We take a look at three men who have represented both the Sky Blues and the Seasiders...
Coventry City face off against Blackpool on Saturday, looking to get three vital points at Bloomfield Road.
As the Sky Blues prepare for the weekend fixture, we look at three men who have represented both clubs.
Sam Allardyce
Allardyce joined the Sky Blues during his playing days in 1983. ‘Big Sam’ as he is more commonly known was bought to solidify the City defence, as the then-defender, had impressed at previous clubs; Bolton, Sunderland, Millwall and Tampa Bay Rowdies. He eventually left at the end of the 1983/84 season having made 28 appearances, scoring one goal in that time.
Big Sam took over as manager of Blackpool in 1994. To this day, he has the highest win percentage of any Blackpool manager with 44.57%. During the 1995/96 season, he led the club to their most successful campaign in years, eventually missing out on promotion to the First Division by a point.
Tommy ‘Hutch’ Hutchison
1972 when he left for City, after making 165 appearances, scoring 10 goals.untilThe midfielder joined Blackpool in 1967 to bolster the side's hope of promotion. With the addition of the skilful Hutchinson the Seasiders won eight of their last nine games. But they narrowly missed out on promotion. Hutch would however stay with Blackpool
His time at the Sky Blues was probably the best of his career. Out of the nine seasons he was at the club he was named Player of the Season three times, a feat no other Sky Blues’ player has been able to equal since. The tricky midfielder made 355 appearances for City, scoring 30 goals before he left in 1981.
Nathan Delfouneso
The Aston Villa academy product joined Blackpool on a one-year loan deal in August 2012. He scored six goals in 41 appearances before extending his loan a further six months in August 2013. In his second spell he made 11 appearances before moving back to parent club Aston Villa. He would eventually move back to Blackpool on a permanent basis in July 2014 before leaving the club a year later.
Delfouneso left Villa on loan again, this time to join City in January 2014 for the remainder of the 2013/14 season. However, he struggled for fitness during his spell with the Sky Blues, only managing to make 14 appearances and score two goals.