Coventry City Former Players Association

News of Former Players

Alan 'Digger' Daley R.I.P. (pictured below)

It is sad to report the death yesterday (24 June 2008) of former Coventry City player Alan 'Digger' Daley. Daley, who was 80 years old, joined City in 1958 and played 60 games for the club including many in the Fourth Division promotion campaign of 1958-59 and scored 12 goals. A left-winger, Daley was a football nomad playing for numerous lower division clubs before arriving at Highfield Road from Crewe. In 1960 he lost his place to Stewart Imlach and in January 1961 joined Southern League Cambridge City. After retiring from the professional game he was a market trader in Bedford for many years and lived in the village of Renhold.

Jack Barnes

Jack Barnes, the oldest former Coventry City player, has died four weeks before his 100th birthday. Jack, who played for City between 1927 and 1929 was also the oldest former professional footballer in the country. He died on 1st April 2008 in a Coleshill nursing home. (picture below)

Roy Barry

Roy, one of the most popular players of the 1970s, has been found at last. After years of searching and hundreds of miles travelled Bob Weeks has met Roy and signed him up for the Former Players Association. We all look forward to seeing him at a Coventry City home game soon. He now lives in Dunfermline.

Wilf Nash

Wilf Nash, who played just two games for Coventry City during World War Two, died on 11 March 2008 aged 94. Wilf played for Bedworth Town before the war and was appearing for Morris Motors when City were short of players for wartime league games. He played on the right-wing away to Aston Villa a 0-4 defeat and away to Derby County a 1-2 defeat.

Graham Paddon

Former City player Graham Paddon died suddenly aged 57 at his Norfolk home on 20 November 2007. Graham was a product of the City youth set up and starred in the FA Youth Cup final in 1968. He left the club for Norwich in 1969 after just five first team games and went on to play over 400 games for the Canaries & West Ham and later was a coach at Stoke, Portsmouth and most recently in Brunei. (scroll down for picture).

Obituary: R.I.P. Dennis Uphill

It was sad to hear of the death of 1950s star Denis Uphill who passed away on 7 February, aged 75. Denis joined City from Reading in October 1955 and had an impressive time at Highfield Road despite the club’s turbulent history then.

Born in Bath in 1931 he joined Tottenham as a junior in 1948 after being spotted playing for Western League side Peasedown Colliery. Spurs loaned him out to crack amateur outfit Finchley before he turned professional in 1949.

A short, stocky but skilful inside-forward Denis never became a regular at White Hart Lane but was a valuable understudy to England international Eddie Baily. He made his debut during Spurs 1950-51 championship season, in a 1-1 home draw with Sunderland. He played only six league games in four years, scoring two goals before moving to third division Reading in 1953. He scored 42 goals in three seasons at Elm Park before City’s flamboyant manager Jesse Carver, under pressure to revert to English tactics after a run of poor away results, saw Uphill (his first signing) and another signing Ken McPherson as the ideal front pairing to pacify the critics.

He was signed after appearing as a guest player in a home friendly with First Division Burnley. He showed Carver enough in the 1-2 defeat to convince the manager to sign him.

After making his league debut in a 1-1 draw with Aldershot, Denis was soon on the score-sheet and scored 12 goals in 31 games as City made a vain attempt at promotion. He netted two goals in the 5-3 Christmas Eve win over Norwich and another brace in the 3-1 win over Ipswich later in the season. During that season the club had the unusual situation of a forward line including Denis Uphill, Peter Hill and Jimmy Hill.

In 1956-57, with Harry Warren in charge, Denis lost his place and scored only four goals in 19 games and was made available for transfer. After rejecting a move to Ipswich he signed for Mansfield in March 1957. In 1959 he returned south to play for Watford and in his first season scored an amazing 30 goals as the Hornets won promotion from Division Four. His partnership with Cliff Holton (who scored 42 goals) yielded 72 of Watford’s 92 league goals that season. In October 1960 Crystal Palace, managed by his former Spurs boss Arthur Rowe, snapped him up and he scored 21 goals in 74 games for the South London side, including one in their 2-0 win at Highfield Road which virtually sealed Billy Frith’s fate in 1961. He appeared alongside Bill Glazier and Brian Lewis, both who later joined City.

Palace were his last league club but he played Southern League soccer with Rugby Town, Romford and Dartford before hanging up his boots in 1964. He worked as a turf accountant after retiring and lived in Watford up to his death.

Alan 'Digger' Daley in his playing days