Legends Day 2023: Twenty FPs Announced- Here’s Another Six!

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CCFPA and CCFC are working to ensure the best Legends Day 2023 possible with, we hope, a record number of Former Player participants this year. We have already passed the forty mark of CCFC ‘stars of the past’ who have committed to attend LD23 in less than a fortnight’s time. We have already announced the first twenty names. We thank Coventry Building Society for their generous sponsorshipof LD23 which takes place surrounding the Sky Blues Championship fixture with Stoke City on Saturday April 1st k.o.3pm)

Now we can release the names of the next half a dozen FP participants with more announcements in coming days.

They span the CCFC playing generations and have cover all parts of the pitch position wise in club colours. They are in alphabetical order:-

Peter Billing; Willie Carr; Jimmy Holmes, Mick Kearns; Bryan King and Graham Walker

 

They should need little introduction as we prepare to welcome them to LD23. In order of appearing for the club:-

Mick in the Sky Blue

Mick Kearns

A CCFC legend, Nuneaton born Mick joined CCFC in 1955 becoming a pro. in 1956. He holds the rare distinction, along with three fellow CCFPA members and CCFC defenders who have sadly since passed away (Ronnie FarmerGeorge Curtis and Brian Hill), in spanning the ‘Bantam’ and ‘Sky Blue’ eras representing CCFC from 1958-59 in all four divisions of the Football League (Divisions 4, 3, 2 & 1) as well as with George and Brian Division Three South in 1957-58! All four (plus CCFPA committee member Dietmar Bruck) rode Jimmy Hill‘s revolutionary ‘Sky Blue Express’  from Division Three in 1961 to Division One in 1967 picking a couple of winners medals!  Mick went on to become a fixture in the side eventually turned out 382 times for the one club.

Graham in his Bantam days

Graham Walker

Another of our oldest and longest standing members the 82 year old ‘Cov.Kid’ has been a match-day regular at the Ricoh/CBS Arena and CCFPA supporter over many years. He signed for the Highfield Road Bantams as a junior part-timer initially on amateur forms in 1955. The young half back or inside-forward turned professional for his home-town club in 1958 and, though he never made the first team, was a stalwart regular the Reserves between 1956-1961.

Willie in the Sky Blue

Willie Carr

A Sky Blue legend and former apprentice, in eight glorious Sky Blue seasons between his 1967 debut and moving to Wolves in 1975 the flame haired Glasgow born playmaking  ‘livewire’ made 298 Sky Blue appearances in the top flight netting 37 goals. A Scottish cap the attacking midfielder’s top level career and burgeoning international reputation was ultimately curtailed by injury in the lower leagues. Always remembered as one half (with the late fellow CCFPA member Ernie Hunt) of the famous soon banned ‘donkey kick’ free kick routine Willie is a not irregular returnee to Sky Blue reunions from his West Midlands home.

Jimmy in the Sky Blue

Jim Holmes

Another CCFC ‘find’ Dublin born Jim actually made his Irish international debut aged 17 before his Sky Blue first team debut! Between turning pro for CCFC in 1970 and being snapped up by Spurs in March 1977 Jimmy played 150 Sky Blue first team games netting six times. Still a match-day regular at the CBS and good supporter of CCFPA events our former defender’s post Sky Blue career, hampered somewhat by injury involved a number of clubs before hanging up his boots in 1990 to go into management with Peterborough and both Nuneaton and Bedworth locally

Bryan King in Sky Blue green

Bryan King

This will be our former goalkeeper’s first Legends Day reunion after visiting us from his Norwegian home as our matchday ‘special’ at the end of last season. After an impressive seven seasons (missing just one game) with Millwall, the Sky Blue conribution of perhaps the best ‘shot-stopper’ outside the First Division, was limited by injury to one full season of 27 games between the City sticks in 1975-76. He was sadly forced to retire in 1977.

Peter Billing (1987)

Peter Billing

Our uncompromising and combative central defender was bought by John Sillett from Crewe Alexandra in June 1989 and went on to play 77 Sky Blue games in the top flight (netting once) before moving on to Port Vale in May 1993 (after an earlier loan). Peter has represented the Sky Blues in Masters football in the past, has previously been a ‘special guest’ for us and supports the Association’s annual Golf Days from time to time.

We understand there are still just a few vacancies for CCFC’s packages to allow you to ‘Lunch with the Legends’ so please contct them if you want to attend. There will be plenty of other chances for you to meet and see the club’s ‘stars of the past’ on the day. Look out on this and CCFC’s website for more announcements as we get closer to Legends Day 2023!!

PUSB

 

 

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