105: Coventry City Home Kit, Merlin’s F.A. Premier League 2001 Official Sticker Collection

Professional sport creates drama that the greatest playwrights could only dream of. Ben Stokes’ one-man mission to win the Headingley test match for England against Australia in 2019. Ben Stokes’ one-man mission to win the Cricket World Cup final for England against New Zealand a few month’s prior to the aforementioned events in Leeds. James Hook’s last minute decision to boot the ball into touch against Italy in the 2007 Six Nations. They don’t all have to involve Ben Stokes or showcase the best decision making under pressure but it is what brings us to the edge of our seats and makes this period without live sporting contests yet another challenge in these troubling times. Unless you’re putting accumulators on the Belarusian league that is.

Coventry City’s dramatic escape from relegation was one of the annual highlights of the Premier League’s final day during the 1990s. Despite boasting some talented players, such as the wily Gary McAllister and Homes Under The Hammer star Dion Dublin, the Sky Blues often found themselves bravely battling against the drop throughout the decade but always seemed to find a way of retaining their Premier League status when the chips were down. In the 1995/96 season they only survived thanks to their superior goal difference. In 1996/97 they were the beneficiaries of the F.A.’s decision to deduct three points from Middlesbrough due to their inability to field a side against Blackburn. Where there was a will there seemed to be a way.

I have a soft spot for Coventry City. My first ever live Premier League experience was seeing them play out an entertaining draw against Wimbledon in 1996 and, after the game, the likes of Steve Ogrizovic, Noel Whelan and Dion Dublin were more than happy to sign my programme on a cold November evening. I also had a lot of admiration for the Midlands’ club’s fantastic array of kits. Every season they seemed to find a new way of reimagining their traditional sky blue colours and, whether it was through the pixelated approach of 1992/93 or the contrasting dark blue stripes of 1997/98, they always looked good. Don’t even start me on the away kits and don’t let anyone tell you that lilac and yellow don’t go together.

The 2000/01 number displayed in this sticker, whilst an improvement on the dismal effort of the previous season, was not one of Coventry’s best and sadly the same could be said for the club’s performances on the pitch. With the coffers swelled by the departure of striker Robbie Keane to Internazionale prior to the start of the season, the club splashed out £6.5m on a young Craig Bellamy and sat in fourth place in the league at the end of August. However, they only managed to win six more games and, despite a traditional rally around March, the Sky Blues’ luck had finally run out as they descended into the First Division.

Nearly twenty years have passed since Coventry last graced English football’s top table and the club has endured further relegations, questionable ownership and a nomadic existence playing home games in Northampton and Birmingham much to the chagrin of their loyal supporters. The quality of football may have improved in the Premier League but the romantic final-day escapes from relegation seem to have been resigned to the previous century (because West Brom in 2004/05 doesn’t count due to editorial bias). Hopefully Coventry can make their way back up the leagues and remind us of how exciting such days were. Moreover, let’s hope they have an appropriately exceptional kit to match the occasion.