My first stop is ALWAYS the Coventry City Shop in West Orchards Shopping Centre. This shop is a shrine to Coventry City F.C. and I can't go in there without buying SOMETHING!!!
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My favourite shop |
I then wander around the City Centre until lunchtime. Apart from Sky Blue Leisure my favourite shops are 'Final Frontier' Sci-Fi Shop, Game and HMV.
At lunchtime I usually make my way to Brown's near the Cathedral where I often meet my mate Rog or I eat at the West Orchards Shopping Centre.
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My favourite match day lunch venue, "Browns" |
At 2.00pm I start to make why way to the match. I go back to the car to drop off my shopping and pick up my CCFC scarf and Binoculars and head up Raglan Street up to the ground which is quite a steep hill. My route takes me past King Richard Street (which is the main entrance to the ground) and onto Swan Lane. This is where some of the away fans coaches are parked and is closed to traffic on matchdays.
| King Richard St. |
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I turn left onto Thackhall St. by the Sky Blue Tavern.
| The Sky Blue Tavern on the corner of Swan St. and Thackhall St. |
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I always buy a programme from one of the sellers in Thackhall St. before making my way into the Stadium via one of the entrances on Thackhall St.
| Thackhall St. |
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Strangely enough, Coventry's City's ground is not actually on Highfield Road as the following two photographs show.
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As you can see, Highfield Road is off Thackhall Street. |
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| And this is actually Highfield Road (where's the Stadium?) |
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My seat is Block 9, Seat 26 and I like to get there in plenty of time to read about the day's opposition in the programme and to soak up the atmosphere. The teams are on the pitch warming up before the game and I take a look at who's on the pitch through my binoculars and look for any of the big names in the opposition's team. During the warm-up 'The Crew', Coventry's Cheerleaders, perform around the pitch and Sky Blue Sam walks around waving to the spectators (Which is pretty embarrassing if he picks you out! Take my advice WHAT EVER YOU DO, DON'T MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH THE ELEPHANT!!!)
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Sky Blue Sam (Oh shit!, I made eye contact!) |
The players leave the pitch about 30 mins before kick off and during this time the stadium really fills up and I'm glad I made the effort to arrive early.
At about 2:50pm (10 minutes to kick off) the teams come back onto the pitch to raptuous applause from the crowd. The atmosphere at this point is quite exhilarating and the Sky Blue Army begin their usual chants and songs - "The Sky Blue Song", "In our Coventry Homes" and "S**t on the Villa" being Sky Blue Army favourites that are regularly heard (The last being sung even when we're not playing Villa!!
The players have a kick around while the teams are announced and the two captains go to the centre circle with mascots for the day to shake hands with each other and the match officials and then toss a coin to decide which end the teams are going to start at (this sometimes requires them to swap ends). Kick-off is traditionally at 3:00pm (although Sunday matches sometimes start at 4.00pm if Sky TV are covering the game). Evening matches usually kick-off at 7:30pm.
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City prepare to take a corner kick v Derby County |
Shortly before half time, quite a lot of the crowd leave their seats to queue up for tea or coffee before the rush when the ref blows for Half-time. At Half-time the scores of the other matches are announced and the 'The Crew' perform their main dance for the dayin the centre of the field before performing around the edge of the pitch. My friend Nadine, who I met through the Internet Sky Blues, dances with 'The Crew' and we wave to each other as she goes by. I always email her my opinion of the day's dance when I get home. She had trouble picking me out in the crowd at first (apparently my suggestion of 'I'm the one with the Coventry Scarf on' wasn't very helpful!) . When I told her what advertisement I was sitting in front of she picked me out without any trouble. It's easy to spot Nade when 'The Crew' are performing, she's the one with the nicest legs.
| 'The Crew' performing at Highfield Road |
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The second half begins at 3:45pm with the players having swapped ends. The feeling when Coventry score is indescribable. Your heart is in your mouth when the shot is taken hoping it'll go in and the whole stand seems to erupt with joy as the ball hits the back of the net. It's always interesting to see how different players celebrate. Dion Dublin used to raise his arm with a big grin on his face, Darren Huckerby often runs up to the front of the stand and clenches his fist and Steve Froggatt ran back down to the the halfway line chased by the rest of the team when he scored his first goal for City v Everton.
The match ends at 4:45pm. It takes me about 15 minutes to get back to the car at Pool Meadow and about an hour to get back home to Loughborough (depending on whether the opposing team's fans are also travelling North on the M1.)
