The Opponent: Coventry City
Coventry was the world's first twin city when it formed a twinning relationship with the Russian city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) during World War II. The relationship developed through ordinary people in Coventry who wanted to show their support for the Soviet Red Army during the Battle of Stalingrad. The city is now also twinned with Dresden, Lidice, Saint-Étienne and 22 other cities around the world. A part of the city centre at the entrance to the Lower Precinct is named Lidice Place. Coventry was the only British City to lose a Cathedral during the WWII bombing on 14th November 1940. The ruins of the old one stand beside the new, designed by Basil Spence.
The phrase ‘sent to Coventry’ apparently originated during the English Civil War. It seems that in 1647 Royalist prisoners of war, captured elsewhere in the Midlands, were held in Coventry. In the robustly Parliamentarian stronghold the locals treated them as if they did not exist. Coventry has had its fair share of famous bands. Here are some of the better known ones: The Primitives, The Specials, Adorable, Fun Boy Three, The Selecter, The Colourfield, King, Jigsaw, The Sorrows, and The Enemy. Individual musicians from Coventry include Delia Derbyshire, Jerry Dammers, Terry Hall, Neville Staple, Hazel O'Connor, Clint Mansell, Julianne Regan, Lee Dorrian, Jen Ledger and Panjabi MC. Record producer Pete Waterman is also a Coventrian. With its 310’000 population, Coventry is the 9th largest city in England.
Last Time Out – Saturday 22nd August 2014 – Franchise 0 Coventry 0. Considering the midweek result Franchise picked up against a toothless United reserves (although a team that should of had enough about them to beat the Franchise shit), the away point earned by The Sky Blues suggests they may well know how to shut up shop. Coventry boss Steven Pressley came out with the normal manager talk, "I thought it was a fair result, and what everybody witnessed was two very, very good sides. I think that today's game was a big, big test for us. I thought w e showed brilliant mentality. The commitment from the team was incredible and I was really proud of their performance and both sets of players should be proud of the way they've applied themselves today”.
Starting XI – Allsop (crikey!), Clarke, Webster, Johnson, Willis, Swanson (Thomas 45), O’Brien, Haynes, Fleck, Tudgay, McQuoid (Miller). For some reason I thought Tudgay was pushing 40, it appears he is 31.
They have served us both – Dave Bamber, Bob Woolhouse, Trevor Benjamin, Ady Williams, Leon Clarke, Paul Trollope, Terry Gibson, John Stephens, Paul Heald, Abdul Said, Lukas Jutkiewitz, Ted Peers, Graham Oakey, Brian Kilcline, Jamie McMaster, Lee Middleton, Arthur Beadsworth, Dave Bennett, Jake Findlay, Adam Willis, Danny Ward, Miles Storey, John Smith, Frank Peters, Tope Obadeyi, Alan Moore, Derek Hall, Ernie Hunt, Gary Marshall, Ken McPherson, Kyle Lightbourne, Richard Key. Tyrell Belford, Dennis Wise, Roy Wegerle, David Thompson, Jack Starsmore, Albert Powell, Sam Peers, Lillian Nalis, Terry Merriman, Alex McCulloch, Barry Lowes, Ken Keyworth, Brian Borrows, Tim Flowers, Fred Hawley, Johnnie Jackson.
One From The Past – February 5th 1994. FA Carling Premiership – Att: 14’635 - Swindon Town 3 Coventry City 1. Looking through previous encounters between ourselves and Coventry its quite difficult to look past this one. A 2nd win on the bounce, a Fjortoft hat-trick, and the aeroplane celebration is born. I bet most of you remember the day.
The Odds – Swindon 5/4 Draw 12/5 Coventry 5/2 – A few fans from the social networking world have already declared they won’t be attending today unless we sign another striker so on that basis I’m lumping on Connor Waldon at 8/1.
The Son Says – He has a friend sleeping over tonight. I made the mistake of letting them watch a film called Ted (I’m thinking cute fluffy bears). If his 8 year old friend goes home tomorrow and tells his parents the vulgarity he has been subjected to I’m blaming the wife. 3-0 win.
The Prediction – I’m not really all that downhearted about our exit from the league cup. In my opinion we dominated 90 of the 120 minutes of play and applied ourselves brilliantly, all things considering. We will win this 3-1, 2 goals from Waldon and a late header from whoever is left. 8’546 in attendance with 1765 from The East Midlands.
And Finally – The first ever English Bicycle was made in Coventry. Built in 1870 it was called the Ariel, with a large front and small rear wheel (fitted with solid rubber tyres) it was obviously the forerunner of the penny farthing, though far from as extreme in dimensions. Interestingly the Rover Car Company grew from the family firm that made the Ariel.
