Coventry City FC (The Bantams (aka The Old Five))

MisterD-Di. Thanks, never knew they were called the Blackbirds, we live and learn.

I photographed some bantams last month

Sad to read that Colin Collindridge, the oldest surviving Coventry City footballer, has passed away at the age of 98. I remember seeing him on the left wing when I first attended Highfield Road as a youngster. RIP.

Have just read about the sad passing of Lol Harvey. A very sad day. A long time City player and a very decent human being in the early days at the City, he lived in a club house, near Torcross Avenue / Dartmouth Road. Remember like it was yesterday, him catching our number 7 bus to get himself home from the club. A very decent player and loyal club servant. In later years, myself and some friends used to attend events that included past players. He was always happy to chat about himself and his life. RIP, a very decent human being.

Jim Brown, the club historian, has written a very comprehensive tribute to Lol Harvey. Here is a link for anyone interested.

Sad to hear of Lol Harvey’s passing 🙁 I well remember him in the days of the Bantams in Division III South. As usual, a fine tribute from Jim Brown - thanks to MisterD-Di for bringing it to our attention

Every other Saturday, if you rode down Stoney Stanton Road, you were surrounded by hundreds of cyclists, until you got to the Red House pub. Here, they all cut across to the Highfield Road football ground. There they all knew some household where they could store their bikes for a few pence till after the game. The open end near Swan Land was the Bell Green end as so many were from that area - it had no shelter, it was a shale/ash bank, the goal net was only a foot from the small wall, and an ambulance man sat on a small stool in the corner of the ground. The small wall we kids sat on, the men always allowed us to. It was always the same crowd, men and boys, but at half-time there was a thriving market of ‘fag cards’ -we would sell/buy or swap, we would take numbers from each other to find, sportsmen being the most popular. Through these cards we knew every sportsman, filmstar, car, flower, bird - it was brilliant. We made friends from all over town, a closer friendship than television. Bourton, Lake, Wood - we all had our favourites, had all the signatures. If they won there was a chorus of a hundred or more. Bike bells down Stoney Stanton Road, laughter, people can no longer imagine the scenes. We had little money but laughter we had in bundles. My childhood, I cannot imagine one better.