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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Barry Glendenning

Coventry come to life at last – are their slapstick days behind them?

Frank Lampard gets his celebration on.
Frank Lampard gets his celebration on. Photograph: Luke Hastings/Wired Photos/Shutterstock

FRANK CHAT

After years of circling the drain, Coventry City didn’t so much drop out of the Premier League 25 years ago as face-plant through its floorboards in slapstick style. In the intervening period, they endured their first experience of the fourth tier and were forced to live as tenants in their own city, before suffering the indignity of having to go cap-in-hand to neighbouring villages, looking for sofas on which to crash. Even the more recent good times were frustrating for the Sky Blues, as they lost a Championship playoff decider on penalties and were cruelly denied a place in the 2024 FA Cup final within the space of 11 months. It was all a far cry from that joyous afternoon in 1987 when Brian “Killer” Kilcline limped up the Wembley steps to hoist the FA Cup aloft.

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