The day Coventry City was born!

[briggcov]

THE time and place that Coventry City FC was conceived can finally be revealed.

It was on August 13, 1883, in a Hillfields pub that the idea was born for Singer's Football Club.

The club would later take on the city's name and by the early Sixties become universally known as the Sky Blues.

Club historian Lionel Bird was delighted to track down the exact time at the Hillfields site where the historic meeting took place.

He enthused: "That's where the club was formed. That's where the meeting was held ..."
And the beloved Sky Blues were born," interjected the clearly delighted former Coventry City chairman Joe Elliott, braving the cold in Aylesford Street, at the site of the former Lord Aylesford Inn, which was destroyed by German bombs.


After two years of painstaking research, Mr Bird discovered the exact date of that historic meeting at the old city pub.


Now the club has an exact date on which it can this year celebrate the 125the anniversary of its formation by Willie Stanley and his stepbrother George Bowers.


Mr Stanley, who was born in Wolverhampton, moved to Coventry as a 19-year-old in 1881 after landing a job as a machinist at the Singer works in Alma Street, Hillfields.


He founded Singer's Football Club two years later and became its first manager from 1883 to 1885, juggling his playing role as centre forward with arranging fixtures.


The father of 14 moved to Walsall to open his own bicycle shop in 1885 but returned to Coventry in 1894 and is buried at London Road Cemetery.

Mr Bowers, who also moved from Wolverhampton to work as a machinist at the Singer factory, played as right winger for Singer's FC until 1887, when he retired to become a linesman.

He ended his working career as a watchmaker living in Hill Street, Spon End, and was buried alongside his step-brother in 1951.

The team, selected from employees at the Singer factory, played its first matches on a makeshift pitch at Dowell's Field, where St George's Road and Binley Road now meet, using a back room of the White Lion on Gosford Green as their changing room.

It became Coventry City FC on August 12, 1898, almost 15 years to the day after it was founded.

Mr Bird would like to see a plaque commemorating the birth of Singer's FC at the site of the Lord Aylesford Inn.

He finally discovered the founding date after trawling through hundreds of copies of the old Midland Daily Telegraph, the Coventry Telegraph's predecessor.

There, in an issue dated August 7, 1934, the paper's "Historians' Corner" recorded the occasion.


The column also reveals that 15 years later, almost to the day, on August 12, 1898, Singer's FC became Coventry City FC.


Now Mr Bird is keen to trace the author of that particular Historians' Corner.


In celebratory mood, he said: "The discovery of a precise formation date completes the early history of Coventry City FC.


"This new information is the culmination of two years' research and is of particular importance today, considering the club celebrates its 125th anniversary this year.


"I am absolutely delighted to have solved the mystery relating to the club's inauguration."


Joe Elliott added: "It is our 125th anniversary and I am sure that, now we know the exact date, we will mark it in some way.


"The club has been through incredible change in the past few months but we have always maintained our history.


"This is on the back of the takeover by Sisu and it's incredibly good news for the fans."

* As well as wishing to trace the author of "Historians' Corner" in 1934, Lionel Bird is keen to get hold of a photo of the old Aylesford Inn.

Anyone who can help is asked to call him on 07972 309 114.

Factory workers who took the field

LIKE many football teams across the country in late Victorian times, Coventry City had its origins in the factories.

George Singer had come to the city to work for the Coventry Sewing Machine Company.

But by 1876 he had set up his own business in Hillfields making the world's first safety cycle and shortly after the turn of the century he was making motor-cycles and cars


News | Sport | Contact us



The day Coventry City was born! Previous 1 2 3


* As well as wishing to trace the author of "Historians' Corner" in 1934, Lionel Bird is keen to get hold of a photo of the old Aylesford Inn.

Anyone who can help is asked to call him on 07972 309 114.

Factory workers who took the field

LIKE many football teams across the country in late Victorian times, Coventry City had its origins in the factories.

George Singer had come to the city to work for the Coventry Sewing Machine Company.

But by 1876 he had set up his own business in Hillfields making the world's first safety cycle and shortly after the turn of the century he was making motor-cycles and cars.




Story continues

ADVERTISEMENT


It was Singer's workers who formed Singer's FC, the forerunner to Coventry City FC.


Singer lived at Coundon Court, then a palatial home for a wealthy industrialist.


Now the old house and grounds form part of the second biggest comprehensive school in Coventry.


He died in 1908 shortly after his company ran into financial problems.


The company was resurrected in 1909 as Singer & Company.


'It's very humbling'


WILLIE STANLEY'S great-grandson Ian Devoy said: "It's very humbling to be able to go to the exact spot where my great-grandfather went into a pub to talk about setting up a works football team.


"He couldn't have imagined that club would go on to win the FA Cup and play to 20,000 fans at the Ricoh.


"The discovery of the date is monumental and gives fans a greater sense of tradition and history so close to the 125th anniversary."


Article Written by Dayle Crutchlow (Coventry Evening Telegraph)

[cov182004]

Have you read the book by Lionel Bird about the history of the supporters club? It makes interesting reading

[briggcov]

No I haven't read it is on sale at the shop I might pick a copy up next Tuesday at the Cardiff game......