Middle row (l-r);
Front row (l-r);
By Jim Brown
After England’s success in winning the 1966 World Cup, football was preparing for a boom time and in the early weeks of the season many clubs had improved attendances.
At Highfield Road Alan Harris and John Sillett had left and John Key arrived from Fulham. The big signing was Ian Gibson, a £55,000 buy from Middlesbrough. ‘Gibbo’ was a ball-playing inside-forward who would very quickly assume the mantle of Hudson as the fan’s favourite. With Bill Glazier fully fit after his broken leg the scene was set for a renewed assault on the promotion summit.
In what was going to turn out to be the club’s finest season, the team started badly. Performances were inconsistent, especially away from home where four of the first six games were lost, and goals were hard to come by. The enigmatic Gibson’s form was patchy. Things came to a head when defeat at Carlisle and a dressing room argument Gibson was dropped and immediately asked for a transfer. Hill’s response was vague: ‘We just don’t seem to see eye to eye on the way he should play in the team.’ The following day Third Division Brighton piled on the agony by knocking City out of the League Cup.
The dream of promotion was fading fast, and over the next month with Gibson in the reserves there were few signs of resurgence. The Sky Blues lost 1-3 at Huddersfield, seven days after Crystal Palace had inflicted City’s first and only home defeat, leaving the Sky Blues seventh in the league table. This was to be the last defeat of the season.
For the following game Gibson was recalled and City played superbly performance of the season to beat Cardiff 3-2. Gibson scored two and put on a sublime midfield performance. December was the crucial month and the Sky Blues started with two dazzling victories in six days. Wolves, the league-leaders were beaten 3-1 at Molineux and new leaders Ipswich were put to the sword 5-0. Gibson was the architect and despite a hat-trick from Bobby Gould the best goal of the night was from the cheeky Scot who chipped the ball over seven defenders to find the top of the net and guarantee himself cult status with City fans.
The goals continued to flow with home wins over Rotherham (4-2) and Portsmouth (5-1) and at the end of the year the Sky Blues were second in the league table. The Sky Blues and Wolves proved themselves by far the best sides in the division and by March it was obvious that barring a disaster the race would be between the two Midland rivals for the championship. Just to ensure their were no Cup distractions the team went out of the FA Cup but only after a classic match against First Division Newcastle United. Wyn Davies scored a hat-trick as the Geordies exposed City’s defensive weaknesses and won 4-3.
City mathematically clinched promotion on Tuesday 25 April when closest challengers Blackburn could only draw with Bolton. Celebrations started in Coventry that night ahead of the visit of Wolves four days later, a game that Hill described as the Midlands match of the Century. With both clubs assured of promotion this game would probably decide to which club the title would go.
On the day thousands were turned away as all the turnstiles were closed fifteen minutes before the kick-off. Hundreds of fans gained admittance illegally and the club felt that around 53,000 actually saw the game. Inside the terraces at both ends were full to over flowing. Children were man-handled out of the seething mass and allowed to stand on the running track and by the time the teams came out the youngsters were four or five deep around most of the perimeter. There were dozens of fans perched perilously on the base of the floodlight pylons and at one stage there were more than 50 spectators sitting on the roof of the Covered End.
After a tense first half City shrugged off a Peter Knowles goal after 41 minutes to blitz the Wolves defence in an unrelenting second-half and produce their best football of the season. Ernie Machin equalised and four minutes later Ian Gibson scored to put the Sky Blues ahead. After each goal the wildly excited youngsters spilled on to the pitch. The referee used the tannoy system to warn the crowd that any further invasions and he would abandon the game. With five minutes remaining City broke away for Rees to score a third goal. The fans on the perimeter seemed to pause for a second, but none encroached in a display of self-discipline. At the final whistle the youngsters raced on to the pitch in memorable scenes. Nemo in his match report wrote: ‘Those who were there will never forget it. Nor perhaps will they ever be able to convince those who were not of the unforgettable drama and electricity of the greatest day in Highfield Road’s history.
The official crowd was a record 51,452 who paid £12,000. There was still however a Second Division championship to be won and despite beating Wolves the Sky Blues were still behind their Black Country rivals on goal average. On the final day Wolves, needing just a point for the title, crashed 1-4 at Crystal Palace, whilst City beat Millwall 3-1 to extend their unbeaten run to 25 games and clinch the title. Bobby Gould ended the season with 25 goals, the leading scorer in the division.
The final attendance figures showed City’s average crowd for the momentous season to be 28,269, the highest in the division and a club record.
