Four Four Two - UK (2020-11)

stadiumandwe’vefilledourhalf.Formany

fans,it wastheirfirstchancetoseeCoventry

atWembley.Weweregettingrelegated,but

thatdaywasanopportunitytoputa positive

spinonthecampaign;it wasonegamethat

couldgiveussomething.”It gavethem– with

respecttothe2006-07BirminghamSenior

Cup– a firsttrophyin 30 years.

“I soonsawwhattheclubwasabout,”adds

Boddy,whohadarrivedtwomonthsearlier.

“Therelationshipbetweensupportersand

theclubwasatanall-timelow,butwesold

46,000ticketsforthatgame– it wasa real

eye-openerforme.”

binsandTurneragreeit wasa ‘turning

nt’.“Iwalkedintoa ready-madefinal,”

dmitsRobins,“becauseI’dcontributed

othingtowardsusgettingtoWembley.”

Histenurewasfivegamesold.

“WhenI joined,wehadthreegames

ina week,”heremembers.“Themood

wasdesperate.Welost2-0toBradford

ndneverlaida gloveonthem,although

asinteresting– andsurprising– tohear

t fanswerehappybecausewe’dplayed

refootballthanthey’dseenfora while.

hangedtheformationagainstSouthend

ookatmoreplayers,butwelostagain.

MKDons,I changedthingsagain,and

lostagain.Bythefourthmatch,against

Vale,people’sgameswerechangingas

y wantedtoplayatWembley.Wewon

2-1 for the first victory, and first goals, since

I came back. That lifted us.

“It was a makeshift team in the final, while

Oxford were challenging for the play-offs. But

Gael Bigirimana scored early on, then George

Thomas struck a worldie you’d be proud of

scoring in training, never mind at Wembley.”

In the stands, Eyles was stunned. “Having

been at the Kassam Stadium when Oxford

trounced us 4-1 four months earlier, I feared

the worst,” he says. “After the final, I thought,

‘Can this young team light a spark that might

start a fire?’ Which, essentially, it did.”

“There was no celebration,” reveals Robins,

“because it was Sunday and we had to play

again on Wednesday. We were still in a world

of pain in the league.”

Twelve days later, City were relegated to

League Two. “It was hard, as people – good

people who’d been here for years – lost their

jobs,” says Robins. “It’s as simple as that.”

2007

It’s 2007, and the Sky Blues are

drifting. Manager Micky Adams

has come and gone, ‘Operation

Premiership’ has been abandoned, and even

a 2-0 League Cup win at Old Trafford – Malta’s

Michael Mifsud twice getting the better of

Gerard Pique – can’t lift the general malaise.

In December, they’re 20 minutes away from

entering administration when a takeover is

completed. Coventry’s white knights: a hedge

fund named SISU.

While odd stories abound about SISU, from

premium-rate text-a-substitution fundraising

suggestions, to concerns that the mascot

looked overweight (the chairman’s response:

“It’sa f**kingelephant”),onethingmatters

most:theyboughttheclubbutdidn’tgetthe

ground.ArenaCoventryLimited(ACL),which

belongedtoCoventryCityCouncilandthe

AlanEdwardHiggsCharity,continuedtoown

theRicohArena.

“I thinkSISU’sendgamewasalwaystotake

controlofthestadiumandthenselltheclub

asa completepackage,”saysMaguire.“That

clearlyhasn’tmaterialised.”

Boddyregardsit asa cautionarytale.“We

don’townthestadium,andwe’reinother

people’shands,”City’schiefexecutivetells

FFT. “It’sa lessontofootball.Inthepastyear

ortwo,someteamshaveseparatedtheclub

fromtheground,butI thinkit’sa dangerous

roadandanybodygoingdownit shouldtake

a lookatourexperience.You’renotin control

ofyourowndestiny.”AstonVilla,Sheffield

Wednesday,Birmingham,ReadingandDerby

haveallsoldtheirstadiarecentlytoremain

withinFinancialFairPlayboundaries.

InSISU’sfirstfouryears,Coventrysurvived

on2007-08’sfinaldaydespitelosing4-1to

a Charltonsidewithnothinglefttoplayfor;

rebuffedoptionstobuyAndyCarroll(2008),

JordanHenderson(2009),JackCork(2009)

andTroyDeeney(2011);receiveda transfer

embargo;andgenerallymeanderedunder

theguidanceofIainDowie,ChrisColeman,

AidyBoothroydandAndyThorn.

Withtheirsixthconsecutivebottom-eight

finish,CoventryfelloutoftheChampionship.

Laterthatsummer,theRicohArenahosted

All this time, City were paying rent on their
own ground, having sold it in 1999 and then
leased it back while the new digs were built.
“The sale of Highfield Road was used to cover
losses made in previous years,” says Kieran
Maguire, author of The Price of Football. “The
owners sold it with a view to being long-term
tenants at the new ground.”
Now it was ready. In April 2005, the club bid
adieu to their 106-year-old home with a 6-2
thumping of Derby. Not even the collapse of
Jaguar’s sponsorship, nor the rapid shelving
of an unpopular new crest, could dampen
spirits as Coventry moved to the Ricoh Arena.

2017

“Relegation was inevitablefor
us,” says David Boddy,theclub’s
chief executive. “Hadhecome
in a couple of months earlier, wemighthave
turned it around.”
Mark Robins’ second Coventry spellbegan
in March 2017 with the club rockbottomof
League One, 13 points from safety.“Igot
a phone call and quickly realisedI wantedto
do it,” recalls the manager. “The fanswere
brilliant from the moment I walkedbackin.”
Robins had left Coventry in 2013afterfive
months in charge, jumping a divisiontojoin
Huddersfield. He’d previously said,“Ifyou
cut me, I bleed blue” – althoughRobins
tells FFT now, “It’s how I felt and
how I still feel.”
“People had mixed feelings
when he came back,” admits
journalist Turner. “But as soon as
we lifted the Checkatrade Trophy
a month later, everyone had forgiven
and forgotten him leaving.”
The Football League Trophy has
lately become an irrelevance formo
clubs. Not Coventry. “Winning thattr
kickstarted our two promotions,”exp
Eyles. “I think having 40,000 people
at Wembley made the owners realis
was an opportunity, and they backed
“Going down the M40, you couldse
buses. Mingling around WembleyWa
could see all the fans. Then yougoin

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Sam’s let himself

go a bit recently”

FourFourTwo November 2020 63