John Aloisi in the Sky Blue
On this day (6th March) in 1999 the Sky Blues were battling for points at the wrong end of the Premier League under (now CCFPA member) Gordon Strachan. However, last time out they had received the major fillip of tanning close local rivals Aston Villa 4-1 in Birmingham thanks to a brace each from recent CCFPA recruit John Aloisi and George Boateng. Today the visitors to Highfield Road, in front of Match of the Day cameras, were fellow strugglers Charlton Athletic and points were at a premium for both teams on a difficult pitch only just declared fit to play by the ref.
Noel Whelan – Sky Blue 2000
Things looked ominous for City, after a goalless first half, when they were struck by two hammer blows. First the Addicks got their nose in front with a goal from Andy Hunt (some sources say John Robinson) ten minutes after the break and then, a couple of minutes later, our Australian striker John Aloisi got his marching orders after retaliating to provocation from Charlton‘s Danny Mills by giving him a cuff!
Thirty five minutes to play a goal and a man down did not look promising! To the Sky Blues’ credit, however, they upped their game in a scrappy contest to come from behind and take those vital points scoring the first goals conceded by the visitors in over seven hours’ play!