Matchday Memories: On This Day 2014 – See Sky Blue Franck & Andy Rob The Robins In Bristol
On this day (4th February) in 2014 the Sky Blues, managed by former player Steven Pressley, were down in a very, very wet west country to meet Bristol City in a League One fixture. They were playing their ‘home’ games this season in exile at Northampton Town‘s Sixfield’s stadium to much reduced crowds as a fans boycott was in place. On 2nd August the club had been deducted ten points for exiting administration without a CVA and needed to make up this handicap. Just below mid-table at the time ‘Elvis’ men hadn’t scored a win in their last four games in all competitions (two draws and two defeats) since early January when they won 2-1 at Barnsley in the Third Round of the F.A.Cup.
Goals from Franck Moussa after seven minutes and Andy Webster at the 25 minute mark gave the Sky Blues their victory by the odd goal in three away over the Robins. Bristol’s sub. Wes Burns did score for the home team eight minutes before the final whistle but it was a mere consolation!
The 686 members of the Sky Blue Army in the 11,272 crowd went home well pleased!
A contemporary report from the Robin’s club website can be accessed here. Thanks to former CCFPA committee member Dean Nelson you can watch some of the match highlights by clicking on the link or image below:-
The two teams lined up as follows:-
Sky Blues (CCFPA members underlined)
Joe Murphy, Cyrus Christie, Blair Adams, Andy Webster, Dan Seaborne, Conor Thomas, Carl Baker (sub. Mark Marshall – 72), Adam Barton, Nathan Delfouneso, Billy Daniels (sub. Jordan Clarke -78) and Franck Moussa (sub. John Fleck -67).
Unused Subs: Jordan Willis, Louis Garner, George Thomas and Lee Burge (gk).
Bristol City (managed by Steve Cotterill)
Simon Moore, Adam El-Abd (sub. Tyrone Barnett -63), Derrick Williams, Marvin Elliott (sub. Wes Burns -64), Aden Flint, Joe Bryan (sub. Marlon Pack -46), Simon Gillett, Greg Cunningham, Sam Baldock, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Scott Wagstaff. Unused Subs: Bobby Reid, Wade Elliott, Brendan Maloney and Frank Fielding (gk) Referee: Andy Woolmer
Simon Moore went on to play in goal for the Sky Blues.
The Sky Blues had suffered a ten point deduction for going into administration and would have finished tenth in League One without it. They had to be content with eighteenth place as a result! The Robins finished exactly midway in twelfth spot. Wolverhampton Wanderers were nine points clear of Brentford at the top of League One and were promoted to the Championship along with fourth placed Rotherham United.
At the bottom the four clubs to go down were (in descending order) Tranmere Rovers, Carlisle United, Shrewsbury Town and (bottom) Stevenage.