Club Info
This section of The Databank contains general information about the club, our history and our achievements (which won't take up too much room!)
For info on players and other club staff, go to Who's Who. If you're looking for Statistics, then head off to the CLUB RECORDS or STATS & FACTS areas. For information on our ground and ticket prices etc. go to the Stadium page.
Address and Phone Numbers:
The Ricoh Arena
Phoenix Way,
Foleshill,
Coventry,
WEST MIDLANDS
CV6 6GE
Main Number: 0870 421 1987
Ticket Office: 024 7567 8000
Fax: 024 7623 4099
Honours:
(yes, Honours!)
League Championship: (best position) 6th, 1969-70.FA Cup: Winners 1986-87.
League Cup: (best performance) Semi-finalists 1980-81, 1989-90.
European Fairs (UEFA) Cup: (best performance) 2nd Round 1970-71.
Minor Honours: FA Youth Cup 1986-87, Division 3 (South) Cup: 1935-36, Southern Professional Floodlight Cup: 1959-60. (And I think we may have also won the Champions League and World Club Cup at some point too, but I can't remember...)
History:
The Club was formed in 1883 as 'Singers FC' by employees of Singer's Bicycle works. As amateurs they played mainly friendlies against other local works sides at the Dowell's Field Ground, just off Binley Road. In 1887 the side moved to a more substantial home at Stoke Road, and in 1894 successfully applied for membership of the Birmingham and District League.
In 1893, the rapidly-growing club turned professional, and were renamed Coventry City in 1898. In the following year they moved to Highfield Road, which has been our home ever since. Coventry City's first ever game in senior English Football came against Crystal Palce in the FA Cup 1st Round in the 1907-8 season after we qualified for the competition proper for the first time. It finished Coventry City 2 Crystal Palace 4.
On the back of Cup qualification, City applied for membership of the Southern League, and were successful. A reasonably successful spell therein, combined with the plans for expansion of the Football League meant that Coventry were elected to the Football League second division in 1919, the first season after World War I.
It was a struggle for many years, with Coventry having to apply for re-election, and ultimately experiencing relegation to the third and fourth divisions after further expansion of the league. Lingering around the lower divisions for nearly 50 years, Cov never looked like doing anything until 1964 when a rapidly-improving side returned to the second division and began pushing for promotion to the first.
In 1967, Coventry won promotion to the top flight for the first time, and stayed there for 34 years, before finally succumbing to relegation in 2001.
As of Summer 2008, the other 91 clubs in the Football League have all won a title or promotion more recently than we have!
Fact File:
- Coventry are the only team who have played in the Premiership, the old 1st Division, the old Divisions 2, 3 and 4, plus both Division 3 North AND Division 3 South when the division was regional - an astonishing feat that may never be equalled. Grimsby Town are the only other club to have played in all the Divisions of the old league, and they have yet to reach the Premiership.
- In the 2000-1 season, Coventry were the only side who had never been relegated from the top division of English football - apart from the teams who have never played in the top flight. Unfortunately relegation after 34 years put an end to this proud record. Now every Premiership side has been relegated at least once.
- Going into the 2000-1 season, Coventry had been in the top flight since the 1967-68 season (and had never been relegated) wich made them the fourth longest serving current top-flight team in the country (after Everton, Arsenal and Liverpool). Of course, nothing lasts forever, but 34 years is a good innings.
- The first ever use of closed circuit TV in English football was at Highfield Road in October 1965 where over 10,000 Sky Blues fans watched the team win away at Cardiff City.
- Coventry have scored and conceded goals from open play by goalkeepers within a three-year spell - Watford keeper Steve Sherwood scored for them at Highfield Road in January 1984, and Steve Ogrizovic scored for us away at Sheffield Wednesday in October 1986.
- The oldest player to play for Coventry's first team was Alf Wood (44 years 207 days) - 7th December 1958. FA Cup 2nd round vs Plymouth.
- The youngest player to play for Coventry's first team is Ben Mackey (16 years 167 days) - 12th April 2003 at home to Ipswich Town.
- Only 4 players have won England caps while at CCFC. They are: Reg Matthews (England debut 1956), Danny Thomas (1983), Cyrille Regis (1987) and Dion Dublin (1998).
Trivia:
Celebrity Sky Blues fans are few and far between, but they reportedly include SKY Sports Presenter Richard Keys, Observer Editor Donald Trelford, Formula One boss Eddie Jordan, Impressionist Alistair McGowan, Talk Radio's Moz Dee and Jon Gaunt, Composer and Record Producer Pete Waterman (on a part-time basis, he also supports Walsall), crooner Frank Isfield, VH1 jock and poptastic 80's singer Paul King, author Graham Joyce and - according to rumours - bearded tycoon Richard Branson.
Geographically, The Ricoh Arena is the most 'inland' ground in the entire Football League (ie:- the furthest from a coastline), as was our previous ground Highfield Road
Why do we have an elephant on our crest?
This is one of the most frequently asked questions about Coventry City Football Club, but not that many people know the real answer (or at least, the most plausible story - we can never be sure), which is this:
The Elephant - with a castle on its back, and a red and white cross on its side - is a traditional symbol for St. George - an alternative to / more elaborate version of the English Flag, if you like. St. George was believed to have lived in the Coventry area, and so sometime during the 19th century, the City of Coventry adopted the Elephant & Castle as a logo for the city (There is a brass of this in Coventry Cathedral). We were by no means the only place so to do, however - the 'Elephant & Castle' area of South London is better known. When the club changed its name from Singers FC to Coventry City, around the turn of the century, they included the Elephant & Castle design as the centrepiece of the club's crest. As a representation of the City of Coventry, the significance of the St. George design has declined during the 20th century, but of course lives on as a symbol of the Sky Blues! Another theory suggests that the Elephant and Castle is a corruption of 'Infanta di Castille' - a Spanish Princess although why this would have anything to do with either Coventry or South London is another question.
