Coventry City

Coventry City badge
Full name	Coventry City Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Sky Blues, The Singers,
Founded	1883
Ground	Ricoh Arena, Coventry CV6 6GE
Capacity	32,609
Chairman	Ray Ranson
Caretaker Manager	John Harbin
League	The Championship
2006–07	Championship, 17th
Home colours Away colours

Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, is an English football club based in Coventry, England. Coventry City were founding members of the FA Premier League in 1992. They currently play in the Coca-Cola Championship, the second-highest tier of the English league system. They were managed by Iain Dowie until February 11 2008, following the departures of Micky Adams on 17 January 2007, and Caretaker Manager Adrian Heath on 18 February 2007. A take-over with SISU Capital was agreed on 14 December 2007.

Between 1967 and 2001, a period of 34 years, they were continuously members of England's top division although they never finished higher than sixth. At the time of their eventual relegation, only Arsenal, Liverpool and Everton could claim to have amassed a longer tenure in top-flight English football than Coventry. Their only major trophy came in 1987 when they beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 to win the FA Cup, whilst they also reached two League Cup semi-finals in 1981 and 1990.

From 1899 to 2005, Coventry City played at the Highfield Road stadium. During the 1980s it became the first all-seater stadium in English football, but by the end of the following decade the club's directors decided it was time to build a bigger stadium and chose a site in the Foleshill area of the city. The Ricoh Arena was opened in August 2005.

Their football academy, based in southeast Coventry at The Alan Higgs Centre, owned by the Alan Higgs Trust, was opened in September 2004.^[1][2] On 11 February 2008 the Coventry Board relieved Iain Dowie of his duties.

History

Formation

When originally founded in 1883 by the employees of a cycle manufacturer, the club was known by the name of that company, Singers (a local firm). Ten years later, the club turned professional after a very successful season (1891-92) in which three separate cups were won (The Birmingham Cup, The Wednesbury Cup and The Walsall Cup). Local businessman David Cooke (later to become an infamous chairman) produced a 'Three Cups Tobacco' to celebrate the event. In 1898, the club was renamed Coventry City just prior to a move to new playing fields on the site of Highfield Road in the Hillfields district of the city, the stadium they called home for the next 106 years. The club became a registered Limited Company in 1907 recording a capital of £2,000 in 5-shilling shares.

Coventry City were originally known as 'the Bantams' (a nickname shared with Bradford City before adopting their sky blue identity in the early 1960s. Coventry were first called the Bantams in December 1908 after the local newspaper noted that they were one of the few clubs who did not have a nickname. Being the lightweights of the Southern League, the Bantams was suggested and stuck with the press and supporters. (They remained as the 'Bantams' until the summer of 1962 when Jimmy Hill re-christened them the 'Sky Blues' and the club switched to an all sky blue kit.)

Rising to the top....

The club was elected to Football League Division Two immediately after the First World War. In the first season they found themselves second-from-bottom with only two games to play, both of which were against Bury F.C. Coventry narrowly avoided relegation, drawing 2-2 at Bury and winning 2-1 at home, consigning Lincoln City to relegation from the league. However, three years later in March 1923, an FA investigation concluded that 'an arrangement was made between Bury and Coventry City, allowing the latter to win'. The Coventry City chairman David Cooke, along with ten other officials, received a life ban from football.

In the same season Coventry City went eleven games (equivalent to 997 minutes of football) without scoring a single goal, a feat which is believed to still be a league record. In contrast, in April 1934 Coventry recorded their largest ever league victory, 9-0 against Bristol City F.C. This tally included five goals from cult City striker Clarrie Bourton, who still holds the record for the number of goals scored in one season (50).

The introduction of a new continental-style all sky blue kit (making Coventry the first team to play in matching shorts and shirts) and the new nickname the 'Sky Blues' in 1962 was the start of a revolution at Coventry City, aided by investment by chairman Derrick Robins. They had won promotion from the Fourth Division in 1959 and, basking in the success of England's legendary win the 1966 World Cup, finished the 1966-67 season as Division Two Champions, under the management of Jimmy Hill. City went unbeaten in 25 games as they were promoted to the promised land - Division 1. During this period, attendances rapidly increased and a League Cup quarter-final fixture with local rivals Wolves attracted a record 51,400 crowd at the Highfield Road stadium, which has stood to this day.

Hill's revolutionary touch saw him introduce special sky blue trains to away matches, pre-game and half-time entertainment (pre-dating Sky Television by almost 30 years), supplied young fans with soft drinks and snacks, and even penned the club's signature anthem "The Sky Blue Song" (sung to the tune of the Eton Boating Song). Controversially, Jimmy Hill resigned from the club on the eve of the team's First Division debut to move into a career in television.

.... And staying there

Coventry retained their First Division status at the end of the 1967-68 season and would continue to defy the odds as the seasons passed, finishing between 6th and 19th in the top division and sometimes avoiding relegation on the last day of the season when all hope seemed gone.

In 1970 Coventry scored one of the most famous goals in the history of the game. In their home game against Everton F.C., City were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the Toffees' penalty area. Willie Carr proceeded to grip the ball between his ankles before flicking it up into the air behind him for Ernie Hunt to volley it over a bewildered Everton wall and into the top corner. Though the 'Donkey kick' was allowed to stand, the FA banned the technique on the grounds that it constituted a 'double-touch' of the ball. Aside from changing the laws of the game, the goal also won the Match of the Day 'Goal of the Season' competition.

In 1970-71, manager Noel Cantwell led Coventry into their only European campaign to date. They played in the European Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (renamed the UEFA Cup the following season), beating Bulgarian side Trakia Plovdiv 6-1 on aggregate in the first round. In the second round they notably beat Bayern Munich (a team that included a young Franz Beckenbauer) 2-1 in the home leg, but lost 3-7 on aggregate.

Jimmy Hill returned as Managing Director in 1974 and continued to reform the game. In 1975 Derrick Robins retired as chairman, emigrating to South Africa, to be replaced by Jimmy Hill. In 1981 he transformed Highfield Road into the country's first all-seater stadium under the slogan "You can't be a hooligan sitting down.". However, the idea backfired when Leeds United fans tore the seats out to use them as missiles when they lost their League Cup quarter-final to Coventry. The terraces were reinstated and Hill left the club in 1983. The stadium also gained the first electronic scoreboard, flashing in scores from around the country. The 1983-84 season also saw Coventry thrashing Liverpool 4-0 at Highfield Road, at a time when Liverpool were arguably the best team in the world and constituting the Reds' single worst defeat in over a decade.

Coventry City have a reputation for 'innovative' kit designs. The club's chocolate brown 'egg timer' away shirt of the mid-late 1970s regularly tops polls for the worst kit in football league history, a fact that has since given it cult status in the game. The club re-issued replicas of the shirts in 2000 in response to increased interest in vintage shirts.

The 1980-81 season saw Coventry reach the League Cup semi-final, narrowly losing away to West Ham United in the second-leg after being ahead from the first game. The following season saw the club banned from wearing their home shirts during televised games. Under advertising regulations, teams were not permitted to display sponsors names on their shirts (this ban was lifted for the 1983-84 season). Coventry had just announced the football league's first club sponsorship deal, and so to work around the ban Jimmy Hill tried to have the club renamed 'Coventry Talbot' to highlight the partnership with the locally-based car manufacturer. When this failed he commissioned a club home shirt onto which the Talbot 'T' symbol was boldly integrated into the design, which was promptly banned for televised games.

FA Cup glory & 1987-1990

In 1987 they won the FA Cup, beating an impressive Tottenham Hotspur side 3-2 in the final after extra time, the score having been 2-2 after 90 minutes. It is generally considered as one of finest finals of all time in terms of footballing technique, fair play and sheer excitement. This also finally made archaic the famous Monty Python 'World Forum' sketch, in which Coventry City's last FA Cup win is a trick question asked in a game show, as they hadn't won the Cup to that point. They were denied their chance to play in the European Cup Winners' Cup because of the ban on English teams following the 1985 Heysel Disaster.

Coventry City's youth team also won the FA Youth Cup in 1987 (beating Charlton Athletic 2-1) to secure a remarkable 'double'. Aside from Coventry, only Arsenal, Liverpool and Everton have ever won both the FA Cup and FA Youth Cup in the same season.

Key players in Coventry City's FA Cup winning team included goalkeeper Steve Ogrizovic, defender and captain Brian Kilcline, midfielders Dave Bennett and Lloyd McGrath, and strikers Cyrille Regis and Keith Houchen, who scored the famous diving header. Their manager at the time was John Sillett.

The following season's opening game, the Charity Shield against Everton, saw Sillett introduce his new signing David Speedie with the quote "For too long this club has shopped at Woolworth's, from now on we'll be shopping at Harrods." In 1988-89, he guided Coventry to the club's second best ever league finish of seventh place in the First Division - ahead of bigger and higher-spending clubs like Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. However, the season also saw Coventry lose in the third round of the FA Cup to Sutton United at Gander Green Lane - the last time a non-league team has knocked-out a team from the top flight of English football in the FA Cup. City lost 2-1 in a close game on a terrible playing surface, though Coventry fans were understandably incensed by the humiliation of the result and some of their players' post-match excuses.

The 1989-90 season saw Coventry reach another League Cup semi-final, narrowly (and many still believe unfairly) losing to the eventual winners Nottingham Forest.

Near misses

By 1990-91, Coventry's problems with league form returned and in November 1990 Sillett was sacked after five years in charge. He was replaced by Terry Butcher, the former England defender who was released from his contract with Rangers in a £350,000 deal. Butcher, aged 32, became player-manager and at the time was the youngest manager employed in English league football. However, he was sacked in January 1992 after just over one year in charge. Don Howe took over as interim manager until the end of the season. His replacement was West Bromwich Albion's Bobby Gould, who in 1988 had led Wimbledon to a famous FA Cup final triumph over Liverpool.

Coventry narrowly avoided relegation at the end of the 1991-92 season and the club took its place in the inaugural FA Premier League.

Life in the Premiership

Coventry seemed set for at least a top-10 finish as they entered 1993 following the arrival of high-scoring striker Micky Quinn, who ended the season as one of the Premiership's leading scorers with 17 goals. A phase in late winter which saw six games pass without a goal, and they slipped to 15th in the final table. Despite being more than slightly overweight, Quinn was an idol for thousands of football fans, giving rise to the chant, "He's fat, he's round, he scores in every ground, Micky Quinn."

Quinn scored a hat-trick for Coventry in their opening game of 1993-94 away to Arsenal, a 3-0 win, but was unable to build on his good start.

Coventry had a decent start to the 1993-94 season but Gould resigned in October and his successor Phil Neal secured an 11th place finish. In February 1995, with Coventry battling relegation for the first time in three years, Neal was sacked. Neal's demise at the club will always be linked to his appearance in the infamous "Cutting Edge" television documentary "The Impossible Job" (popularly known as "Do I Not Like That?"), which followed the England team's failure to qualify for the USA '94 World Cup. Neal was an assistant to Graham Taylor, the then England manager, and the astonishingly frank and darkly comic documentary cast Taylor, Neal and fellow assistant Lawrie McMenemy in an unattractive light.

Ron Atkinson, who had achieved managerial success with West Bromwich Albion, Manchester United, Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa, was appointed as the new Coventry City manager in February 1995. He brought in Leeds United midfielder Gordon Strachan as his assistant and long-term replacement, as well as drafting in Aston Villa midfielder Kevin Richardson as club captain. Soon after Atkinson's arrival City's Zimbabwean international Peter Ndlovu became the first visiting player in 33 years to score a hat-trick at Anfield. Atkinson steered Coventry to Premiership survival in 1995 and 1996 before he became Director of Football in November 1996 and Strachan took over as manager.

After losing their penultimate game of the 1996-97 Premiership campaign, it looked as though Coventry's long spell in the top flight was at an end; but thanks to a win away at Tottenham on the final day of the season, and with both Middlesbrough and Sunderland failing to win, the Sky Blues managed to survive relegation yet again. Their defeat in the penultimate game of the season would have relegated them had it not been for a 3-point deduction imposed on Middlesbrough for postponing a December fixture against Blackburn Rovers less than 24 hours before kick-off. The 1997-98 season saw Coventry reach the FA Cup quarter-finals, surprisingly losing away to Sheffield United (a division below them) in a replay.

Strachan guided Coventry to 11th, 15th and 14th place finishes in the Premiership over the next three seasons. Their luck finally ran out on 5 May 2001 when a 3-2 defeat, ironically at the hands of arch-rivals Aston Villa, ended their impressive 34-year tenure in the top flight (a game they were winning 2-0 at half-time, away at Villa Park).

Life outside the Premiership

Five games into the 2001-02 season manager Gordon Strachan was sacked, shortly after an embarrassing 1-0 defeat at home to Grimsby Town. He was replaced by 38-year-old team regular Roland Nilsson, who took on the role of player-manager. Nilsson was dismissed at the end of the season after failing to get Coventry into the play-offs. 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. He was replaced by 37-year-old Gary McAllister, also a player-manager, who had been on the club's books from 1996 to 2000 before being transferred to Liverpool.

Midway through the 2002-03 season, McAllister's men still stood a good chance of making the Division One play-offs. But they won only one league game after the turn of 2003 and finished 20th in the final table - just two places above the relegation zone. Their form in 2003-04 was slightly better but McAllister left halfway through the season to spend time with his seriously ill wife, Denise. Assistant manager Eric Black took charge and kept the club well clear of the drop zone and facilitated some excellent results. Before the final match of the season, he was replaced by former Sunderland manager Peter Reid. This decision proved a very unpopular one with the majority of the club's fans, as Black (who was popular and had been doing a good job with relatively limited resources) had been seen to have been ousted for a 'big name' whose management style was perceived as 'old school' and not fitting with the modern game. As a protest against the decision and gesture of support for Black, thousands of fans arranged to turn up to the final game of the season against Crystal Palace in black clothing. 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.

On 13 January 2005, the club touched off a controversy when it announced that the traditional badge would be replaced with an updated, more modern version.^[1] Fan reaction was swift and negative, and under pressure from supporters' groups the club cancelled plans to change the crest.^[2]

Peter Reid lasted just eight months before the club's dismal league form led to his departure and in January 2005 he left the club looking in real danger of relegation to League One. The club's board replaced Reid with former Leicester City manager Micky Adams. Adams helped the Sky Blues stay clear of the Championship drop zone in their final season at Highfield Road before relocating to a new 32,600-seat stadium at Foleshill (later named the Ricoh Arena as part of a sponsorship deal). As an ex-Coventry player from 1983 to 1987, Adams was a popular choice with fans as he had a genuine fondness for the club and preferred a more technical and Continental approach to playing than his predecessor. In the 2005-06 season, Coventry City finished a respectable 8th in the Championship (missing out on the Premiership play-offs by only two league places), which represented good progress from the previous season's narrow escape from relegation. Micky Adams was expected to challenge for a play-off position in the 2006-07 season but was relieved of his duties in January 2007 after a string of poor results and an embarrassing FA Cup exit at the hands of lower league Bristol City, bringing to an end his two year reign.

'Operation Premiership'

During the 2005/06 campaign, as fans grew increasingly discontent at the lack of progress in the club, the club's senior management were replaced. The incoming management team: Paul Fletcher, Managing Director; Ken Sharp, Marketing Director and Mal Brannigan, Finance Director; had contributed to the new sense of enthusiasm felt at the club. They launched 'Operation Premiership', a 3-year plan to get Coventry back in the top league. To help achieve that they brought in new investment and created initiatives such as 'True Sky Blue' (aka Private Seat Licence), which gives fans the chance to buy a seat for life. In turn, more money has been invested in the squad, allowing Adams to invest in 11 players before the start of the 2006-07 season.

The 2006/07 season started with the most optimism for years, with genuine belief the club could mount a serious challenge to get back to the Premiership based on the turn in fortunes of the club with the new stadium, innovative board, good manager and squad, as well as the previous season's improved form. 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. The season went further downhill when they were embarrassingly knocked out of the League Cup in the first round 3-1 by Football League Two side, Hereford United.

They were then drawn against Bristol City in the 3rd round of the FA Cup, 20 years after their majestic triumph in the competition. A large following of just under 3,000 Sky Blues travelled to the Ashton Gate stadium in the hope of some respite from their appalling league form. Many sections of the media pinpointed this as a 'must-win' fixture for Adams. His future looked bleak as Coventry were 3-1 down in the first half only to claw back one goal before half-time and then stage a stirring comeback to draw 3-3 with Stern John grabbing the equaliser. In the build-up to the replay however Coventry produced arguably their worst defensive performance for years and succumbed to a 4-2 home defeat against a distinctly average Crystal Palace side on the 13 January. Coventry went on to lose the replay 2-0 in spite of a spirited 2nd-half comeback. With fans calling for the head of under-pressure manager Micky Adams, his position became untenable and he was dismissed the next day.^[3]

Assistant Manager Adrian Heath was named caretaker manager and threw his hat into the ring for the full-time position despite a demoralising 3-2 defeat away at Plymouth Argyle in his first game in charge. Heath has since made way for new manager Iain Dowie who has signed a three-year contract and has declared his ambition to guide Coventry back into the Premiership. 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. Whilst still distinctly 'work in progress', Dowie's team selections looked defensively better-organised than his predecessor's, with more attention paid to solid midfield possession, a more fluid counter-attacking strategy and some shrewd new signings. They began the 2007-2008 season with impressive away wins at Barnsley and Cardiff, and reached the third round of the League Cup without conceding a goal, meeting Manchester United in that round, causing a shock by defeating the reigning Premiership champions 2-0 at Old Trafford to advance to the 4th round. Both goals where scored by Maltese international striker Michael Mifsud (who also hit the woodwork to deny him a hat-trick) in front a 74,000-strong crowd, including some 11,000 Sky Blues supporters. 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 unjustly missing out on a lucrative place in the quarter-finals.

Following a highly successful start to the season, Dowie was named "Manager of the Month" for August 2007, having secured top position after the first four league games and two successive League Cup wins. However, by February 2008 the team had slumped to a lowly 19th position in the league table.

On 6 October 2007, Paul Fletcher tendered his resignation in the wake of numerous takeover bids being priced out of the market, leaving both Operation Premiership and the long-term financial future of the club up in the air. Then, on 10th October 2007, Geoffrey Robinson resigned as Chairman of Coventry City Football club, stating that he wished to devote his time to pursuing his Parliamentary career. Joe Elliott promptly took over as Chairman on the same day, with rumours rife that the club was close to being called-in by administrators whilst burdened with estimated debts of £38 million. In regards to take over talks, the club confirmed that former Chairman Geoffrey Robinson is leading a consortium to take over the club, with the club also stating that former footballer Ray Ranson is also leading a consortium to take over the club, in which Coventry City Council are more interested in the Ray Ranson bid, due to being more ambitious in it's plans and the overall integrity.^{[citation needed]} The club filed for administration and were given 10 days to complete any takeover or on 14 December 2007 the club will enter administration. 'Operation Premiership' for the foreseable future was no longer in operation.

The Ranson/SISU Era

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. However, 90% of shares were required for a deal to go officially through, with a 7 January deadline. The Deadline was not met however, SISU accepted to current state of shares held and Sky Blues Sports & Leisure extended this deadline to 11 April 2008.

As of 11 February 2008, Ian Dowie, Tim Flowers and Bob Dowie were sacked with immediate effect, with one win (4-0 against Barnsley) in their last 6 league matches - leaving them 19th in the Championship and 4 points from Relegation. John Harbin and Frankie Bunn were placed in temporary charge of first team affairs (as a joint caretaker role). Their first match in charge against Cardiff City F.C. ended in a 0-0 draw at home. Wigan Athletic then rejected an approach from Coventry for the services of Eric Black, in which he stated that he wished to stay at Wigan for the time being. ^[3]

On 16 February 2008, Coventry's season went from bad to worse as they were hammered by West Brom in the F.A. Cup. They lost 5-0, and also had Michael Doyle sent off. It was the second game that caretaker boss John Harbin has taken charge in.

125 Years

To commemorate Coventry City's 125th Anniversary and in recognition of this landmark campaign the Club is considering introducing a special celebratory crest for the 2008/09 season. The idea of a new crest was widely discussed at a recent meeting with the Coventry City Supporters' Consultative Group (SCG) and was also given the thumbs up at the latest Former Players' Association monthly meeting. The final crest for next season will be decided on Wednesday 5 February.

Former Players Association

In February 2007 a Former Players Association was launched. Set up by club historian Jim Brown, former 1980s player Kirk Stephens and a committee of enthusiastic volunteers, its aim was to bring former players of the club together and cherish their memories. Around 50 former stars of the club attended the launch including Coventry City legends George Hudson, Cyrille Regis, Charlie Timmins, Ernie Hunt and Bill Glazier. By February 2008 almost 120 former players had joined the association. The association's first newsletter was published in autumn 2007 and a website www.ccfpa.co.uk had been launched.

Sky Blue Sam

Sky Blue Sam is Coventry City's mascot. Famed for his (or her) acrobatics, including forward rolls and backflips, his alter ego is also lesser known as the manager of the Coventry pub 'The Dog and Trumpet', which was once voted the best pub in the Midlands for 7 years running, between the years 1982-89.

Sky Blue anthem

The club song was written in 1962 by manager Jimmy Hill and director John Camkin. It was launched at the home game with Colchester on 22 December 1962 (a match abandoned at half-time because of fog)with the words printed in the programme. It quickly became popular with supporters during the epic FA Cup run in 1963 when the Third Division team reached the Sixth Round of the FA Cup before losing to eventual winners Manchester United. To the tune of the Eton Boating Song:

Original:

Let's all sing together

Play up, Sky Blues

While we sing together

We will never lose

Proud Posh or Cobblers

Oysters* or anyone

They shan't defeat us

We'll fight 'til the game is won!

• the name changed to that days opponents.

Present:

Let's all sing together

Play up, Sky Blues

While we sing together

We will never lose

Tottenham or Chelsea

United or anyone

They shan't defeat us

We'll fight 'til the game is won!

City! City! City!

Stadium

Grounds

• Dowells Field - 1883-1887
• Stoke Road - 1887-1899
• Highfield Road - 1899-2005
• Ricoh Arena - 2005-present

106 years at Highfield Road

Coventry City began playing at the Highfield Road stadium in 1899, although the club did not buy the freehold to the site until 1937. The record crowd at the ground was on 29 April 1967 when 51,452 watched the Second Division title decider against Wolverhampton Wanderers. This was more than 6,000 more than the previous record set against Aston Villa in 1938. The ground has an interesting history. In 1940 it was bombed by Luftwaffe planes. In 1968, the main stand burnt down and new stand to replace it built within four months. In 1981, Highfield Road was converted into England's first ever all-seater stadium with a capacity of just under 21,000.^{[citation needed]} It had been gradually upgraded since then, with the final phase of work being completed in the mid-1990s, including fully-enclosed corners. The final game played at the stadium was against Derby County F.C. on 30 April 2005, with Coventry winning the game with a 6–2 scoreline. On an emotional day, the final goal at Highfield Road was fittingly scored by a homegrown youngster Andrew Whing. Other goals came from Trinidad and Tobago international Stern John, Dele Adebola, and Coventry-born player Gary McSheffrey. [4], who scored two of the goals. One of these was from a penalty given away by the ex-City captain Mo Konjic.

Relocation

For the 2005–06 season, Coventry City moved to the new 32,609 capacity [5] Ricoh Arena after 106 years at Highfield Road. In 1998, the club had decided that it was time to relocate to a new stadium in the Foleshill area of the city, three miles north of the city centre and close to the M6 motorway. The original plan was for a state-of-the-art 45,000-seater, multipurpose stadium with removable pitch and retractable roof. It was due to be ready for the 2001–02 season. However, relegation, financial problems, financier/contractor withdrawals and England's failure to secure the 2006 World Cup competition led to a radical redesign. Despite initiating the project and being the principal attraction there, Coventry City's financial situation means that they no longer own the stadium and must pay rent to use it.

Sponsorship

The stadium naming rights were originally sold to Jaguar Cars which has strong links with Coventry. Jaguar Cars pulled out of the project on December 16 2004 and a new major sponsor was needed. A £10 million deal, which included naming rights, was signed and electronics manufacturer Ricoh became the new chief sponsor for the stadium. The project was funded largely by Coventry City council & the (Alan Edward) Higgs Charity (of which CCFC and ACL director Sir Derek Higgs is a trustee), and includes shopping facilities, a casino, exhibition halls and a concert venue.

Opening game

At the beginning of the 2005-06 season, construction delays at the ground forced Coventry City to play their first three games of the season away and postpone their home games. On Saturday 20 August 2005, City hosted Queens Park Rangers F.C. in the first-ever game at the Ricoh Arena. Coventry won the game 3–0, the first goal at the Ricoh Arena being scored by Claus Bech Jorgensen, with an 11th-minute diving header. Dele Adebola then added two more for the Sky Blues.

New stadium's records

The Ricoh Arena's highest attendance is 30,919, which was for the U21 European Championship play-off between England and Germany on 6 October [[2006[[, which England won 1-0, with a strike from Leighton Baines. The record attendance for a Coventry City match is 28,120 for the FA Cup game against Middlesbrough on 28 January 2006 which ended in a 1-1 draw, Stern John scoring for Coventry to cancel out Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's opener for the visitors. The highest league attendance is 27,216 for the game against Birmingham City on October 31 2006 in the Coca-Cola Championship which was lost 1–0 . The highest score at the Ricoh Arena was 6-1 against Derby County on 21 January 2006. The final game of the season was against Cardiff City. A request to build a 'supercasino' was rejected; smaller casino will still be built, to be located underneath the exhibition halls.

International use

The Ricoh Arena was used for an England U21 match against Germany U21s in a European U21 Championship qualifying play-off on 6 October 2006, a match which also set the stadium's record attendance. The match resulted in a 1–0 win for the England team with a goal from Leighton Baines.

As of July 2007, Coventry City extended their pitch at the Ricoh Arena, so the pitch is now suitable for high profile international matches and Champions League games. The pitch has state of the art laser socketed guiding system, designed to give precise pitch markings.^{[citation needed]} The pitch which now measures 105m x 68.6m is up to FIFA Category 3 status.^{[citation needed]}

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  GRE Dimitrios Konstantopoulos 2 DF  NED Arjan de Zeeuw (Captain) 3 DF  ENG Marcus Hall 4 DF  ENG Daniel Fox 5 DF  ENG Elliott Ward 6 MF  ENG Stephen Hughes 7 FW  BRB Wayne Andrews 8 MF  EIR Michael Doyle (Captain) 10 FW  SCO Kevin Kyle (On loan at Wolves) 11 MF  TRI Chris Birchall 14 MF  NED Ellery Cairo 15 FW  ENG Leon McKenzie 16 MF  ENG Isaac Osbourne 17 FW  MLT Michael Mifsud 18 DF  SCO David McNamee 19 DF  ENG Stuart Giddings 20 DF  EIR Colin Hawkins 21 MF  EIR Jay Tabb

No. Pos. Nation Player 22 FW  EIR Leon Best 23 GK  AUS Danny Ireland 24 FW  ENG Robbie Simpson 25 MF  ENG Julian Gray 26 DF  ENG Scott Dann 27 MF  NIR Michael Hughes 28 DF  ENG Gary Borrowdale 29 MF  EIR Kevin Thornton 30 MF  ENG Liam Davis 31 FW  ENG Donovan Simmonds 32 FW  ESP Cristian Vázquez Aira 33 GK  ENG Andy Marshall 34 DF  ENG Ben Turner 35 MF  ENG Lee Hildreth 36 DF  ENG Liam Francis 38 DF  ENG Callum Burgess 39 DF  ENG Liam Robinson 40 MF  ENG Dave Burtoft

Club officials

Awards and honours

Player of the Year

Year Winner 1968 Ernie Machin 1969 Bill Glazier 1970 Neil Martin 1971 Willie Carr 1972 Ernie Hunt 1973 Tommy Hutchison 1974 Bill Glazier 1975 Tommy Hutchison 1976 Tommy Hutchison

Year Winner 1977 Mick Ferguson 1978 Ian Wallace 1979 Bobby McDonald 1980 Ian Wallace 1981 Gary Gillespie 1982 Danny Thomas 1983 Gary Gillespie 1984 Nicky Platnauer 1985 Terry Gibson

Year Winner 1986 Trevor Peake 1987 Steve Ogrizovic 1988 David Speedie 1989 David Speedie 1990 Brian Borrows 1991 Kevin Gallacher 1992 Stewart Robson 1993 Peter Atherton 1994 Phil Babb

Year Winner 1995 Brian Borrows 1996 Paul Williams 1997 Dion Dublin 1998 Dion Dublin 1999 Richard Shaw 2000 Gary McAllister 2001 Gary Breen 2002 Gary McAllister 2003 Muhamed Konjic

Year Winner 2004 Stephen Warnock 2005 Michael Doyle 2006 Gary McSheffrey 2007 Andy Marshall 2008 TBA 2009 TBA

Top goalscorers

(Number of goals scored in all competitions in brackets)

Year Winner 1968 Ronnie Rees (9) 1969 Ernie Hunt (13) 1970 Neil Martin (15) 1971 Ernie Hunt (12) 1972 Ernie Hunt (12) 1973 Brian Alderson (17) 1974 Brian Alderson (15) 1975 Alderson/Cross (8) 1976 David Cross (16)

Year Winner 1977 Mick Ferguson (15) 1978 Ian Wallace (23) 1979 Ian Wallace (15) 1980 Ian Wallace (13) 1981 Garry Thompson (15) 1982 Mark Hateley (18) 1983 Steve Whitton (14) 1984 Terry Gibson (19) 1985 Terry Gibson (19)

Year Winner 1986 Terry Gibson (13) 1987 Cyrille Regis (16) 1988 Cyrille Regis (12) 1989 David Speedie (15) 1990 David Speedie (9) 1991 Kevin Gallacher (16) 1992 Kevin Gallacher (10) 1993 Micky Quinn (17) 1994 Peter Ndlovu (11)

Year Winner 1995 Dion Dublin (16) 1996 Dion Dublin (16) 1997 Dion Dublin (13) 1998 Dion Dublin (23) 1999 Noel Whelan (13) 2000 Gary McAllister (13) 2001 Craig Bellamy (8) 2002 Lee Hughes (15) 2003 Jay Bothroyd (11)

Year Winner 2004 Gary McSheffrey (12) 2005 Gary McSheffrey (14) 2006 Gary McSheffrey (17) 2007 Dele Adebola (9) 2008 (Michael Mifsud (16)) 2009 TBA

Most appearances

(Number of appearances in all competitions in brackets)

Year Winner 1968 Ernie Machin (44) 1969 Bill Glazier (49) 1970 Mick Coop (44) 1971 Jeff Blockley (48) 1972 Willie Carr (45) 1973 Mick Coop (48) 1974 Jimmy Holmes (53) 1975 T. Hutchison (46) 1976 Mick Coop (47)

Year Winner 1977 John Beck (45) 1978 Bobby McDonald (47) 1979 T. Hutchison (45) 1980 T. Hutchison (45) 1981 Paul Dyson (54) 1982 Gary Gillespie (46) 1983 Gary Gillespie (48) 1984 Trevor Peake (40) 1985 Steve Ogrizovic (46)

Year Winner 1986 Steve Ogrizovic (47) 1987 Steve Ogrizovic (53) 1988 Borrows/Ogrizovic (45) 1989 Brian Borrows (42) 1990 David Smith (46) 1991 Brian Borrows (47) 1992 Lloyd McGrath (44) 1993 Peter Atherton (42) 1994 Phil Babb (44)

Year Winner 1995 Steve Ogrizovic (40) 1996 John Salako (40) 1997 Steve Ogrizovic (46) 1998 Dion Dublin (43) 1999 Magnus Hedman (42) 2000 Gary McAllister (43) 2001 Craig Bellamy (38) 2002 David Thompson (45) 2003 Muhamed Konjic (48)

Year Winner 2004 Stephen Warnock (46) 2005 Michael Doyle (48) 2006 Michael Doyle (49) 2007 Andy Marshall (42) 2008 (Michael Doyle (37)) 2009 TBA

Club honours

Competition best-placings

• UEFA Cup (European Fairs Cup): 2nd round (1970-1971) lost 7-3 on aggregate to Bayern Munich
• League Cup: Semi-finalists (1980-81 & 1989-1990)
• Charity Shield: Runners-up (1987)

Players

See also List of Coventry City F.C. players

Official Hall Of Fame

Player Apps Goals Dave Bennett 187 33 Brian Borrows 474 13 Clarrie Bourton 241 181 Willie Carr 280 36 Mick Coop 485 22 George Curtis 534 13 Jimmy Dougall 237 14 Dion Dublin 168 72

Player Apps Goals Ron Farmer 311 52 Mick Ferguson 141 57 Ian Gibson 101 14 Bill Glazier 402 0 Frank Herbert 200 89 George Hudson 129 75 Ernie Hunt 166 51 Tommy Hutchison 353 30

Player Apps Goals Mick Kearns 382 15 Leslie Jones 144 74 Jock Lauderdale 182 63 George Lowrie 85 59 Ernie Machin 284 39 George Mason 350 8 Reg Matthews 116 0 Steve Ogrizovic 601 1

Player Apps Goals Trevor Peake 330 7 Ronnie Rees 262 52 Cyrille Regis 274 62 Richard Shaw 338 1 Danny Thomas 123 6 Ian Wallace 138 60 Alf Wood 246 0

Other Notable Players

• Micky Adams - Former manager
• Craig Bellamy - West Ham United striker, record signing (£6,500,000) in 2000 from Norwich City
• David Busst - Victim of compound fracture against Manchester United
• Mick Ferguson
• Mustapha Hadji - Moroccan international, 1998 African Footballer of the Year
• Magnus Hedman
• Keith Houchen - 1987 FA Cup Winner - goal scorer
• Stephen Hughes - former club captain
• David Icke - Author and former presenter of BBC's Grandstand
• Stern John - Southampton F.C. striker, over 100 international apps
• Cobi Jones - Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder, U.S. international and symbol of U.S. soccer
• Claus Bech Jorgensen - Scorer of first-ever goal at the Ricoh Arena, Blackpool F.C. midfielder
• Robbie Keane - Tottenham Hotspur and Republic of Ireland striker, record selling (£13,000,000) in 2000 to Inter Milan
• Gary McAllister - Leeds United manager, former Leeds United player and captain, former Scotland international and captain and former Coventry manager
• Lloyd McGrath - 1987 FA Cup Winner
• Gary McSheffrey - Birmingham City striker
• Michael Mifsud
• Roland Nilsson - Former manager, over 100 international apps
• Barry Powell
• Micky Quinn
• David Speedie
• Steve Staunton - former Republic of Ireland manager
• Gordon Strachan - Celtic F.C. manager
• Charlie Timmins - former club captain (1947-1958)
• Andrew Whing - Scorer of last-ever goal at Highfield Road, Brighton and Hove Albion defender
• Dennis Wise - Ex Leeds United manager and four times FA Cup finalist

Managers

See also List of Coventry City F.C. managers

Recent chairmen

• Mike McGinnity
• Geoffrey Robinson MP
• Joe Elliott
• Ray Ranson

Local rivals

Coventry's rival clubs include:

• Aston Villa
• West Bromwich Albion
• Wolverhampton Wanderers
• Leicester City - M69 Derby
• Birmingham City
• Nuneaton Borough

Other Information

References

Notes

1. ^ Announcement of the club's new badge from icCoventry.co.uk
2. ^ Fan reaction to the proposed new badge (icCoventry.co.uk)
3. ^ Micky Adams leaves the club (Sky Sports)

External links

• Official club website
• CovCityFC.com - Latest news and views on Coventry City
• CCFC Fans Online Forum
• Sky Blue Trust

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