Middle row (l-r);
Front row (l-r);
By Jim Brown
James Kerr’s third season in charge got off to a bad start with two bad away defeats and only one win in the first eight games. The form picked up during the autumn but City were never too far from the bottom of the table. There were some dreadful off-days too, including heavy defeats at Millwall (1-9), Swindon (0-6) and Walsall (0-7), and home gates slipped to under 5,000. Things reached a nadir in February with the defeat at struggling Walsall and a crowd of 2,059 (the smallest league crowd in the club’s history) for the Monday afternoon game with Crystal Palace and Kerr was finally relieved of managerial duties. He had been the subject of several blistering attacks from the Midland Daily Telegraph who on one famous occasion commented against a background of dwindling attendances: ‘City fans have little desire to watch Coventry Celtic’- an indictment of his policy of recruiting players from Scotland.
Director Albert Saunders took over as part-time caretaker-manager until the season’s end but the team’s form slumped even further and re-election was a serious threat on the final day of the season when City travelled to Northampton. Several thousand City supporters made the trip to the County Ground for the crucial game but a controversial goal for the home side sparked a riot amongst City fans and the referee was knocked unconscious by a stone. It was all unnecessary as their rivals Merthyr had lost and City’s league status was assured one point ahead of bottom club Torquay. City had used 36 different players and only the evergreen Frank Herbert made more than 30 appearances. Herbert scored 13 goals and was second top scorer behind Heathcote who managed 15 in only 23 games. The team finished 20th and the average attendance slipped to 9,140.
Off the field there was the first major change to the ground for over 15 years when a roof was put in place over the west end of the ground. Purchased for £1,700 from Twickenham rugby ground, the roof provided cover from the elements for 11,000 fans and would remain in place until 1967 when the West Stand was built. Unfortunately the surveyor on the project discovered a seven-foot gradient over the 278 feet of ground that the new terrace cover would occupy – the land sloping from north to south. Work on erection of the roof was delayed whilst new stanchions were manufactured to compensate for the slope. The cost of the stand was met by the Supporters Club.
In May 1928 at a heated shareholder’s meeting the entire board resigned after criticism from the floor for bankrolling James Kerr’s investments in inferior players. President David Cooke was willing to assist financially again and the Supporters club were willing to facilitate in the raising of money by selling new shares in the football club. Within days Walter Brandish become chairman in place of W Carpenter and other new board members included Walter Kimberley, Fred Stringer and Bill Slade.
