Matchday Memories: On This Day 1955 – Charlie’s CCFC Go Nap At QPR With Capel Hat-Trick!

Charlie Elliott as a CCFC player

On this Monday (2nd May) in 1955 CCFC were three games away from the end of the season in the bottom regional tier of the Football League (Division Three South). They had lost their young manager Jack Fairbrother at the end of the previous October after barely a year in post – resigning for personal reasons. Veteran ex player and recently Chief Scout Charlie Elliott had been brought in to finish the season in a caretaker capacity. Things were going reasonably well on the field for the club during this campaign, though there was less harmony in the boardroom.

Tommy Capel

City had played an amazing ten fixtures in April (winning four and losing three) and last time out, the previous Saturday, had drawn 1-1 at Carrow Road against Norwich City. Today, at Highfield Road, they faced their first fixture in May against Queen’s Park Rangers – to whom they had narrowly lost in Shepherd’s Bush by the odd goal in five in January with both City goals our scored by our ex Forest inside forward Tommy Capel.

Today they comprehensively beat the Rangers 5-1 in front of 7,350 spectators and this time Tommy scored a hat-trick! City’s other goals came from inside right Ray Sambrook and No.9 Barry Hawkings.

Ray Sambrook 1957

In fact Rangers scored first after fifteen minutes after their centre-forward Willie Clark took advantage of a mix-up between CCFC full backs Roy Kirk and Charlie Timmins. It was all one way traffic after that and City could have more than doubled their finishing score!

Barry Hawkings in action

It only took a minute for Ray Sambrook to equalise from an Alan Moore cross. Then Tommy got his first after twenty minutes racing through the Rangers’ defence to score and then his second with a brilliant drive after an Alan Moore corner to give the Bantams a 3-1 half-time advantage.

In the 57th minute Barry Hawkings bustled in City’s fourth and a couple of minutes later produced a glorious cross for Tommy to head in City’s fifth and his third.

Charlie’s CCFC that day lined up as follows:-

Coventry City’s Reg Matthews

Reg Matthews; Charlie Timmins & Frank Austin; Iain Jamieson, Roy Kirk & Noel Simpson; Alan Moore, Ray Sambrook, Barry Hawkings, Tommy Capel & Eric Johnson

Barry, Charlie and Iain were CCFPA members up until their respective deaths. Iain later became a Director and Chairman of Coventry City. Our young goalie, Reg Matthews, soon achieved fame as City’s first (non wartime) England cap and the first Division Three goalie to ever play for England (where his team was never beaten with him in goal). Reg also still holds the club record for most England caps gained (five)!

Brian in 1959

QPR‘s team was:-

Harry Brown; Pat Woods & Tony Ingham; Brian Nicholas, Keith Rutter & Peter Angel; Mike Tomkys, Arthur Longbottom, Willie Clark, Bobby Cameron & Ernie Shepherd Referee: Leo Callaghan (Merthyr Tydfil)

Q.P.R.’s Brian Nicholas later joined CCFC (after a spell at Chelsea) and made 121 appearances in five excellent seasons of service to the Bantams in Division Three South, Division Four and Divivion Three and was a long term CCFPA member attending many Sky Blues matches before his death in October 2021!

Charlie’s CCFC finished in a very comfortable ninth position but he stepped aside before the next season began for a brave, but unsuccessful Coventry City experiment with playing ‘continental-style’ football under an expensive management team of Jesse Carver and George Raynor both of whom came to recognise that style of play was not compatible with the hard going, muddy pitches of lower division football!

CCFC 1954-55

Queens Park Rangers finished below City in fifteenth and both Walsall (23rd) and bottom club Colchester United were required to seek re-election to the Football League (both successfully). Bristol City were well clear at the top of Division Three South and well deserved their promotion being nine points clear of runners up Leyton Orient.