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By Jim Brown
Excitement was high in Coventry in the summer of 1955 and the build up to new manager Jesse Carver’s arrival on 1st July ‘would have done justice to a Hollywood star’. 43-year old Carver’s curriculum vitae was outstanding. Although never a top player himself he had coached extensively on the continent since the war and was at the forefront of innovation in improving the skills, athleticism and theoretical knowledge of players. He had coached Juventus to the Italian League title in 1950 and although he had not repeated the feat at subsequent spells with Lazio, Torino and Roma he had an excellent reputation.
Carver’s first appointment was another major coup; he made Lazio’s English born coach George Raynor his number two. Raynor was a folk-hero in Sweden after leading the nation to the football gold medal at the 1948 Olympic Games in London and third place in the 1950 World Cup in Brazil. Then, like Carver, he had coached in Italy and was to be the tracksuited training ground man to Carver’s smooth-talking suited front man. The money was attractive, the two men were supposedly paid £70-100 per week at Highfield Road, but both had a nagging desire to prove themselves in their own country.
Carver arrived with a tan that complemented his man about town personality and with his tailored light grey suits and camel coat he looked more like a Hollywood film mogul than a football manager. He warned supporters not too expect too much but his words went unheeded – promotion talk was, as always, in the air.
The Carver-Raynor partnership introduced radical new training methods to Coventry and brought in wooden clogs and bathrobes to prevent the players catching cold while walking to and from the showers as well as personal lightweight continental boots. Every player had his own football for the rigorous ball-playing routines which formed the main part of the new bosses blueprint for success.
For the first home game of the season, a 3-1 win over Bournemouth there was a crowd of over 24,000. The team were big news in the Third Division and crowds flocked to watch them at away grounds. The home form was outstanding – the team were unbeaten at home well into 1956 – and the players’ extra fitness usually ensured a thrilling final fifteen minutes. Away from home it was a different story with goals and points hard to come by. It was soon apparent that the type of football played by the top Serie A teams or by the Swedish national side would not get City out of Division Three.
Rumours of Carver’s discontent and overtures from Italian clubs surfaced in the press in November and were denied but in mid-December 1955 Carver asked to be released from his contract. On 30th December, ironically just days after a successful three-win Christmas programme had lifted the team into fifth place, Shanks announced that the club were releasing Carver because of his wife’s health problems. When a local reporter asked him if he had had any offers from foreign clubs, he gave a ‘wry smile’ and replied: ‘No none at all’. He agreed not to undertake any position in English football for the next two and a half years. Within days of leaving Coventry he joined Internazionale of Milan on a reputed £130 per week.
Raynor was elevated to the manager’s post but the team could not maintain their Christmas form and eventually finished eighth in the table. The club however could not keep out of the headlines and the next back page news was the San Lorenzo friendly which ended in wild scenes. San Lorenzo were one of Argentina’s top club sides and in January 1956 were touring Britain. Top international referee Arthur Ellis was in charge of the game and near the end of a competitive first-half awarded City a penalty when Dennis Uphill was pushed off the ball as he was about to score.
The whole Argentine team hotly disputed the penalty and their inside-left Sanfilippo kicked Ellis in a temperamental outburst. Ellis ordered the culprit off and when he refused to leave the field Ellis abandoned the game as he refused to continue under “impossible conditions”.
Throughout the season goalkeeper Reg Matthews’ meteoric rise continued. Following two more impressive displays for the Under 23s and many outstanding displays for the City he was selected for his first full England cap in April at Hampden Park. He was the first Coventry City player to play for England and gave an excellent display in a 1-1 draw that earned him further caps against Brazil at Wembley and Sweden and West Germany on the end-of-season tour. Reg was never on the losing side and looked set for a long international career.
Two weeks later international honours were awarded to another City man when 16-years old Kent-born George Curtis was selected for the England youth team. George, still on the groundstaff, had played the final three games of the season – the start of a memorable career with the club. Another youngster to emerge was winger Ray Sambrook who made the left wing slot his own with some dazzling performances.
A roller-coaster season ended with City seventeen points behind champions Leyton Orient. Only three sides lowered City’s colours at Highfield Road but conversely the team won only four away games all season. The ‘Carver’ effect ensured gates averaged 17,658 – easily the club’s highest since the relegation year and the highest in their division.
