We make no apology for repeating and extending a series first aired over three years ago as we present images of Coventry City programmes through the years over the next couple of months or so. Former CCFPA chairman Jim Brown and committee member Mike Young have been building up a collection of full programme images from CCFC issues pre 1945. These images are taken from the collection of well over 700 home and away. We start with the earliest we have from 125 years ago.
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September 1st 1908 Coventry City 1-1 Crystal Palace
(attendance c.5200)
The Bantam’s first match of the season (and their first under this new nickname) in their first season in the Southern League. This was also the first proper programme (as opposed to team sheets issued for particular matches) and offered fourteen pages for the sum of one penny.
The programme was copyright the publishers Allen Greaves (of Sheffield & Fleet Street, London) on behalf of CCFC whose registered office was portrayed as the ‘Highfields Ground, Swan Lane.’ The Express News Agency (part of Allen Greaves) boasted that it had erected a new ‘Large Scoring Board‘ at the ground and on page 4 was a coded list of the Division One and Two and Southern League matches that day for which half-times and full time scores would be posted. An early encouragement to buy the programme as the editor warns of bogus rival programmes that might be on sale but which do not have the code! The publishers produced programmes with similar covers and contents for other teams.
As well as a presumably syndicated ‘General Football Notes‘ with only tiny CCFC content there is a wonderful, cartoon of Manchester United’s famous ‘Welsh Wizard’ Billy Meredith (left). Standard content on other pages included a full updateable fixtures/results chart for all the Southern League teams (below right), a CCFC fixture list and some ‘bon mots’ for the reader. The team list, as can be seen below, is missing the opponents line-up which was presumably not to hand at the time of printing. We provide their team members below.
Since it is the first game of the season CCFC’s officials and staff are listed. The Chairman was Tom Owen with six directors including two Coventry City councillors and the Chief Constable, C.C.’Chris’ Charsley! Walter Harris was the Club Secretary.
The 27 players so far signed up include three goalkeepers, five backs, seven half-backs and a dozen forwards (listed below right- left hand page).
The programme records the team as playing in ‘Light and Dark Blue Quarters and White Knickers’. Season Tickets were 12s 6d in the Centre Stand and reduced stand admission was given to Ladies at 7s 6d! Ground admission for each Southern League game was sixpence for Adults (half price for boys). The centre stand cost an additional sixpence and the wings thruppence!
There are a number of adverts in the programme including for ‘The Lounge Cafe‘, Hertford Street – Proprietresses: The Misses Bliss!; ‘The Certain Corn Cure‘; The Chairman’s ‘Sydenham Palace Hotel’ in Lower Ford Street; Coventry Turkish Baths and ‘The Peeping Tom‘ Hertford Street with ‘Refreshments of the Highest Quality’.
As far as the City’s first game of the season went our centre half Tom Marvin gave us a 22nd minute lead but Jimmy Bauchop equalised for Palace midway through the second half at seventy minutes. There were around 5,200 there to see it and £116 was taken at the gate. We beat the Palace 1-0 at their own ground the following April.
For the record, the ‘Bantams’ were represented in this game by:-
Joe Moult, Eli Juggins, Arthur Bivins, Harry Jones, Tom Marvin, Fred Chaplin, Charlie Tickle, Sam Farrant, Ike Turner, Albert Fisher and Harry Buckle.
Crystal Palace’s team consisted of :-
Joshua Johnson, Harry Collyer, G.Walker, W.Innerd, C.W.Ryan, J.Brearley, George Garrett, H.Swann, Jimmy Bauchop, George ‘Lady’ Woodger and R.Roberts.
The City’s season finished as follows:-
Season 1908-09 P.40, W.15, D.4, L.21, F.64-91A, Pts. 34, Pos. 20th
The ‘Bantams’ also went out of the F.A.Cup in the Fifth Qualifying Round 1-3 against Carlisle United at Manchester City‘s Hyde Road ground after two earlier draws. We also went out of the Birmingham Senior Cup at the Third Round stage 1-7 at Birmingham! We also relinquished the Bass Charity Vase won the previous season in a 2-0 home defeat against Leicester in the last match of the season.
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Some of these featured programmes can be seen in more detail by clicking our ‘Progs’ tab (at top). There are still lots of gaps which you may be able to help fill so if you have any prewar programme – home or away – of City games, the earlier the better, we would be grateful if you could let Mike Young know what you have got so he can check whether it fills a hole in our database (atm.young9@ntlworld.com). If it is, then he will make arrangements with you to get it scanned or photocopied as appropriate.
Though we have asked before we still hope that some of our FPA members, associate members or our general readership will be able to protect a bit more of the club’s important heritage for posterity and in doing so help make the Club’s (and your) history come alive again!
Thanks to CCFPA’s Mike Young for researching the article and sourcing the images.
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