Becoming a Sky Blue (2 Viewers)

[Gleneagles65]

Just wondered how people became a Coventry fan . Obviously if your born around the area it helps but what was the catalyst you remember ? I can't recall wether it was a match first or my first full kit for Christmas . Moved away at 5 and ended up in Leicestershire . The school took us on a trip to Filbert St.and even supplied Leicester scarfs . I remember it was a night match against Derby and trying to fit in shouting for the Foxes . It soon became apparent to myself I had no affinity towards Leicester and wanted the Rams to win .In essence I'd say if you get them early you've got them for life .

 

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[Samo]

Some mates took me to HR circa 1977 for an evening game... it got into my blood.

 

[Old Warwickshire lad]

My dad took me to a game 1962/3 season and I was hooked. I am sure he didn’t really like me.

 

[SkyBlueSoul]

I remember hating the radio commentary in the car, it was so boring but as soon as I caught the football bug around 4 it was only a matter of time. My dad, brother and both grandads were big fans so it was inevitable.

We were in the Premier League at the time and my first game was Middlesbrough at HR on Boxing Day 1997, 3-0. I remember it all made sense at that point and we became 'my team'.

 

[Deleted member 4439]

Dragged along by my Dad since aged 5, from 1965. I still remember to this day a sunny weekday evening - I was about 10 and playing football in the street - when he asked me if I wanted to go see the reserves play again (he went to every game). The admonishing look of disappointment in his face when I said no still haunts me to this day.

 

[IrishSkyBlue]

I was 10 and supported man united since start of the premier league and was a denis irwin fan being Irish and him playing for them, we didnt have sky sports back then only match the day i remember seeing united play cov in the 94 season and loving the jersey and how well a underdog team played, then last game season was 0-0 draw i knew cov was th team for me i didnt want be a glory trophy hunter and love sky blue jersey been a supporter ever since, trust me living in Ireland at 10 supporting city no kids in ireland had barley a clue who Coventry were we were irrelevant at that time there lol.

 

[skybluesam66]

Dragged along by my Dad since aged 5, from 1965. I still remember to this day a sunny weekday evening - I was about 10 and playing football in the street - when he asked me if I wanted to go see the reserves play again (he went to every game). The admonishing look of disappointment in his face when I said no still haunts me to this day.

my 1st game was a reserves game - must have been the thing back then
Derby reserves at home - won 4-1
I remember nothing of the game, just looking up at the scoreboard at the end

 

[Gleneagles65]

Didn’t we have great kits too back in the early 70s ! The all sky blue home and green and black stripes away . That said I loved my Chocolate brown and secretly knowing the

 

[Deleted member 4439]

my 1st game was a reserves game - must have been the thing back then
Derby reserves at home - won 4-1
I remember nothing of the game, just looking up at the scoreboard at the end

Reserve games were bundled into the ST. In them days you'd be determined you were getting your money worth, come rain or shine
Tbh, I can't remember a lot from my early visits.

 

[Gleneagles65]

I know most would say Leicester are not our main rivals but victories over them are etched for personal memories in my memory .loved the 2.0 win at Leicester in the mid 90s (Dublin header to seal the win ?) So loved after match drinks near Filbert Street after .

 

[matesx]

Moved from Glasgow to Banbury when I was 12. I loved my fitba and had no much of an idea of the English game.

He asked “who shall we go and see” ? I said “where is the nearest 1st division team” ?

“Coventry”

Fucksake..... why couldn’t we have moved to feckin Manchester?!?!?!!:woot:

 

[torchomatic]

Dad took me to my first game against Birmingham City on my 7th birthday, 28 October 1972.

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

Great thread. Born here. Supported the team since Dad took me up 40 years ago

 

[Warwickhunt]

Dad took me to Highfield road in 1958 and got the bug quite early and used to go to the stadium every game after that and very rarely paid to see some or all of the games. The stewards used to open the gates 10 minutes after the second half started so used to sneak in. Also the corrugated fence going up Swan Lane used to be fucked so used to get your mate to hold it open at the bottom and sneak in via the crows nest end

 

[Adge]

81-82 season my uncle (who was Irish but lived in Leamington) took me to a couple of games when I was 7. Him and his 2 brothers had season tickets at that time and used to sit in the Sky Blue Stand. Earliest memory is Danny Thomas playing at right back. Hooked from then on. Funny enough when we were at the recent playoff final we went with LWCCFCSC and my uncle was sat in Wembley in the seat in front of us! To say we celebrated those 3 goals was an understatement. Cheers Unc!

 

[no_loyalty]

Started going to the Sky Blue connexion in 1984 for Saturday soccer in the morning, and up to Highfield Road in the afternoon to watch the match, got hooked on day one

 

[Gleneagles65]

Sorry for being boring on nostalgia but remembering conversations with elder brothers.
Informing me Dave Clements and maybe another player they knew lived near Gleneagles Road when we lived there . Maybe any truth in that ?

 

[capel & collindridge]

Walking with my family along London Road and Gulson Road on the way to Highfield Road on match days, then walking back again afterwards, before being sent down on my own in the evening to the shops on Daventry Road get a pink'un. And then reading the match report as I walked back home with it. That was what winter Saturdays were all about when I was a child. I thought everyone was a Coventry City supporter and I wouldn't have wanted to be anything else!

 

[eastwoodsdustman]

My dad was never into football but my uncle took me to a home game for my 4th birthday vs Birmingham (I think) in 1975. I've still got the scarf he bought me too!

 

[JulianDarbyFTW]

Was a Liverpool supporter as a little kid, but only because I loved the Crown Paints kit and the sweatband someone gave me for my birthday a year or two before. Then I decided to support whichever team won the FA Cup final...

Luckily, as a local lad, the right team won.

 

[Cranfield Sky Blue]

I just loved football. Born in the City but my Dad and older brother hated football. Somehow I made my uncle (who was my cousin but way older) take me to some game against Wolves in 1967....! It was sealed in Broadgate as the place went mad.

 

[Gynnsthetonic]

Think it was around the 1978 when i was 6 years old, early on in the season and for quite a few weeks on final score BBC grandstand league table at 5pm we were 2nd behind Liverpool and I was fascinated that the city I lived in were one of the best teams in the country

 

[hinckley cov]

My first game was early 70s at St. Andrews we lost 1-0 Bob Latchford scored from about 30 yards past the great bill glazier

 

[bawtryneal]

My Dad took me in 1970 aged 9
We had just moved up to Dunchurch from Brighton

Looking at this thread it shows how important the father/son relationship is to getting and keeping long term fans
Really important all the work they do in the kids section and encouraging the next generation.
I expect a whole generation has been lost to premier league teams since the relegations and Northampton debacle.

 

[djbooth]

My first game was in 1980. My uncle Geoff used to work for the club alongside Jim Hill. It was my 8th birthday present.

I stay with him for the week and watched them train. Garry Thompson showed me around High field road. I even got to have a kick around with the squad.

Then there was match day. Coventry vs Birmingham at home. I was given a kit and bag by the club. I ran out as a mascot for Garry Thompson my new hero. Then I was in the directors box with Jimmy hill who sat there during the game and explaining the rules. I remember being caught in a wave of excitement when Stephen Hunt and andy Blair scored. We won

After the game the players back then would have dinner at the club. I remember kicking a ball around with Gary Thompson. Mark Hatley and Tommy English.

Since then I supported the mighty mighty sky blues ever since then.

 

[TheParsonsHose]

My first game was the Coventry vs Sunderland 89/90 season. We won 5-0 and Livingston scored 4 goals with Gynn adding the 5th. Think it was a night game?

My family are not really into football so I was a late bloomer but loved the atmosphere that night ....something special. I want to say I was standing below the scoreboard which scrolled up with the words to the sky blue song throughout the game.

Did the scoreboard do that or am I going mad?

 

[westcountry_skyblue]

My dad took me in the 75/76 season aged 7 v West Ham won 2-0 Powell and Coop scoring it's been in the blood ever since.

 

[clint van damme]

Looking at this thread it shows how important the father/son relationship is to getting and keeping long term fans

yep. It was my mates dad who first took me but i think the thing is to get kids to actual games before they get seduced by Sky and 'supporting' a big club from the comfort of their armchair.
Obviously that wasn't an issue when we were kids!

 

[TheParsonsHose]

This thread led me this bit of history:

Gone but not forgotten - Highfield Road

 

[scottccfc]

mine was against spurs in the coca cola cup went 2-0 down and won 3-2, 95/96 season I was 8 my dad seen the advert in the local telegraph. didn't realise at the time the importance and significance of beating spurs 3-2.....I've been hooked ever since

 

[Sky Blue Harry H]

I know most would say Leicester are not our main rivals but victories over them are etched for personal memories in my memory .loved the 2.0 win at Leicester in the mid 90s (Dublin header to seal the win ?) So loved after match drinks near Filbert Street after .

Was in the stand for that with my Leicester supporting mate. Dublin was a giant that day. When Dion scored, remember the Leicester fans nearby all standing up and looking round trying to spot any City fans in amongst them (missed me!)

 

[colin101]

Dad took me to Highfield road in 1958 and got the bug quite early and used to go to the stadium every game after that and very rarely paid to see some or all of the games. The stewards used to open the gates 10 minutes after the second half started so used to sneak in. Also the corrugated fence going up Swan Lane used to be fucked so used to get your mate to hold it open at the bottom and sneak in via the crows nest end

I started going to Highfield Road in early sixties when we played home matches on a Friday night and also made use of the corrugated fence on a number of occasions. We were regularly playing in front of crowds of over 25,000 in those days and yet there was never any trouble, just great atmospheres. Happy days for a 10 year old.

 

[Sick Boy]

Parents moved over to Rugby from Ireland the year I was born so City were my local team. My dad was a Spurs fan and I nearly opted for them but chose us around 92 due to our FA cup win 5 years earlier. First game was at home to Arsenal with us losing 2-0; I will never forget that first game it was magic but remember being a little scared coming out onto the stand and all of those people and noise.

These days my dad has more than a soft spot for Cov and seems to have made the full switch after the play-off final.

They live in North Leicestershire now and he recently went up on the roof to move their TV aerial to the West Midlands to get the local BBC for Cov goals and news.

 

[Irish Sky Blue]

This thread led me this bit of history:

Gone but not forgotten - Highfield Road[/QUSs

Some great pictures there, some I hadn’t seen before. I particularly liked the ones of the 50s. The cobbler mending the players boots, the ladies ironing and mending the kit and the player stood in front of the UV lamp. Certainly far from the glamour game it was to become.
My own introduction to Coventry City was, like so many, with my dad. I had badgered him (a lapsed supporter) to take me to a game and, with promotion looking likely, he finally gave in. I loved everything about going to the game, a famous 2-1 win over Carlisle in February 1967, from the first minute to the last. Once you are hooked, you are hooked as since that match I have missed very few home matches (the obvious season excepted).

 

[Marty]

Took to my first game about 4 years old against Chelsea which we lost. I spent all game building sandcastles at the side of the pitch.

Took a while before I was took again, about 7 years old, 2-1 home win against man city, Dion Dublin with the goals, I remember walking out they were handing out Yorkie bars.

Season ticket ever since, apart from the one year in exile at northamNort, 24 years and counting, n