Matchday Memories: On This Day Since 1967 – Misery Except For 2017-18!!
Marc McNulty & Max Biamou
Well, some dates are just not lucky for the Sky Blues and this (28th April) is one of them. Fortunately, even without the coronavirus disruption not so long ago!
This time five years ago we were remarking on how the Sky Blues beat the fifty year bogey on this day in 2017-18, and how, in an emphatic 6-1 away win at Cheltenham Town.
Tom Bayliss
This time four years ago we were also wondering whether the Sky Blues could get another win in that afternoon’s vital final League Two home game of the season against Shrewsbury Town (then managed by ex Sky Blue ‘skipper’ and CCFPA member Samuel Ricketts). We only managed a 1-1 draw and with the 2-0 last day reverse at Doncaster Rovers we finished outside the playoffs in eighth in season 2018-19. Since then all things Sky Blue have been very much on the up!
Jordan Shipley
Prior to the Cheltenham Town game five season’s ago the Sky Blues had had an unwanted and amazing set of reverses on this particular day, ever since CCFC achieved top level status in 1967!! April 28th had truly been a day to avoid for the Sky Blues before the Town were hit for six! At least we have now remained undefeated in the last two attempts on this previously bogey day and (now CCFPA member) ‘one of our own’ Jordan Shipley was on the mark in both games!
As can be seen from below, until that Cheltenham game, the Sky Blues have played seven games on this day since 1965 in three other leagues and not gained a single point (and we had only scored three goals conceding 26)!! You have to go back over half a century to 1964-65 to see our last points on 28th April before that day, an end of season 3-1 win at Highfield Road over Leyton Orient. All the Sky Blues goals were scored by the late City Legend and CCFPA member George Hudson that day. CCFPA member now Marc ‘Sparky’ McNulty‘s hat-trick at Cheltenham was a fine means of recalling that day in 2018.
Top strikers of different Sky Blue eras; George Hudson & Marc McNulty
Southampton alone have inflicted three devastating defeats across the years away from Coventry including a record 8-2 demolition job on CCFC in 1984. Wolverhampton Wanderers, Queens Park Rangers, West Bromwich Albion and Liverpool are the other clubs that have made 28th April a typically horrendous day for the Sky Blues over the last forty plus years!!
28 April 1973 Division 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers (a) 0-3
28 April 1979 Division 1 Queen’s Park Rangers (a) 1-5 (Ian Wallace-8)
28 April 1984 Division 1 Southampton (a) 2-8 (Ashley Grimes-66; Micky Gynn-87)
28 April 1990 Division 1 Southampton (a) 0-3
28 April 2001 Premiership Liverpool (h) 0-2
28 April 2007 Championship West Bromwich Albion (h) 0-1
28 April 2012 Championship Southampton (a) 0-4
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28 April 2018 League Two Cheltenham Town (a) 6-1
(Tom Bayliss-12; Marc McNulty3- 27;43&78; Jordan Shipley-38; Max Biamou-74)
28 April 2019 League One Shrewsbury Town (h) 1-1 (Jordan Shipley-16)
More details on this game and other CCFC games pre 1965 games before the hoodoo struck can be found in later posts today.
Our pre top flight record on this day was very different and included our record win by 9-0 in 1933-34 against Bristol City!
Thanks to CCFPA’s Mike Young for collating the stats and sourcing the images.
