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Front row (l-r);
By Jim Brown
Coventry City started their first season back in Division Two like a train, winning their first five games. The new Sky Blue Stand was ready for the first home game, a 2-0 win over Malcolm Allison’s Plymouth Argyle and this was followed by away wins at the two clubs relegated from Division One, Ipswich and Bolton. Five goals were put past Ipswich in the return game, watched by almost 38,000, as twin strikers George Hudson and George Kirby clicked.
A 3-0 home win over Middlesbrough had City fans dreaming of a second successive promotion but the bubble was to burst in dramatic fashion. The following midweek City lost their unbeaten run at Derby’s Baseball Ground in front of Derby’s biggest crowd for years (32,000) and an even bigger crowd at Newcastle saw another loss.
The opening five wins were followed by five straight defeats and then the season settled into an inconsistent pattern. The side was unchanged for the first seven games but through the winter Hill made subtle changes in his team.
The most dramatic move was the club buying Bill Glazier for £35,000, a world record fee for a goalkeeper and one of Hill’s shrewdest purchases. Within a month England manager Alf Ramsey had selected Glazier for the Under 23 team for the first such international at Highfield Road against Rumania. Glazier’s appearance boosted the crowd to over 27,000 who witnessed a 5-0 win for England. Within a month of joining the Sky Blues it was revealed that Bill had been awarded a five-year contract, supposedly the longest contract ever awarded to a British footballer. Glazier’s signing was only possible because of the club’s strong financial position. Profits for the year to May 1964 were a record £11,231 and with the Supporters Club agreeing to fund the £120,000 cost of the new stand, money was available for team strengthening.
City had a miserable time in November and December including a 0-5 defeat at Bury and on 1 December they suffered the biggest home defeat in the club’s history when losing 1-8 to First Division Leicester City in the League Cup. The absence of an injured George Curtis for half the match did not help matters and every time Leicester attacked they seemed to score. The result was pounced upon by the cynics who said it was evidence that the team were well short of top-flight quality.
Days later Rotherham took City to the cleaners at Highfield Road, winning 5-3 with debutant John Galley taking advantage of Curtis’s absence by scoring a hat-trick. In an effort to shore up the defence Hill signed Alan Harris, brother of Chelsea hard-man Ron, spending another £35,000. The introduction of young David Clements, a cheap buy from Wolves and the return from injury of Ernie Machin sparked an upturn, although a 0-3 FA Cup defeat at Villa Park again illustrated the gulf between the top two divisions that would have to be bridged.
The team’s upturn started in the Christmas home game with Preston, one of the strongest sides in the division. On a freezing cold night on a pitch resembling an ice- rink George Hudson mastered the conditions and gave one of the great individual performances at the stadium. In the 3-0 victory he scored with a nonchalant chip, made another goal and generally led the visitor’s defence a merry dance. Two weeks later another classic game saw City beat the league leaders Newcastle 5-4 but only after a nervous last twenty minutes as City threw away a 5-1 lead.
At Easter the season was petering out with the Sky Blues in mid-table tragedy struck Glazier at Maine Road when he broke his leg in a clash with Glyn Pardoe. The bad break ended his dreams of a place in the 1966 World Cup squad.
The first team’s inconsistencies turned the spotlight on to the reserve side who won promotion to Division One of the Football Combination. Crowds for the reserve games averaged an amazing 4,820 with 12,132 attending the final game a 1-0 win over QPR that as good as clinched promotion.
The season ended with City sending Swansea Town down to Division Three in their final home game. The final average home league gate was 26,621, up only 500 from the previous season. Once again they were the eleventh best-supported club in the whole league and only champions Newcastle United topped them in Division Two.
