Sky Blue Thinking: Four great escapes from Coventry City in the 80s – part three

Coventry City is a remarkable club. If you only started following English football in the last 20 years you could be forgiven for thinking they were a lower league club. But people of my generation know them as an established top-flight club having spent 34 consecutive seasons in the First Division between 1967-2001. During that period only Arsenal, Everton and Liverpool could claim the same.

Part One saw us look at the incredibly tense finish to the 1982-83 season where the Sky Blues saw off the threat of relegation in their penultimate match. 12 months on they left it even later. They were 20 minutes from going down when Dave Bennett scored direct from a corner to save them. Now we look at the end of the 1984-85 season when thrill-seekers Coventry were back there again, hurtling towards relegation with faulty brakes and dodgy tyres.

This is the story.

1984-85

Bobby Gould had pulled off a miracle in his first season at the club when his much-changed squad had managed to stay up in the last knockings of the 1983-84 season. Such was the turnaround in players, only Ian Butterworth played in the final game of the 1982-83 and 1983-84 seasons. Again there were several exits from the club, many of them taking valuable experience with them such as Sam Allardyce, Ashley Grimes and Gerry Daly. Goalkeeper Perry Suckling also left so Gould looked to Third Division Shrewsbury Town and signed ex-Liverpool keeper, Steve Ogrizovic.

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‘Oggy’ had won two European Cup winners’ medals with Liverpool in 1978 and 1981 despite sitting on the bench for both Finals. He never managed to force a place in the side ahead of Ray Clemence so moved to Shrewsbury. With Suckling gone and also Avramovic, who’d moved back to his native Yugoslavia, Gould had a dilemma in goal.

It proved a good signing as the big keeper would go on to break the club’s appearance record.

Brian Kilcline signed from Notts County after they were relegated from First Division, was a ready-made replacement for Allardyce. Kirk Stephens joined from Luton Town and Martin Jol from West Brom. To replace the experienced Gerry Daly, Kenny Hibbitt was signed from Wolves, ending a 16-year career at Molineux. He and Gould had once been teammates there.

Gould, favouring a big man up front, encouraged Bob Latchford back to English football. He’d earned national acclaim during his time at Everton when he scored 30 goals in one season. He moved to Swansea City when they made it to the First Division for the first time in their history, scoring a hat-trick on debut. But when Swansea returned to the lower divisions he accepted an offer to play in the Netherlands with NAC Breda. He welcomed Gould’s offer to return to the Midlands having begun his career at Birmingham City.

The two previous seasons had seen them in the top seven at Christmas, only to find their form desert them alarmingly in the second half of the season. This time they were in the bottom three for most of the time. They’d been dumped out of the League Cup by Third Division Walsall and suffered some heavy defeats in the league, at Chelsea (2-6), West Brom (2-5) and Leicester (1-5).

Gould paid the price and was sacked. His assistant, Don Mackay, replaced him.

Initially, things turned around. They beat Stoke, 4-0 and famously won at Old Trafford thanks to a Terry Gibson goal. Gibson would later become a United player.

But ultimately, they couldn’t keep it going and as the season moved into May they were firmly rooted in the bottom three. Only Stoke City, with just 17 points from 37 matches, had a worse record. Surely their luck was over?

But they had games in hand and a spirit of knowing how to deal with situations like this.

Seven matches to save their season;

Tottenham (a)

Liverpool (h)

Southampton (a)

Ipswich (a)

Stoke (a)

Luton (h)

Everton (h)

Saturday 4 May 1985

The May Bank Holiday weekend was always an important stage of the season, with a full fixture schedule on two days. Coventry travelled to Tottenham who were flying in third.

Glenn Hoddle gave the home side the lead but Gibson, who had begun his career at White Hart Lane, equalised. Pearce converted a penalty to give the Sky Blues an unlikely lead. But Spurs hit back with two goals from Mark Falco and one from Chris Hughton to win 4-2.

This was softened slightly when they heard Sunderland had been well beaten at home to Aston Villa, 0-4.

West Ham were beaten even more convincingly, 1-5 at West Brom with Steve MacKenzie scoring twice.

Both Ipswich and Norwich lost too and so it was Luton who found themselves the only team in the bottom seven to pick up any points. Mick Harford scored twice in a 3-1 win.

QPR won a pulsating game at home to Leicester. Gary Bannister and Mike Fillery put them in front before Gary Lineker got one back for the visitors. When John Gregory and Michael Robinson put the home side 4-1 up it seemed the points were secured. But Ian Wilson and a second from Lineker gave the home fans cause for concern but Rangers saw the game out 4-3.

It was certainly a day for goals with 42 going in from the 11 matches. Six games produced at least four goals each and four matches gave fans six goals or more to enjoy.

Coventry moved up a place purely on one more goal scored than Sunderland, as both sides had identical goal difference records. Coventry also had four games in hand on the Black Cats but were still two points from safety.

Monday 6 May 1985

Coventry welcomed Liverpool to Highfield Road. The visitors were defending champions. But sitting 17 points behind leaders Everton were unlikely to make it four titles in a row. Last time at the ground they were humbled in a 0-4 defeat. Coventry now had former West Brom favourite, Cyrille Regis in their ranks. But he was unable to stop Liverpool walking off with all three points as Paul Walsh scored both goals in a 2-0 win. Another defeat for the Sky Blues.

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West Ham finally won thanks to a Bobby Barnes goal. But Sunderland again went down when a double from Lineker beat them at Leicester. That defeat consigned them to relegation so there was now only one place to be decided.

Ipswich took the chance of a meeting with Stoke to boost their goal difference. Kevin Wilson scored a hat-trick in a 5-1 win. QPR were unable to build on their win two days before and lost to runaway leaders, Everton. This confirmed Everton as League Champions for the first time in 15 years.

Luton Town made it two wins from two matches in three days as a Brian Stein goal brought them victory at Aston Villa.

Sunderland joined Stoke in claiming relegation spots, there was just one more up for grabs. Coventry were five points adrift but still with games in hand. West Ham moved above Norwich, who now looked under threat.

Wednesday 8 May 1985

Two days later four teams were in action again. West Ham visited the recently crowned champions and were well beaten. Luton travelled to Chelsea and also lost. At least neither side had pulled away from Coventry.

Saturday 11 May 1985

Coventry travelled to the south coast to take on Southampton, who were pushing for European qualification in sixth. Regis put the visitors in front but a Stephens own goal levelled it up. Steve Moran then hit the winner for the Saints and this was Coventry’s third successive defeat. Not a good sign.

West Ham lost a second successive away game when they went down 1-2 to Sheffield Wednesday with the gap between them and Coventry still five points.

But Norwich and Ipswich picked up points. Norwich earned a point from a 0-0 draw with Newcastle whereas Ipswich went to relegated Sunderland and came away with a 2-1 win. Luton made it three wins in four matches when they thumped Leicester and were virtually safe from the drop.

Coventry were still five points from safety with just four games to play. Norwich were looking over their shoulder, though as they had just one match left.

Tuesday 14 May 1985

The Sky Blues were in the middle of three successive away games. This time they were at Ipswich who were nine points better off. They’d flirted with the drop the season before and things looked bleak coming into May, but two wins against the bottom two clubs eased things substantially. The game ended goalless. At last, it was a point for Coventry but it didn’t feel like enough.

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It definitely didn’t feel enough when they found out West Ham thrashed Stoke 5-1 with inspirational captain, Billy Bonds scoring twice.

Norwich also won when they visited Chelsea and now Coventry looked gone for all money.

The gap to safety for Coventry was now seven points. Norwich had completed their campaign and were eight points ahead of them. Coventry had the most important three matches in their history to go, needing to win all three. It was with some relief they had Stoke to take on next.

Friday 17 May 1985

With the FA Cup Final on the Saturday, teams which were busy trying to complete their league schedules played on the day before.

In modern parlance, you’d say Coventry had three ‘cup finals’ to go. For a side which had won less than one in three of their matches thus far, they were asked to be perfect for the final three. Any result other than a win and they were down. At that stage, the club had never appeared in a cup final before either. No pressure then!

Coventry travelled to Stoke City. They’d won on their last two visits there. It was a huge game. For Stoke, it was their last game of what had been one of the worst seasons for any club in the top flight. They won just three matches all season and lost all of their last nine going into this one.

The match was decided on one moment. Coventry were awarded a penalty in the second half and Pearce tucked it away. It was a narrow 1-0 win against a struggling side, but it was a very important three points.

West Ham were also away and their trip to Ipswich ended with a similar result when Tony Cottee was again on target.

West Ham’s win confirmed their safety but Norwich were now a little more nervous after Coventry’s win. Two matches left for the Sky Blues and both at home. They couldn’t do it again, could they?

Thursday 23 May 1985

West Ham had already completed their campaign when they lost at home to Liverpool, confirming second place for the visitors. With clubs struggling to fit in fixtures around European finals things were hastily squeezed in before the holidays.

Coventry welcomed Luton Town to Highfield Road. You had to go back to 1930 to find the last time The Hatters were successful at the ground. But their last visit ended in a 2-2 draw and the same result this time round would see Coventry relegated. Luton had won three of their last four matches and presented stiff opposition.

Mackay illustrated the need for the win by using Bennett, Regis and Gibson up front. A nervy game for the home side saw Ogrizovic pull off some important saves as the visitors threatened to ruin the occasion.

In the second half the Sky Blues had a good claim for handball in the area turned down. Gibson went close, so did Kilcline. Then with six minutes to go and things getting increasingly frantic, Kilcline was the unlikely scorer as he fired in a low shot from the edge of the area.

You’d have thought they’d won the cup such were the celebrations. But Mackay knew they couldn’t get carried away. It was their second win in a row but unless they won their final game three days later it would all be for nothing.

Things couldn’t be tighter. It was all-or-nothing for their final match of the season and it couldn’t be a tougher task as league champions Everton were the visitors.

Sunday 26 May 1985

This weekend had been an agonising wait for Norwich City and their supporters. Back in March, they lifted the League Cup for the second time in their history, beating Sunderland 1-0 at Wembley.

Those celebrations seemed a world away as they waited for Coventry’s last game. Everton were the visitors to Highfield Road. League Champions, European Cup-Winners’ Cup winners, FA Cup runners-up, it had been a memorable season for the Blues. But this was their eighth match in May. It began with them beating QPR to secure the league title. Nine days later they beat Rapid Wien in Rotterdam to win their first-ever European trophy. But three days later they were denied a League & Cup double when 10-man Manchester United beat them in extra time thanks to a Norman Whiteside goal. The Friday before this game they beat Liverpool in the Merseyside derby.

But the players were desperate for the season to finish. They still had a game against Luton to deal with in two days time before they could think about sitting on any beaches.

Manager Howard Kendall gave Darren Hughes just his second start for the club as Derek Mountfield was left out. His first appearance had come 18 months earlier when they were beaten 0-3 at Wolves. Paul Wilkinson kept his place from the Merseyside derby, partnering Sharp up front with Kevin Richardson still in midfield as Peter Reid was injured. Alan Harper was still at right-back for the injured Gary Stevens. Other than that they were pretty much full strength.

They’d lost once in the league all year. Until Forest beat them two weeks before they’d dropped just two points from their last 18 matches. They were a formidable team.

Surely this was a bridge too far for the Sky Blues? Remember nothing less than a win would be enough for them. A season’s best of over 21,000 filled the ground on a sunny Sunday morning to see if they could stave off yet another relegation threat for the third season running.

In part two I mentioned the huge turnover of players at Coventry between 1983 and 1984. Only one player was in both sides which played the final game of the season. Between 1984 and 1985 only four survived. Ian Butterworth was the link between all three teams, with this being his third successive relegation battle. Pearce, Gibson and Bennett were the others who were there a year before, although Gynn and Platnauer were still at the club, it was still a huge amount of players they’d gone through.

Coventry, buoyed by the crowd, were immediately on the attack and after just four minutes Kilcline headed the ball into the area where Regis got above his man to loop his header past Southall for the opening goal.

It was only his fourth goal since arriving at the club back in October but no one was complaining. Regis then turned provider as he played Adams in on the left and his low shot made it 2-0 to the home side.

But the threat from the champions was always evident and just before the break Bracewell floated a ball to the far post where Wilkinson got up above Pearce to grab one back.

The break probably came at the right time for the home side as a 2-1 lead was still precarious.

The nerves were settled just a minute after the restart when Gibson turned van den Hauwe inside out in the area. His shot was parried by Southall but fell kindly for the home side as Regis came in. He got the bouncing ball under control and forced it in as Southall closed in. The two-goal lead was restored but there was still most of the second half to go. Did Everton care enough to come back again?

Gibson had been a thorn in the champions’ side all game and rounded off one of his best performances in a Sky Blue shirt by scoring the fourth.

At the end of the match, there was the expected crowd invasion put it was all good-natured. At 4-1, people wondered why they’d been so worried. They also wondered why the players couldn’t have put in performances like that earlier in the season then they wouldn’t have been in such a perilous position.

Norwich manager Ken Brown had said he’d be walking his dog when the game was on as there was nothing he could do about the result. When he got back he had to get ready for Second Division football. They’d been relegated along with the side they met in the League Cup Final at Wembley just two months earlier, Sunderland.

For Coventry, they’d performed a miracle. Three matches which all had to be won. Any slip-ups and they were down. They were perfect in all three and for the third season running they had escaped the drop by the skin of their teeth.

Ian Butterworth had played in every one of their miraculous escapes but this would be his last one. In the summer he and Pearce were off to Nottingham Forest

Join us in part four where Coventry once again flirt with relegation. Could they be lucky a fourth time?