Matchday Memories: On This Day 2011 – Aidy’s Sky Blues Finish Fair & Square At Foxes
Aidy Boothroyd- Sky Blue ‘gaffer’
On this day (26th February) in 2011 the Sky Blues, under Aidy Boothroyd, undertook another M69 derby making the short trip across to the East Midlands to take on Leicester City. There was a good turnout (1,351) of members of the Sky Blue Army present in the 25,356 crowd at the Walkers Stadium. The Foxes were doing pretty well in the top ten hoping for the playoffs whilst the Sky Blues were trying hard to climb from the lower reaches of the Championship. The last three meetings between the two clubs had been stalemates including a 1-1 draw in Coventry the previous September when Paolo Sousa was the Foxes’ gaffer. Today’s result continued the pattern, another shared points experience, honours even, denting the playoff ambitions of the Foxes (by then managed by Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson) !
Marlon in the Sky Blue
Leicester had dominated the early stages and twice went close through their Nigerian striker Yakubu. However, it was the Sky Blues that got their noses in front with their first real attack within the first quarter of an hour of the game, after good work down the right by Lukas Jutkiewicz when, when striker (and now CCFPA member) Marlon King got a chance to shoot through the hands of Foxes’ Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo Pereira into the corner of the net for the opener.
Marlon might have had a second when he skipped round the on-rushing keeper and missed the target, while Ricardo earned some mitigating brownie points with a one-handed save from an effort by Lukas. On the other hand, the Foxes were denied a penalty when Yakubu went to ground after taking the ball past Sky Blue ‘keeper (and CCFPA member) Keiran Westwood. The home team then managed to draw level on the stroke of half-time through Kyle Naughton‘s spectacular strike. The on-loan Tottenham Hotspur defender burst into the area and finished into the top corner with his supposedly weaker left foot. The full back was an ever present threat to the Sky Blues down the Foxes’ right wing.
There were fewer chances in the second period, but Marlon did miss the target with a free header and future Sky Blue Patrick Van Aanholt blazed over for the hosts before the Sky Blues survived a tense last five minutes after Martin Cranie received his second yellow card and was sent off for a foul on another future Sky Blue Martyn Waghorn. The Sky Blues came away happier than their hosts with the point.
Pretty well all the match details are provided in the graphic below. The Referee was Graham Scott:-
Of the eighteen members of the Sky Blue squad that day we are pleased to say that a dozen later became CCFPA members, namely (starters) Keiren, Nathan, both Richards, Carl, David, Aron and Marlon, substitute Freddy and (unused on the bench) Chris, Roy and ‘Cov.Kid’ Gary!
Sadly, the performances of the team that Aidy built gradually but substantially deteriorated particularly in this second half of the season. CCFC’s Chief Scout (and CCFPA member) Andy Thorn took over the Ricoh managerial hot-seat, initially as caretaker, from Aidy following his sacking in mid March.
CCFC 2010-11
The Sky Blues’ team ultimately ended up their 2010-11 season safe in a lowly eighteenth spot Nevertheless, City were a full thirteen points clear of the relegated trio, Preston North End, Sheffield United and, at the very bottom, Scunthorpe United. Our opponents today, Leicester City, in the end, finished well adrift (by eight points) of the playoff places in tenth.
Queen’s Park Rangers (Championship Champs) and Norwich City got the automatic promotion spots and were Premier League bound along with play-off victors, third placed Swansea City.
