Attached to Coventry City

James Adams

Description

Why would a normal teenager throw his heart and soul into an average Third Division football club for almost a decade, only to walk away from them at the height of their success? After abandoning that club for 20 years, what would cause him to rekindle his passion in a conversion-like experience, and then stick with the club for the rest of his life? The answers lie in the psychology of attachment. This is the story of James Adams and his support of Coventry City, from the days of Billy Frith to Mark Robins. It's an account that delves into the crucial yet poorly understood psychological aspects of football fandom to uncover truths that every football fan can relate to. Join James on a rollercoaster ride as he asks important questions of himself and his life alongside a backdrop of footballing highs and lows, including three Wembley victories and four promotions, as well as FA Cup debacles for the Sky Blues. Attached to Coventry City is a highly personal, honest and reflective account of the unusual story of a lifelong football fan.

Sujets

• Warwickshire
• Coventry

Informations

• Publié par: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 04 octobre 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781801500340
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Endorsements
Mark Hornby
This is a very enjoyable read, looking back at memories of supporting Coventry City and what it means to support this or any football club. It includes heartfelt and personal anecdotes that any football fan can identify with, and it also presents a fascinating look at the psychological theory behind supporting a team and one s attachment to a football club - and this adds even more to the story of James support.
Mark Hornby, Head of Marketing Communications, Coventry City Football Club
Jim Brown
James Adams book impressively describes life growing up in Coventry in the 1950s/60s and goes on to relate his interesting life story up to the present day. His whole story is threaded with his passion for Coventry City, and like many who grew up in Coventry and Warwickshire, myself included, the period of 1961-1967 was of major importance. The Sky Blues have dominated James life from Billy Frith to Mark Robins and his experiences of love, life and football will strike a chord with City supporters from all generations.
Jim Brown Official historian for Coventry City Football Club
Rob Bonham
This fascinating trip down memory lane recalls many great moments (and some not so great!) from many years of supporting the Sky Blues. Fans of all clubs will be able to identify with the ups and downs of being a football supporter, how it affects your everyday life - and how the occasional triumph makes all the pain worthwhile.
Rob Bonham Coventry City season ticket holder for over 25 years

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2021
Pitch Publishing
A2 Yeoman Gate
Yeoman Way
Durrington
BN13 3QZ
www.pitchpublishing.co.uk
James Adams, 2021
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Any oversight will be rectified in future editions at the earliest opportunity by the publisher.
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A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library
Print ISBN 9781801500210
eBook ISBN 9781801500340
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Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword by Mark Robins
Preface
1. Highfield Road - the Billy Frith years: 1958-61
2. The Sky Blue Revolution: Jimmy Hill 1961-67
3. My Footballing Wilderness: 1967-86
4. 1987 - Sky Blue Heaven!
5. Sunshine and Storm Clouds: 1987-2017
6. The Return of Mark Robins: 2017-20
7. Attached to Coventry City
Afterword: Football fandom
Notes
Appendix A: Romantic love descriptors used in attachment research
Appendix B: Index of matches: April 1959-March 2020
Bibliography
Photos
Dedication
This book is dedicated to all those City supporters who follow the Sky Blues both at home and away in all weathers and in all circumstances. You are the beating heart of our great club.
James Adams has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work
* * *
Certain names, locations and dates, not in the public arena, have been changed.
* * *
James Adams has been a Coventry City supporter since 1959. He has taught in secondary schools in Yorkshire since 1977.
Acknowledgements
I WOULD like to express my thanks to Mark Hornby and Jim Brown of Coventry City FC for their expertise and continued support for this project which helped to get it off the ground. And of course to Mark Robins for bringing the good times back to Coventry City in the most difficult of circumstances - and for his provision of the foreword for this book. Thanks also to my friend Kevin Milburn, who first put the words Attachment Theory and Coventry City together, in the same inspired sentence.
Thanks are also due to my Coventry City family and friends especially to James, Rob, Alan, Tony, Dave and Ivan who have encouraged me in this project from the beginning. And to my friends who follow other clubs - or none at all - who have always shown their interest and fulsome support.
A very special thank you is also due to the great, late George Hudson - a very special footballer - who in April 1999 agreed to meet me at an M62 service station for a cappuccino and an hour s chat about his footballing career, especially with the great Sky Blue teams of the mid-1960s.
And last, but by no means least, thanks to Paul, Jane, Duncan, Dean, Graham and Gareth at Pitch Publishing for taking me on with this project, and for guiding me through to its conclusion.
James Adams
Foreword by Mark Robins
I AM very pleased to have been invited to write the foreword to Attached to Coventry City by James Adams.
Reading the account of James s support of the football club that he clearly loves is very enjoyable, and through his recollections I m sure other Sky Blues supporters will recall memorable moments from their own time supporting this great club - whether it is the occasions described in this book, or memories of their own first games, favourite players and characters that they have met when attending games.
As shown during the coronavirus pandemic, football is nothing without supporters and I have been struck during my time at the club by the dedication and commitment of Coventry City supporters such as James.
They have enjoyed Jimmy Hill s Sky Blue Revolution and the FA Cup win of 1987, and a long unbroken spell in the top flight of English football, and many will have fantastic memories of these occasions, great times and fantastic players.
However, there have been more difficult times, whether top-flight relegation battles or events off the field, which James talks about too. Despite those difficult moments, Coventry City fans have continued to follow their team up and down the country in huge numbers and with great dedication and enthusiasm.
When I returned to the club in 2017, there was an immediate example of that as 43,000 Sky Blues supporters made their way to Wembley to support the team in the Checkatrade Trophy Final, when we won against Oxford United.
That was a real turning point for the club. It showed the size of our fanbase and displayed to everyone the passion that Sky Blues supporters have for their club, despite a season that would end in relegation.
That day also gave our supporters another moment to remember after so long, and we re grateful to have been able to provide more enjoyable moments and memories since then, including the following year with another fantastic day at Wembley when we won the League Two play-off final, and then promotion back into the Championship when we won the League One title in 2020.
It is humbling for everyone involved that James states in his introduction that the last few years of success and progress have rekindled his own passion for Coventry City.
What makes this book different to others on football is that it also looks at Attachment Theory and the feelings and bond that fans develop for their club - with support of a football club being akin to a religion for many supporters. Looking at this theory and directly linking it to something that we are all passionate about - football and Coventry City - is a new perspective, and it makes for a very interesting and unique read.
I hope that you enjoy the book and reading about James s journey of supporting Coventry City.

Mark Robins
Coventry City manager
Preface
THREE SEPARATE circumstances were responsible for my putting pen to paper and fingers to keyboard, to write this book. The first is that I already had another book being prepared for publication, so that encouraged me to think that I could write the odd sentence or two that actually made some sense. The second was a small section of a speech given by my friend Kevin Milburn at a recent birthday party. In describing my two great passions in life he said, Attachment Theory, Attachment Theory, Attachment Theory! Coventry City, Coventry City, Coventry City! Everyone laughed as intended - not least because they all knew it was true, including me.
But even as my friend was speaking such words of wisdom, the Sky Blues were going down to one of their rare defeats of the season - a pandemic-reduced campaign that left Coventry City at the top of League One by five clear points and with a game in hand - and with the best points-per-game score of 1.97. This meant that, after the season s early finish they became league champions once more, for the first time in 53 years since the legendary triumphs of the one and only Jimmy Hill.
And that is the third reason that encouraged me to write - the emergence of Mark Robins, who has put a smile back on the face of Coventry City Football Club after so many years of gloom. To win three trophies (including two at Wembley) and to gain two promotions all in the space of three years is a wonderful feat by any measure. But to have done so with so many off-the-field difficulties is quite remarkable. Such achievements give both balance and positivity to this personal story that describes both my love affair with Coventry City and my understanding of Attachment Theory which, as you will see, are intimately connected. I hope you will enjoy Attached to Coventry City and learn something new about the club - and possibly about yourself - in the process.
Play up, Sky Blues!
1
Highfield Road - the Billy Frith years: 1958-61
MY LOVE affair with Coventry City began when I stood on the open, concrete terracing at Highfield Road for the very first time, in the late 1950s. Before this, I have no recollection of football at all. I must ha