Coventry City F.C.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 08/2016
Full name
Coventry City Football Club
Nicknames
The Sky Blues
Founded
13 August 1883
(as Singers F.C.)
Ground
Ricoh Arena
Capacity
32,609
Owner
Otium Entertainment Group
Chairman
Tim Fisher
Manager
Tony Mowbray
League
League One
2015-16
League One, 8th
Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
Coventry City, which was formed as Singers F.C. in 1883, joined the Football League in 1919.
They won their only major trophy in 1987 when they beat Tottenham Hotspur 3:2 to win the FA Cup in a match listed by the FA as one of the twelve classic FA Cup Finals.
They are one of only five clubs to have ever won the FA Cup and FA Youth Cup 'double' in the same season and they also reached two Football League Cup semi-finals, in 1981 and 1990.
The club, which is nicknamed the Sky Blues owing to the colour of their strip, was an inaugural member of the Premier League in 1992 and had spent 34 consecutive seasons (since 1967) in the English top flight prior to their relegation in 2001.
Following eleven seasons in the second-tier Football League Championship without any significant success, Coventry were relegated to Football League One in 2012, the first time in 48 years that the club played in the English league system's third tier.
Coventry has only qualified for European competition once, during the 1970-71 season, when they competed in the European Fairs Cup (now the UEFA Europa League), reaching the second round.
Despite beating Bayern Munich 2:1 in their home leg, they had lost 1:6 in the first leg in Munich to go out of the competition.
They were unable to compete in the 1987-88 UEFA Cup Winner's Cup due to the ban on English clubs at that time.
From 1899 to 2005, Coventry City played at the Highfield Road stadium.
In 1981 it became the first all-seater stadium in English football, though by the late-1990s the club's directors decided it was time to construct a larger stadium and chose a site in the Rowley's Green area of the city.
The 32,609-capacity Ricoh Arena was opened in August 2005, but following a rent dispute with the ground's owners the club opted to play their home games at Northampton Town's Sixfields Stadium starting in the 2013-14 season.
A return to the Ricoh Arena was announced on 21 August 2014 by the club after a one-year absence.
History in brief
• 1883 - The club is founded by employees of Singer, the cycle firm, with William Stanley one of the leading lights.
• 1898 - The club's name is changed from Singers F.C. to Coventry City.
• 1899 - The club move to Highfield Road following stints at Dowells Field and Stoke Road.
• 1901 - The club suffer their worst ever defeat with an 11:2 loss against Worcester-based Berwick Rangers in the qualifying round of the FA Cup.
• 1919 - The club are voted into the Football League, where they have remained ever since.
• 1928 - In February, and with Coventry struggling near the foot of Division Three South, the club's worst ever attendance is recorded.
Only 2,059 turn up for the match against Crystal Palace.
• 1932 - Centre-forward Clarrie Bourton heads the Football League scoring lists with 49 goals. The following season he scored 40 goals.
• 1934 - City record their biggest ever victory a 9:0 league drubbing of Bristol City.
• 1936 - Coventry City win the Third Division South championship after a nail-biting final day 2:1 victory over Torquay United and return to Division Two after eleven years in the lower division.
• 1958 - Goalkeeper Alf Wood becomes the oldest player to start a game for the club, which this year was a founding member of Division Four (now Football League Two). He played against Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup aged 43 years and 207 days.
• 1961 - Former Fulham player and PFA chairman Jimmy Hill is appointed manager following an embarrassing FA Cup defeat at home to non-league King's Lynn.
• 1964 - Jimmy Hill guides Coventry to promotion from Division Three as champions after a final day 1:0 victory over Colchester United.
• 1967 - Coventry City promoted as Second Division champions to the top flight for the first time in their history. This made manager and BBC Sport presenter Jimmy Hill a legend at the club. Coventry's record attendance was also set in this year – officially recorded as 51,455, (although many people who were at that game suggest the attendance was a lot higher, possibly much over 60,000) against Wolverhampton Wanderers, the team that finished a close second to Coventry at the top of the table.
• 1969-70 - Under Noel Cantwell, Coventry finish 6th in the First Division, their highest League placing.
• 1970 - Coventry qualified for the European Fairs Cup but lost 7:3 on aggregate in the second round to Bayern Munich, despite winning the second leg 2:1 at Highfield Road.
• 1977 - Coventry City escaped relegation after drawing with Bristol City who also escaped relegation.
• The result of this game relegated Sunderland, which has caused many disuputes over the outcome of the match due to the result of the Sunderland game being relayed to Coventry City and Bristol City players for the remainder of the game.
• 1978 - The strike partnership of Ian Wallace and Mick Ferguson helped the Sky Blues finish in seventh position in the First Division, their second-highest ever final league placing, but fractionally missing out on a UEFA Cup place.
• 1981 - The club reaches the League Cup semi-final but are denied their first Wembley appearance by West Ham United, despite being 3:2 ahead after the first leg. Highfield Road becomes England's first all-seater stadium.
• 1987 - The Sky Blues won the FA Cup, beating Tottenham Hotspur in the final. It is their only major trophy to date. They were runners-up to Everton in August in the Charity Shield. Coventry also won the FA Youth Cup in this year.
• 1989 - Coventry were defeated by non-league Sutton United in the FA Cup Third Round, only 19 months after lifting the trophy. However, their impressive league form meant they equalled their best ever end of season placing, finishing seventh once more.
• 1990 - Coventry reached the League Cup semi-final for the second time, but were defeated over two legs by eventual winners Nottingham Forest.
• 1998 - The club reached the FA Cup quarter-final but were denied a semi-final appearance as Sheffield United (a division below them) won the replay at Bramall Lane on penalties.
They also attained their highest Premier League finish of 11th position. Dion Dublin earned the top scorer award, the only one for the club and the second of two players for clubs which never made the top three in the League.
• 2001 - Coventry relegated from the Premier League after 34 years in the first tier. At the time, only Liverpool, Everton and Arsenal could boast longer tenures in the top flight.
• 2004 - Their football academy, based in southeast Coventry at The Alan Higgs Centre, owned by the Alan Higgs Centre Trust, was opened in September 2004.
• 2005 - Coventry relocated to the 32,609 seater Ricoh Arena after 106 years at Highfield Road. The club's last game at Highfield Road stadium results in a 6:2 win over Midlands rivals Derby County in front of a sell-out 22,777 crowd.
• 2007 - Coventry narrowly avoided administration when Ray Ranson and hedge fund managers SISU took over the club with twenty minutes to spare.
• 2008 - The club celebrated its 125th anniversary. They avoided relegation to League One despite being beaten 4:1 at Charlton on the final day of the season.
• 2009 - The first ever complete sell-out of the Ricoh Arena was announced for the FA Cup quarter-final match against Chelsea on 7 March 2009 which Chelsea won 2:0 in front of 31,407.
• 2012 - Coventry are relegated to League One, the third tier in English Football, for the first time in 48 years
• 2013 - The club owners, SISU, place a non-operating subsidiary of the club, which owns no financial assets and has no employee on or off the pitch, into administration.
• The club moved all staff out of the Ricoh Arena and the administrator accepted a bid from the Otium Entertainment Group, a company registered by three ex-Sky Blues directors Ken Dulieu, Onye Igwe and Leonard Brody.
• The club agrees to play future home matches at Sixfields Stadium, Northampton. Following two adjournments a creditors meeting in August rejected a Company Voluntary Arrangement put forward by the administrator.
• 2014 - The club return to the Ricoh Arena.
Playing kit
Colours
Coventry's home shirts are either completely or predominately sky blue. However, in past seasons, different 'home colours' were worn.
For example, in 1889, the then Singers FC wore pink and blue halved shirts (mirroring the corporate colours of Singers Motors).
Furthermore, in the 1890s, black and red were the club's colours. In the early 1920s, the club wore red and green (to reflect the colours of the city crest).
Sky blue was first used by Coventry in 1898 and the theme was used until 1922.
Variations of blue and white were then used until the 1960s and the beginning of the 'sky blue revolution'.
The colour made its return in 1962 thanks to the then manager, Jimmy Hill.
To mark the 125th year of the club, Coventry wore a special brown shirt in the last home game of the 2008-09 season against Watford, having first worn a chocolate brown away kit in 1978.
This kit has been cited by some as the worst in English football history, but also has an iconic status with some fans.
In 2012, in the Third round FA Cup tie versus Southampton, the team wore a commemorative blue and white striped kit, marking the 25th anniversary of the club winning the FA Cup in 1987.
The strip was worn again in January 2013 for Coventry's 3rd round FA Cup fixture with Tottenham Hotspur, whom they beat in the 1987 final.
Players