BLUE SKIES ARE HERE
Arsenal. Everton. Liverpool. Coventry. In 2001, the four longest-serving top-flight clubs in England had won 18 league titles during the 34 years since Bobby Gould’s goals had won Coventry promotion, with the Sky Blues contributing none of those. But in the top tier they remained, never once finishing higher than sixth, nor even in the top 10 after 1989, yet stubbornly clinging to the cliff edge.
“There was a suspicion,” said the Telegraph, “that it was written in the Premier League rules that Coventry could never be relegated, as they had survived so often. But this time, there were no last-gasp heroics.” After 34 top-flight seasons, including nine final-day escapes, their nine lives were up.
This campaign marks 20 years since City left the Premier League – 20 years of despair, fleeting hope, further despair and then a bit more despair, followed at long last by some real and genuine cause for optimism under manager Mark Robins.
However, in 2001, while Robins was running amok in Rotherham’s attack, Coventry were set to embark on a bleak journey down the divisions despite having a vision, back-to-back FA Youth Cup finalists and plans to build the England team’s new stadium. Coventry’s sun couldn’t possibly have set. The future, surely, was Sky Blue.
What the hell happened?
2001 “They used to say, ‘If they’d built the Titanic in Coventry, it would never have sunk’ – until we got relegated,” Dave Eyles tells FourFourTwo with a heavy sigh.
As head of the Sky Blues Trust supporters’ group, with childhood memories of Coventry’s 1987 FA Cup glory, he’s seen it all. The same could be said of Andy Turner, who’s been covering the club for the since 1998. “My first game,” he recalls, “was Liverpool away in the FA Cup. In the previous game, Coventry beat Manchester United 3-2 at Highfield Road with a wonder goal from Darren Huckerby. Then they went to Anfield and won 3-1.
