Our four successful promotions, a former manager and our points tallys are looked at in the latest installment of the Coventry City A-Z...
Across the season, we worked our way through the alphabet for this year's Coventry City matchday programme PUSB, finding a Sky Blue perspective of each letter in the alphabet.
It made for a popular feature so we thought we'd bring it to the web too! So without further ado, here is P, with our four successful promotions, a former manager and our points tallys being looked at in the latest installment of the Coventry City A-Z...
Promotion
There have have been four magical seasons in the Sky Blues’ history where they have been promoted up the Football League and three of those saw City become champions. The first of these came in 1935-36 when Coventry won the Football League Third Division South. The likes of Clarrie Bourton saw City score more goals than anyone else as they fired their way to Division Two. City won the Third Division South Cup in the same season, as the first two trophies of the 20th century made their way to Highfield Road.
Next up was the foundation step of Jimmy Hill’s Sky Blue revolution, when the Fourth Division was conquered in 1958-59. Eye-catching results including a 6-1 demolition at Carlisle and a 7-1 thrashing at Aldershot meant that City finished as runners-up and a place in the Third Division was theirs.
Coventry were only in the third tier for five years, when they won the Third Division in 1963-64. City won the title on goal difference from Crystal Palace, an 8-1 win against Shrewsbury would prove crucial in the end as the championship was won by the slenderest of margins.
The last promotion happened in 1966-67 as Hill’s Sky Blue revolution was complete. City won the Second Division by a point from midland rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers as the club went to the First Division for the first time in their history. Local boy Bobby Gould won the golden boot with 24 goals, he would go on to manage the club on two separate occasions. It was in this season that the record attendance would be set as well, when 51,455 people crammed into Highfield Road to see City win a crucial game 3-1 which would prove to be the difference between the two sides at the end of the season.
Pressley
Our former manager, Steven Pressley has enjoyed playing spells with some of the biggest clubs in Britain, enjoying domestic and cup success.
Pressley started his career at Rangers and progressed from the youth set up to the first team. He won the first of three Scottish Cup’s when he came on as a substitute when the Gers beat Aberdeen in 1993. His performances caught the eye of the Sky Blues, who signed him in 1994. He would go on to make 19 appearances, scoring against Manchester United in front of the Sky Cameras.
He eventually joined Dundee United in 1995, spending three years there, before joining Hearts in 1998. It was here where he enjoyed his finest years. He would stay in Edinburgh for eight years and was captain of the club for five, enjoying another Scottish Cup success as well as several second and third place finishes in the SPL. The ultimate accolade came when he was inducted into the Hearts Hall of Fame in 2006.
After his contract expired he crossed the ‘Old Firm’ divide and joined Rangers, becoming only one of a handful of players to have played for both Glasgow clubs. He played 19 times, scoring once and winning the Scottish Cup for a third time with three different clubs, becoming the first person to ever achieve the feat.
In 2010 he became boss of Falkirk marking his first managerial appointment. Then in 2013 after Mark Robins’ departure he became the Sky Blues’ manager. After his 100th game for the club, a 2-2 draw against Sheffield United, the club parted company with Pressley. On his departure, chief executive Steve Waggott praised Pressley as ‘one of the hardest working and most passionate people I’ve ever worked with.’
Trevor Peake
A member of the Sky Blues hall of fame, Peake is part of the FA Cup winning squad in 1987.
An assured presence on the pitch, the centre-back played 335 for City across eight successful years, becoming a rock during City’s most successful years in the modern era, when they were in the top half of the Premier League.
Peake also played for Nuneaton, Lincoln and Luton during his career and spent time as chief scout and caretaker manager with City in the early 2000’s.
Points
The most points that City have won in a season is 66, achieved in the Championship in 2001-02 when Ronald Nilsson was in charge until March and Gary McAllister finished the season in the hot seat.
When it was two points for a win, 60 was the magic number achieved, on two occasions in 1958-59, under Billy Frith, and 1963-64, under Jimmy Hill and both seasons ended in promotion.
The fewest points earned in a season was 29 in the first season after the First World War, 1919-20, under Harry Pollitt.
In modern era, when the rule changed to three points for a game, the record stands at 34, which occurred in 2000-01 under Gordon Strachan, City’s final season in the Premier League.