For the majority of Coventry City fans the 2002-03 season was the worst season in living memory and I apologise now for the depressing nature of this seasonal summary. At the start of the season most supporters were resigned to a tough season because of the financial situation of the club but few would have anticipated the dreadful nature of the second half of the season when, after an embarrassing FA Cup defeat at Rochdale the club managed to win just one of their last 21 games and that was against Grimsby, the worst side in the division.
The playing staff went through more massive changes with 44 players being used in league and cup games, the highest number in the club’s history. If they had managed to get Keith O’Neill off the sick list they would have equalled the league’s all-time record set by Barry Fry’s Birmingham City in 1997. The old club record had stood for 84 years, City’s first ever league campaign in 1919, when the club fielded anyone who could kick a ball! In the last two campaigns the Sky Blues have used a total of 62 players!
Team changes came thick and fast and the management only named an unchanged starting line-up on seven occasions.
On the positive side many of those players were home-grown youngsters who represent the future of the club and the likes of Mackey, Noon, Cooney, Whing, Bates, Osbourne and Jephcott, all virtually unknown outside Ryton this time last year, will have benefited from their first-team appearances. At the end of the Stoke game at Easter City had eight homegrown players on the pitch, the most since the period under Dave Sexton in the early 1980s when the club relied heavily on youth.
In addition to the 44 players used, three more, Richard Brush, Brian Ford and Ben Williams, each sat on the bench once as substitutes but were not used.
Youngest player:
Ben Mackey became the youngest Coventry City player of all-time when he came on as a substitute against Ipswich on 12 April. He was 16 years and 167 days, 31 days younger than Gary McSheffrey in 1999. Another 16-year old Isaac Osbourne made his debut two weeks later, becoming only the sixth 16-year old to play for the club.
Oldest player:
Two 37-year olds, Steve Walsh and Vicente Engonga made their Coventry debuts this season. Neither were as old as City’s oldest debutant, Gordon Strachan, 38 years and 64 days in 1995, but were the third and fourth oldest debutants for the club.Â
League position:
The final position of 20th was the lowest since the club came out of the old Division 3 in 1964. It was very disappointing after lying sixth and in the play-off zone in mid January.
Total goals:
The goals scored total of 46 was the lowest total since 1995-96 when 42 goals were scored as City avoided relegation from the Premiership by the skin of their teeth. However then there were only 38 games and it was a higher level of football. 46 goals translates to an average of one goal per game and this is the worst average since 1972-73 season when 40 goals in 42 games gave an average of 0.95 goals per game. In January and February the Sky Blues went 470 minutes without scoring but by the end of the season they had topped this and as the season ended at Millwall they had played 496 minutes without a goal. This is less than 90 minutes short of the modern day record of 565 set in season 1985-86.
Total wins:
The Sky Blues won 12 league games, the lowest number in a non top-flight season since 1927-28. The eleven home defeats is the club’s worst ever total and the 23 home goals the worst since 1919-20. As the season ended the Sky Blues had failed to win in 10 successive home games, this equals the worst run in the club’s history set in 1919-20 and 1991-92.
Biggest win:
The biggest victory was the 8-0 win over Rushden & Diamonds in the Worthington Cup which was a club record Cup victory. The biggest league win was the 3-0 home win over Derby just before Christmas.
Biggest defeat:
Hillsborough, formerly a very successful hunting ground for the Sky Blues proved to be a graveyard this season as the Sky Blues lost 1-5 to a Wednesday side who were ultimately relegated.
Leading scorers:
Jay Bothroyd topped City’s goalscoring charts with 11 goals (8 League, 1 FA Cup and 2 Worthington Cup). The league total of eight was the lowest by the club’s leading scorer in a non-top flight season since Molly Morgan’s seven in 1920-21.
Doubles:
City did the double over two teams – Reading and Grimsby. However five clubs did the double over the Sky Blues – Burnley, Millwall, Watford (all three for the second season running) plus Leicester and Ipswich.
Appearances:
No Coventry player was an ever present, Mo Konjic, for the second season running, made the most league appearances with 42 and, but for injury, the popular Bosnian would have been an ever-present.
Average attendance:
Home 14,810 (2001-02 16,137). Away 14,924 (2001-0215,169). The home average fell by 8.2 % and was the lowest home average since 1993-94 (13,352).
Highest home attendance:
19,526 v Reading, December 26. It was the first time in 10 years that there was no gate above 20,000 at the ground. The last time it occurred was during the season that the East Stand was being built and the capacity was reduced to under 18,000.
Lowest home attendance:
11,796 v Wimbledon, March 8. This was the lowest crowd since November 1994 when 10,729 watched City lose 1-4 to Crystal Palace.
Highest away attendance:
27,139 v Leicester City, October 29.
Lowest away attendance:
2,077 v Wimbledon, September 21. The lowest attendance to watch a City league game since January 1932 when 1,315 watched Coventry play Thames FC.
Won from behind:
(3) Sheff. United (h), Rotherham (h), Reading (a). The win at Reading was the first time City have come from behind to win away since they won 5-1 at Bolton in 1998 and City’s first win there since 1909.
Lost from in front:
(3) Millwall (h), Ipswich (h), Leicester (a).
Player of the year:
Mo Konjic.
Hat-tricks:
(1) Gary McSheffrey v Rushden & Diamonds (Worthington Cup) 2 October.
Opposing hat-tricks:
(0).
Own goals: For City:
(1) Simon Ford (Grimsby a).
Own goals: By City:
(3) Davenport (Burnley a), Caldwell (Portsmouth h), Montgomery (Stoke h).
Penalties: For City:
(7) Gary McAllister (4) (Grimsby h, Wimbledon a, Burnley a, Cardiff a), Lee Hughes (1) (Crystal Palace h), John Eustace (1) (Grimsby a), Robert Betts (1) (Rushden h). There were no missed penalties. McAllister has now scored 15 penalties for the club and has never missed in a Sky Blue shirt.
Penalties: Against City:
(1) Robbie Blake (Burnley a). Chris Iwelumo (Stoke h) missed a penalty but was credited with the goal even though it went in off Montgomery’s backside.
Fastest Goal:
McSheffrey 12 seconds v Colchester (h). This equalled City’s fastest goal ever at Highfield Road by Eddie Brown against Reading in 1954.
Man of the match awards:
6 McAllister, 5 Konjic, 4 McSheffrey, Safri, Shaw, 3 Caldwell, Pead, Partridge, Davenport, Mills, 2 Eustace, Joachim, Chippo, Hyldgaard, 1 Bothroyd, Thompson, Pipe, Engonga, Fowler, Whing.
Red cards: Coventry:
(7) Davenport (Brighton a), Safri (Crystal Palace h), Hignett (Burnley a), Gordon (Sheff. United a), Caldwell (Nottm. Forest), Chippo (Watford h), McSheffrey (Wimbledon h). This equalled the club’s highest number of red cards in a season set in 2001-02.
Red cards: Opponents:
(5) Hunter & Dempster (Rushden), Summerbee (Leicester), Thomas & Gunnarsson (Stoke a).
Yellow cards:
(83) Eustace 10, Chippo 6, Safri 6, Shaw 6, Davenport 5, Bothroyd 5, Konjic 4, McSheffrey 3, Pead 3, Caldwell 3, Hignett 2, Holdsworth 2, Jansen 2, McAllister 2, Partridge 2, Whing 1, Thompson 1, Hughes 1, Stanford 1, Gordon 1, Fowler 1.
Cup form:
The club’s poor Cup form continued with exits at the second hurdle in the FA Cup at the hands of Third Division Rochdale and at the third hurdle in the Worthington Cup to Crystal Palace after comfortable wins over Colchester and Rushden. The Colchester tie was the first time that City had played in the first round of the competition since 1963. Little did we realise in January that the 3-0 FA Cup third round replay win over Cardiff would be the last home win of the campaign.
High Spots:
The 10-game unbeaten run in December and January.
The promising early season form.
The record-breaking 8-0 win over Rushden.
The win at Molineux and the draw at Portsmouth.
Low spots:
One win in 21 league games from Boxing Day.
The dire home form.
The Rochdale debacle.
The lack of goals.
By Jim Brown
For the majority of Coventry City fans the 2002-03 season was the worst season in living memory. Despite the arrival of Gary McAllister as manger most supporters were resigned to a tough season because of the financial situation of the club but few would have anticipated the dreadful nature of the second half of the season when the club managed to win just one of their last 21 league games. The dreadful run saw the team slump from the top six in early January to a final position of 20th.
McAllister arrived with two years in the Premiership with Liverpool under his belt. He was ready to take his first steps as a manager but would continue playing. He could not have realised the extent to which his hands would be tied but the collapse of ITV Digital had left the club around £5 million worse off. The summer had seen a substantial clear-out of players with the highly paid Magnus Hedman and Gary Breen leaving, quickly followed early in the season by David Thompson and Lee Hughes. The latter two left City nursing substantial losses but with the bank insisting on a reduced debt the club were over a barrel in the transfer market. Hughes, a major disappointment at Coventry, was sold back to West Brom for around half the £5million he had cost. McAllister and his assistant Eric Black were given none of the proceeds to strengthen the squad.
The playing staff went through more massive changes with 44 players being used, the highest number in the club’s history. With no money McAllister had to rely on the loan market. By February however the club had used its full allowance of loan signings and had to experiment with youngsters. Players like Ben Mackey, Mark Noon, Sean Cooney, Andrew Whing, Tom Bates, Isaac Osbourne and Avun Jephcott, all virtually unknown outside Ryton, were thrown in at the deep end but sadly only Whing and Osbourne made any lasting impression. Of the loanees Liverpool’s Richie Partridge blossomed for a while but then went off the boil, Gary Caldwell was a consistent defender and Craig Hignett looked good before his serious injury but the rest ranged from the mediocre to the poor.
Leamington-born Mackey became the youngest Coventry City player of all-time when he came on as a substitute against Ipswich on 12 April. At the other end of the scale two 37-year olds, defender Steve Walsh and former Spanish international Vicente Engonga came briefly on loan.
The season had started promisingly with four unbeaten games including the club’s first win at Reading since 1908 and they stayed in the top eight until early November. Four successive defeats in November sent the team sliding down the table, before perversely four straight wins lifted them into the top six at Christmas and earned McAllister the Manager of the Month award for December. The wheels came off the wagon after Christmas and the team went 21 league games with only one win and despite knocking lower division Cardiff out of the FA Cup City slumped 0-2 to a very average Rochdale team who had won only one league game since September.
City did not win a home league game after Boxing Day and two of their seven defeats came at the hands of the promoted sides. Portsmouth walked away with the title and demolished City 4-0 at Highfield Road. A few days later the other automatic promotion team, Leicester, managed by Micky Adams, won more easily than the 1-2 scoreline suggested. After the latter defeat McAllister threw caution to the wind and gave youth its head but most of the youngsters were not ready or were not good enough and the consequences were catastrophic. Against Ipswich City took a 2-0 lead but were ripped apart by four goals early in the second half. The final five games yielded no goals and two points and fortunately 50 points proved to be just enough to avoid relegation but the feeling was that if the season had gone on another two weeks City would have been relegated. McAllister’s form on the pitch was excellent as was Konjic’s but Safri, out injured virtually since Christmas was sorely missed in midfield.
Before the post Christmas decline there were some highlights. The biggest victory was the 8-0 win over Rushden & Diamonds in the Worthington Cup, a club record Cup victory and the biggest first team victory since 1934.
At the end of the season chairman McGinnity revealed that, with debts of £23million, the club could have gone into liquidation at any time during the previous year but for the fact that most of the debt was owed to board members Robinson, Higgs and McGinnity. The club had severed all ties with Bryan Richardson and Robinson had acquired his shares as part of a deal that saw Richardson drop his wrongful dismissal case and the club drop their charges of alleged financial irregularities.
Player’s wages had been reduced from £16 million to £5.5 million. In more cost-cutting actions 15 first team players were either given free transfers or made available for transfer between March and the summer, including the home-grown McSheffrey and Eustace as well as higher paid players such as Joachim, Chippo and Bothroyd.
Attendances had fallen to under 15,000, the lowest since 1993-94. In June 2003 after months of rumours it was confirmed that the new stadium was going to be delayed until January 2005. The former gasworks site at Foleshill had been totally de-contaminated, the land would be levelled and prepared for construction work to start in the autumn.
