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They had a lot of last day scares but the most incredible was in 1977. Stoke and Spurs were already down and one more had to go from Bristol City, Coventry and Sunderland. Coventry were playing Bristol City and if Sunderland lost at Everton then a draw at Coventry would see Sunderland take the last relegation place. Jimmy Hill was chairman at Coventry and deliberately got the kick off delayed so they would know what was going on at Goodison and we had the farce of Coventry and Bristol City seeing the game out for a draw as news came through that Sunderland had lost. I've never had much time for Coventry since then, to me that was cheating.
Eventually last season they lost the battle and this season they started down a division and not too well either. Gordon Strachan was quickly sacked as manager and after a successful caretaker spell Roland Nilsson was given the job on a permanent basis.
Things went well for him and by the time we got to Highfield Road in November they had fought their way into the play off positions in sixth place with the likes of Millwall, Birmingham and even Manchester City behind them.
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Our 2-0 victory was our best performance of the season by some distance, we really did look a good side that day and it was the day we went back to the top of the league, and deservedly so. We were to stay there until after the New Year.
They had an up and down December and early in the New Year brought in the Bald Eagle Jim Smith as assistant manager. There was upheaval in the boardroom though as chairman Bryan Richardson was ousted in a vote of no confidence. Richardson was a paid director and had left with the club in financial difficulties after their relegation.
On the field they were never able to get a long unbeaten run, there was always the odd defeat but they remained in the play off positions and after a 2-1 home win against Norwich in March they were six points clear of seventh place and only seven games left.
At that stage I don't think anyone would have thought they might even come close to missing out although it was accepted they had the most difficult fixtures of all the clubs at the top. Nobody would have believed that from the next six games only one point would be won and the play off dreams would be over before the final day of the season.
The point came in a 1-1 home draw against Birmingham but there were home defeats against West Brom and Millwall both 1-0 and losses away from home by 3-0 at Watford, 2-1 at Sheffield Wednesday and 4-0 at Preston.
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They have scored a total of 59 league goals this season with, not surprisingly, Lee Hughes leading the way with 14. Jay Bothroyd has 6 and Lee Mills 5.
Coventry's 2001/02 fixtures and results
The defeat at Deepdale saw an angry Coventry fan run on and try and attack goalkeeper Magnus Hedman and manager Nilsson, playing that day, was also struck as he tried to sort it out.
The final run in has cost both Roland Nilsson and Jim Smith their jobs. They were dismissed this week and have been replaced on a temporary basis by youth team coach Trevor Peake and goalkeeper coach Steve Ogrizovic.
Adding more chaos to the goings on at Highfield Road the Academy Director Richard Money was suspended for making a phone call to former chairman Richardson on his mobile phone, presumably a club mobile.
They will be in the First Division next season, under new management, and they will hopefully hope to be on an even keel and not in the sort of turmoil they now find themselves in.
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Two players whose names will feature at the end of this preview, Barry Powell and Tommy Hutchison, were both John Bond signings for the Clarets and then both left us to join Bond again at Swansea. Hutchison had a long successful spell with Coventry after signing from Blackpool. Both players eventually joined the Clarets from clubs in Hong Kong.
The 1967/68 season saw Coventry play their first ever game in the First Division and that was at the Turf. New signing Frank Casper scored on his debut for the Clarets with Willie Irvine, returning from a broken leg, also getting on the score sheet. The Coventry goal, their first ever at the top level, was an own goal from current Walsall assistant boss Dave Merrington.
Our last home win against them was in 1974/75 when we won 3-0 with goals from Peter Noble, Ray Hankin and Leighton James.
League results in the last 20 years
Season | Div | Ven | Result | Att | Scorers |
2001/02 | 1 | a | 2-0 | 16,849 | Taylor Little |
Last Time in the League
Burnley 1 (Parker) Coventry City 3 (Cross 3) - Football League Division 1, Saturday 24th April 1976
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I took in the game from the Cricket Field Stand for the first and only time and saw us go down to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of a side that had found itself as high as 14th in the table. Nobody was unduly worried though because it was thought that we would be back again a year later for another assault on the First Division Championship.
It is twenty-six years ago next Wednesday and if anyone had told me at the time that I would still be waiting for a return to the top flight then I wouldn't have believed them. Times were already becoming tough for the small town clubs but somehow we thought it didn't affect us and we would just carry on regardless.
It didn't happen and it hasn't happened although it could still happen if we could just string four results together.
As for the match that day against Coventry there is little I can remember about it other than the result and the fact that David Cross got a hat trick for them. It also provides the answer to the quiz question – who scored Burnley's last ever goal in the old First Division. The answer was Derrick Parker.
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I have never stopped wanting a return to the top, for some years I did stop believing it could ever happen and it was only half way through last season that I eventually realised how close we were getting.
It is still a massive step we have to take and one day (hopefully soon) we are going to take it and then the Burnley v Coventry City game from April 1976 will not be the last game we ever played at the top level. I can't wait for that day to come round.
The teams that day were:
Burnley: Gerry Peyton, Derek Scott, Keith Newton, Billy Ingham, Jim Thomson, Billy Rodaway, Tony Morley, Joe Jakub, Peter Noble, Derrick Parker, Mike Summerbee.
Coventry City: Jim Blyth, Brian Roberts, Chris Cattlin, James Holmes, Alan Dugdale, Mick Coop, Barry Powell, Donal Murphy, David Cross, Alan Green, Tommy Hutchison.