Middle row (l-r);
Front row (l-r);
By Jim Brown
One significant signing in the summer was wing-half Noel Simpson who cost £5,000 from Nottingham Forest and he joined an ageing team with 5-6 players who had played before the war. The season however started disastrously for the Bantams with one win in the first five games albeit against a strong Tottenham side.
Two home wins in early September improved the mood but a disastrous run of twelve games with only one win left City in the bottom two and prompted the sacking of manager Billy Frith. At the same time chairman Fred Stringer stepped down and was replaced by HG Jones who took temporary control of team affairs. Three weeks later Harry Storer returned from Birmingham City to become manager again saying, ‘Coventry is my club. I made the mistake of leaving it once and have regretted it ever since.’ Allegedly when he heard of Frith’s departure he rang Jones and said: ‘Dust the chair. I’m coming back.’
Whilst away at St Andrews Storer’s record had been impressive. Following their League South success in the transitional season the Blues had just missed out on promotion in 1946-47 but Storer led them to the title the following season. Their first season back in the top flight had started well with only one defeat in 11 games but a mini slump left the team in mid-table when Storer dropped the bombshell that he was returning to Coventry.
His impact at Highfield Road was immediate; the team won five games in a row and gates shot up from under 20,000 to 32,000 for the Christmas game with Bury. Amazingly he barely altered the side he inherited – he just gave the team some self-belief and confidence. Despite the resurgence however the team struggled to get out of a competitive bottom half of the table. A final finish of 16th with 37 points was only two points clear of safety and helped by good home wins over promotion chasing Fulham and West Brom, the latter before a massive 39,480 crowd on Easter Tuesday. That large crowd ensured the average was again above 22,000. The recovery was underpinned by a strong home record; only one out of eleven home games was lost but away form was very patchy and Storer could not even inspire an away win at Third Division Torquay in the FA Cup, the Gulls winning 1-0 in a third round tie.
Centre-forward Ted Roberts finished the season as top scorer with 20 goals and Peter Murphy notched 13 but the team’s goal total of 55 was the lowest since 1925 and went a long way to explaining the team’s low finishing position. Storer’s only signing Jack Marsh scored a hat-trick in the 3-2 win at Plymouth.
