouldn't have thought?

Coventry bought on controversial signing an serial offender Marlon King but the game looked like finishing level. I made a move to ensure I'd be on the first bus back into town. As I was half way there 5 Live reported on the decisive Cardiff goal. 


 



 










I was back at the railway station with fifteen minutes to spare and another ground off my list. I was glad I was tired and managed to sleep on the train as the carriage was busy with a group who seemed intent on drinking the buffet dry and act accordingly.

The pictures of Highfield Road have been taken from the internet as I didn't take any on my visit and the ground was demolished on my return to the city.