They then suffered a reversal of fortune, going eleven games without victory, and by February the lead was down to just one point. [165] The FA Cup run began with a third-round tie against Third Division side Bolton Wanderers, managed at the time by future Coventry manager Phil Neal. [38] Beginning with a 5–0 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur,[39] City lost their first ten games in 1919–20 and failed to record a win until Christmas Day. The club played some positive football and possessed two top-class players in Ndlovu and Phil Babb, but remained unable to play consistently through a whole season and finished 11th. The club decided not to pay its players for the last few games of the season, which led to a strike. He led Coventry to a 4–1 demolition of Barnsley and secured 17th place (lower mid-table) in the Championship after a 2–1 away win over Burnley in the season's final game. [72] They suffered a major setback when Bayliss, who was returning from a scouting mission to Scotland, became stranded in a snowstorm in Yorkshire. This was particularly disappointing for Coventry fans, as the club had been one of the favourites to win the title at the start of the season. Watch highlights from 12th April 1987, as the Sky Blues beat Leeds United in the FA Cup Semi-Final The signing of defender Martin McDonnell led to a temporary improvement, but another poor run in the new year left the club facing relegation. Association football was reintroduced with the arrival of the bicycle industry in the city, and an influx of workers from Birmingham and the Black Country. In his 1968 book about the club's history, Henderson wrote "like a mountaineer who climbs his mountain just because it is there, [Hill] has to go on and seek another mountain to conquer". City were placed in the latter following their bottom-half finish, consigning them to their lowest tier of football since joining the Football League. During their promotion season, the club went 25 games undefeated and reportedly attracted a crowd of over 50,000 spectators for a match with Wolverhampton Wanderers. from 1988-1989. Ellis then called the game off. [83] The first part of the season was mixed, with good results at home offset by a poor away record. [90] But a run of three defeats in the final matches meant that they missed out. [229] They eventually finished in 15th position. Coventry City entered the FA Cup in the third round, as they participated in the Football League First Division, the top tier of English league football. Their form deserted them, however, and they failed to win a single league game between 1 November 2016 and 18 February 2017, losing twelve and drawing two during that period. [162] In 1985–86 they faced their third successive relegation battle which went down to the final game. Chas and Dave joined the Spurs squad to sing about 'Hot Shot Tottenham' but unfancied Coventry City pulled off one of the great giantkillings in FA Cup final history to … Harry Storer left to manage Birmingham City in 1945, while players such as William Morgan, Jack Astley, and George Taylor retired from the game. [236], Coventry won their first two games back in the league's bottom division, going briefly to the top of the table in mid-August 2017. [81] But newspaper reports at the time suggested that he may have been ousted by the board as a result of the club's recent downturn in form. [44], The club reverted to their traditional blue-and-white colours at the beginning of 1925–26 but this did not inspire a reversal in the ongoing slump. [65] The season marked the first time Coventry met with local-rivals Aston Villa in league football, and supporters were rewarded with a win and a draw as well as a higher-placed finish than the Birmingham club. After a number of game cancellations in April due to a bout of flu, Coventry had three games to play after most other teams had completed their fixtures. On 14 December 2007, Ray Ranson and the SISU group successfully completed the takeover of the football club with half an hour to spare before going into administration. Find top songs and albums by Coventry City 1987 F.A. [265][266] Another run of poor form followed, leaving them outside the play-off zone by mid-February,[267][268] but with 3 defeats in their final 14 games they were able to secure a sixth place and a play-off berth. The fans, who had assumed Mortimer would be the player around whom the team was built, were outraged at the apparent lack of ambition at Coventry, and the sale proved to be poor value as Mortimer went on to have a stellar career and captaincy at Villa, culminating in victory in the 1982 European Cup Final. [235] In August 2013, SISU applied for a judicial review into Coventry City Council's loan of £14 million to ACL;[236] this concluded in June 2014 with a decision that the deal did not amount to amounted to unlawful state aid. They eventually succumbed in this competition after a 2–1 loss to the Premiership's West Ham United in a game the Sky Blues completely dominated (West Ham's goals came from a cruel deflection and a highly fortunate goal deep into injury time), thus missing out on a lucrative place in the quarter-finals. In the FA Cup final, they beat Tottenham Hotspur 3–2 in the final after extra time, the score having been 2–2 after 90 minutes. McIntyre also fell out with the board, accusing them of meddling in team management. John Sillett felt that there was a bubble in the transfer market at the time and declined to spend large amounts of money on players despite having funds available. [114] On 6 March 1968 a large fire broke out in the main stand, destroying half the seats as well as melting the Second Division championship trophy. [125] Their league form also slumped, as they finished in tenth place with just 37 goals scored, and they were beaten in the FA Cup by Third Division club Rochdale. [220][221] The club claimed that the annual rent of £1.2million was too high for them, and would not be sustainable given their imminent drop to League One. McIntyre made several new signings and City finally began to enjoy greater success on the field. Houchen's goal ten minutes later gave them a 2–1 lead but Leeds equalised with seven minutes remaining. Reid caused further anger when he worked in Portugal for the BBC during the summer of 2004, when many felt he should have been scouting and trying to improve the stretched playing squad. [89] When the club's goalkeeper, Jim Sanders, broke his leg in September Frith persuaded 44-year-old Alf Wood, who played his first game in 1938 and had returned to the club as a trainer, to take his place. [124] The European campaign started well, with an easy win over two legs against Trakia Plovdiv,[122] but a 6–1 defeat in Germany against Bayern Munich effectively ended the campaign after two rounds. [69] The only player connected with the club to be killed during the war was Arthur Bacon, who had played for City until 1935, but the successful team of the 1930s would nonetheless not reform. [40], Pollitt had left City in the 1920 close season and was replaced by Albert Evans. [29], Coventry City struggled in their first season of Southern League football, partly because their election was confirmed too late for them to sign new players suitable for the new level of football and because star-player Lewis left the club. They cited health reasons for his departure, and chairman Shanks insisted at the press conference that he was not leaving to pursue opportunities overseas. [76] The team was run by the board for a two months, after which Jack Fairbrother took over as manager. [210][207] McAllister, labelled by club historian Jim Brown as "the fulcrum of all the team's moves" during the season, left the club in the summer. [130] They started out the 1972–73 season with the existing squad, seeking to play in what Mercer called "the attractive way". This filing alleged that the deal broke the European Union state aid laws, on the grounds that Coventry City Council had undervalued the stadium when they sold their share. But once again their form deserted them after the new year, and after a run even worse than the previous season's were saved only through a last-day win against Norwich, Birmingham being relegated instead as they failed to beat Southampton. [35] Although no football was played for the next few years City still had liabilities and in 1917 had to be rescued by David Cooke, who paid off the debts and began replenishing the club's staff. [176][177] The season was a disappointment, however, with their defence of the FA Cup ending in a fourth-round home defeat to Watford and another tenth-place league finish. This earned Robins the manager of the month award for December and a play-off place seemed possible. The new recruits included members of the future cup-winning side, Dave Bennett, Michael Gynn and Trevor Peake, as well as Micky Adams, Sam Allardyce and Stuart Pearce, the last of whom joined from non-league Wealdstone a few months into the season. This is a list of the significant events to occur at the club during the 2013–14 season, presented in chronological order. [154] Dave Sexton was also dismissed and the terrace on the Kop re-introduced, ending Hill's all-seat experiment. [5] They following season was even more successful with only four defeats and twenty-six wins from their thirty-four games,[16] as well as a cup treble: the team lifted the Wednesbury and Walsall Cups as well as successfully defending the Birmingham Junior Cup. The quarter-final was at Hillsborough against Sheffield Wednesday and scores were level after a first-half Regis goal was cancelled out by a 67th-minute equaliser by Gary Megson. [42][43] Eighteenth- and nineteenth-place finishes followed in the subsequent two seasons and in 1924–25, facing their sixth relegation battle in a row, Coventry finally succumbed and were relegated to the Third Division North. Spending some of the profits made from their success, John Sillett bought David Speedie for £780,000, a club-record at the time, announcing that the club would "no longer be shopping at Woolworth's, from now on we're shopping at Harrods". A run of six games with only one defeat in the spring took the club clear of the relegation fight, but a poor run-in saw them finish in 15th. [147], During the close-season Coventry sold Ian Wallace to Nottingham Forest for a fee of £1.25 million, using the proceeds to fund a new sports centre at the club training ground in Ryton-on-Dunsmore. The club first joined the Football League after World War I and in 1938, the club missed out on promotion to the First Division by one point. It is generally considered as one of finest finals of all time in terms of footballing technique, fair play and sheer excitement. [139] It was not initially clear what Hill's role would be, and his Coventry City duties were combined the job with his ongoing television and consultancy work,[136] but his arrival was greeted with less optimism than when he had first joined the club in 1961. On the final day of the season City lost 2–0 at Aston Villa, ex-City-hero Cyrille Regis scoring the opener, but they were saved from relegation as rivals Luton were also defeated. [91], The 1961–62 season marked the beginning of what would later be called the "Sky Blue revolution", as Jimmy Hill replaced Frith as manager in December. [140] More significant, however, was the return of Jimmy Hill to the club as managing director, which was announced at the end of the 1974–75 season. The Sky Blues twice came from behind to beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 after extra time in the final. Another returnee was George Lowrie, who had been signed in 1939 and would go on to become the club's leading centre-forward. Club president George Singer, who was also mayor of Coventry in the early 1890s, favoured calling the club after the city but there was insufficient support within the club administration. The club was founded in 1883 as Singers F.C. They again finished fourth in 1938–39. [198] They avoided the drop by winning three of their final six games and benefiting on the final day as Manchester City played out a 2–2 draw without attempting to win, under the false belief that this would keep them up. After falling behind in the second half, they eventually won the game to assure their League One status. [66] With Luton drawing their final game, it seemed like promotion would be missed once again. This, however, lessened after only 4 points and 2 goals from the first 4 games and the sale of star player, Gary McSheffrey to local rivals Birmingham City for a maximum of £4million, with £2.3 million upfront and the rest based on Birmingham and international appearances. [46] This switch meant that some years later they were could claim the distinction of being the only club to appear in every division of the Football League – First, Second, Third, Third–South, Third–North, and Fourth.

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