Opposition Check: Coventry City

1893. The year Coventry City Football Club was founded. A crucial moment in the club’s history from the English industrial city of Coventry was promotion to Division One in 1967 – England’s top division at the time. For over 30 years – from 1967 to 2001 – the club stayed up there in the top echelon of English football. Probably the most successful phase in the Sky Blues‘ club history. Finally, an unforgettable highlight also falls during this period: with the victory of the FA Cup in 1987, the CCFC secured its only major national title to date. In front of over 90,000 spectators at London’s Wembley Stadium, Coventry defeated Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 in a thrilling final.

Five years later, Coventry became one of the founding members of the Premier League in 1992, replacing Division One as the top flight. In the following years, the club always managed, although sometimes just barely, to stay in the Premier League. But at the beginning of the 2000s they fell into the second division, and later the Sky Blues even slipped down to the fourth division. But the club from the city of around 380,000 people got back on its feet: back to the third division of League One, back to the second highest division of the Football League Championship. The latter a remarkable milestone that Coventry City achieved in 2020 during the Corona pandemic and emerged as champions.

Last season, Coventry City finished ninth in the Football League Championship table: the team collected 64 points in the Championship, in which a total of 24 teams are represented. “We played really good football, had some exciting games in which fantastic things happened,” said head coach Mark Robins, reflecting on the past season. Certainly one of those notable games should be the Midlands derby won when Coventry won 2-0 against rivals Birmingham City at their home arena. Also positive: The season enabled the young players in particular to get more playing time and gain valuable experience in a strong league. So it’s time for us to take a closer look at Coventry City’s players.

He is the only player in the Coventry City Football Club squad with Bundesliga and second division experience. The Merck Stadium at the Böllenfalltor is also a familiar place for him. Haji Wright – born in Los Angeles, 26 years old and a center forward by profession. When SV Sandhausen was a guest at the Bölle in the 2017/18 season, Wright was part of the Kurpfälzer team. However, he was not used in the Sandhäuser’s 2-1 win. The American first moved to the U19 team at FC Schalke 04 in 2016. Barely a year later, the Royal Blues loaned him to SV Sandhausen. While he played a total of 15 games in the 2nd Bundesliga for SVS, his resume also includes seven first division games and a Bundesliga goal for Schalke 04. By the way, the beefy, 1.93 meter tall attacker, who took part in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with the USA, certainly got around: He played for LA Galaxy in the USA, and also, as is well known, in Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Turkey. He has been under contract with Coventry City since 2023 and impressed with 16 goals in 44 Championship games, making him his team’s best attacker in his debut season.

“He is a strong, powerful striker who also has speed and finishing skills,” said head coach Mark Robins, praising his summer newcomer from 2023. We are talking about Ellis Simms: 23 years old, 1.91 meters tall, trained in well-known youth academies such as Manchester City and Everton FC. Last season he finally showed his skills for the Sky Blues. With 13 goals in the last championship season, he became his team’s second best goalscorer.

The top three scorers are completed by a versatile midfielder from Tokyo. Tatsuhiro Sakamoto. The third-best Coventry goalscorer last season with seven goals. The 27-year-old is a two-time former Japan international who has worn the Coventry jersey since 2023 and previously played in Belgium and his home country.

Mark Gordon Robins. The head coach of Coventry City Football Club was on the club’s sidelines back in 2012. However, only for a short interlude: he only stayed in the English industrial city for five months, before moving on to Huddersfield Town immediately afterwards. After another stint at Scunthorpe United, he finally joined the Sky Blues again for the 2016/17 season. This time a permanent position. Robins has been coaching CCFC for seven years now. The former center forward, who once stormed for Norwich and Leicester as well as Manchester United and scored 25 goals in a total of 92 Premiere League games, currently has 370 competitive games with the Sky Blues. In his second term on the sidelines of the Sky Blues, the 54-year-old Englishman led the team from the fourth-tier League Two to the second-tier Championship, in which he was able to establish the club since promotion in 2020.

Coventry City have strengthened their squad with three new additions so far this summer. The Sky Blues‘ newest face is Oliver Dovin. The 22-year-old goalkeeper came from the Swedish first division club Hammarby IF and will meet a former teammate on Saturday: he played together with Oscar Vilhelmsson in the Swedish U21 national team. Another new signing is Jack Rudoni, who moved to CCFC from rivals Huddersfield Town. The 23-year-old central midfielder made a total of 36 appearances last season and scored five goals. Raphael Borges Rodrigues, a 20-year-old left-footer, is also new to the Darmstadt friendly squad. The Australian with Dutch roots once became a two-time Australian champion with Melbourne City and plays for the Australia U23 national team.