On this day (3rd September) in 1983 the Sky Blues under new ‘gaffer’, ‘Cov Kid’ ex City No.9 (and now CCFPA member) Bobby Gould were playing their third game of the Division One season. A week previously, in a remarkable seasonal opener at Vicarage Road Watford, Bobby’s newly built Sky Blues won an unlikely 3-2 win (with the Hornets scoring in their own net twice) and just days later they got an encouraging midweek 1-1 draw with Tottenham in their second game, at White Hart Lane, thanks to an 87th minute goal from debut boy (and now CCFPA member) Graham Withey. The Gouldfather’s team was very different from last season as the summer clear out saw eight Sky Blues players depart and eleven arrive! The bookies had made CCFC very much the relegation favourites but all Sky Blues’ fans were hoping that the positive start would continue today at in their first home game against Everton.
‘Harry’ in the Sky Blue
There were 12,229 fans in the home of the Sky Blues desperate to see how the team that Bobby built in Coventry for the first time. There were no new debutants today as the eight new men from the previous two games continued to find a way to gel.
Current CCFC club host Brian ‘Harry’ Roberts was the ‘Gouldfather’s chosen new ‘skipper’ and it did not take long for one of the newbies, Harry’s (now fellow CCFPA member) and future Sky Blue ‘gaffer’, Micky Adams to find the net. Micky struck after thirteen minutes to give Bobby’s alleged team of misfits a perfect start. The Sky Blues gave a battling display worthy of their ‘gaffer’ who had been a rambunctious No.9 when wearing the City colours himself!
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Micky in the Sky Blue
Unfortunately an equaliser soon came from the Liverpudlian Toffeemen and what a goal it was as, three minutes before the half hour, Everton’s Kevin Sheedy struck a sensational thirty yarder to beat young Perry Suckling in the Sky Blue goal.
Though the Sky Blues made a few chances to win the game Everton also carved out match winning opportunities too but Perry’s goal was not breached again. The score therefore remained 1-1 at both half-time and full-time and the draw was undeniably a fair result.
Perry in the Sky Blue
The Sky Blues won their next game against Notts County also at Highfield Road by the odd goal in three and it wasn’t until their fifth game, perhaps surprisingly, that they first tasted defeat, travelling to the capital again to be rolled over 2-5 by West Ham United on the 10th September!
The Sky Blues team that beat the Toffees on this day (CCFPA members underlined) was:-
Bobby Gould- Sky Blue ‘gaffer’
Perry Suckling, Peter Hormantschuk, Brian Roberts (c), Ashley Grimes, Trevor Peake, Steve Jacobs, Martin Singleton (sub. Graham Withey -46)**, Gerry Daly,**Nicky Platnauer , Terry Gibson and Micky Adams
ImageHoward Kendall‘s Toffeemen team that day lined up as follows:-
Jim Arnold, Alan Harper, John Bailey, Kevin Ratcliffe, Mark Higgins, Kevin Richardson, Trevor Steven, Adrian Heath (sub. David Johnson -46), Graeme Sharp, Andy King and Kevin Sheedy
Referee:- D.Axcell
There were a few Coventry City connections with the Everton side that day. Kevin Richardson who started out with the Toffees later wore the Sky Blue from 1995-97, Adrian Heath was City’s Assistant (and briefly Caretaker) Manager at the Ricoh in 2006-07 and (now CCFPA member) Peter Reid, who was in the Toffee’s squad at the time, later managed the Sky Blues.
CCFC 1983-84
On the last day of 1983 with the Sky Blues in eighth spot they took on Everton again in the return at Goodison and came away, in front of Sky cameras, with a no score bore draw!
In another end of season nail biter the Sky Blues stayed up on the last day in nineteenth spot with a 2-1 home win against Norwich City condemning City’s fairly recent landlords Birmingham City to the drop two places behind (along with with Notts. County and Wolverhampton Wanderers, on a bad day for the Midlands)! The Toffees had a reasonably good year finishing seventh in Division One. It was Liverpool‘s title, three points ahead of runners up Southampton.
Thanks for CCFPA’s Mike Young (& Dean Nelson) for sourcing the images.
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