Matchday Memories: On This Day 1982 – Baggies Bested At Home By Sky Blues Super Striplings!

Garry in the Sky Blue

On this day (10th April) in 1982 the Sky Blues travelled the short distance across the Midlands to visit the Hawthorns on Easter Saturday and were very happy to have come away with all the points in a 2-1 win, adequate compensation for their Boxing Day defeat by two clear goals to West Bromwich Albion at Highfield Road.  The ‘Baggies’ were going through a bad patch with just one win in eleven and the Sky Blues were able to capitalise, sending the home fans amongst the 12,718 crowd into fears of future relegation.

Steve Whitton in action against WBA’s Martyn Bennett

Sky Blues ‘gaffer’, Dave Sexton fielded a relatively young side (with eight home grown players) and fairly recent CCFPA recruit Mark Hateley (who had recently got a debut brace for England U21s) was a constant thorn in the flesh of the W.B.A. team. However, it was Mark’s fellow youthful Sky Blues forwards Garry Thompson (after two minutes) and Steve Whitton at the death (87 minutes) who applied the coup-de-grace to the home team. Steve MacKenzie had given the Baggies a forlorn hope just before the break but it was the Sky Blues who prevailed. 

The Sky Blues that came away with the points from the Hawthorns that day were (CCFPA members underlined):-

Dave Sexton, CCFC’s gaffer

The late Les Sealey, Ian Butterworth, Brian ‘Harry’ Roberts, Steve Jacobs, Paul Dyson, Gary Gillespie, Steve Whitton, Gerry Francis, Mark Hateley, Garry Thompson and Steve Hunt.

Ronnie Allen‘s Baggies lined up:-

Mark Grew, Brendon Batson, Derek Statham, Martyn Bennett, John Wile, Ally Robertson, Romeo Zondervan, Nicky Cross (sub. Ally Brown), Cyrille Regis, Gary Owen and Steve MacKenzie     Referee:- D.Shaw

Of course, W.B.A.’s No.9 ‘Big Cyrille’ Regis was later to become a beloved Sky Blue player and 1987 F.A.Cup winner and was recognised as both a Midland and national footballing legend on his premature passing in January 2018. Martin Jol, who was on the Baggies’ books at this time soon went on to play a season for the Sky Blues in 1984-85.

This result was likely to have further weakened the tenure of the Baggie’s legendary player from 1950-61 and latest ‘gaffer’ Ronnie Allen who was to leave the Hawthorns after just the one unsuccessful season. West Bromwich Albion managed only a seventeenth place finish by season’s end. The Sky Blues finished a relatively comfortable fourteenth in Division One.

CCFC 1981-82

Leeds United, Wolverhampton Wanderers  (the Baggies midland neighbours) and bottom club Middlesbrough all went down in 1981-82. It was Liverpool‘s Championship that season, by four points, from Ipswich Town.

 

Thanks to CCFPA’s Mike Young for sourcing the images (and to our former committee member Dean Nelson for the autographed profile of Steve Whitton from the Cov.Telegraph ‘Pink’ edition at the time).