Coventry City’s return to the Premier League has been a long time coming. Their relegation from the top flight 25 years ago was not a graceful exit; it was a slapstick face-plant through the floorboards. In the years that followed, the Sky Blues experienced the fourth tier for the first time, lived as tenants in their own city, and even had to go cap-in-hand to neighbouring villages in search of a place to crash. Even the better times were painful: a Championship play-off final defeat on penalties and a cruel denial of a place in the 2024 FA Cup final came within 11 months of each other. All of it was a far cry from 1987, when Brian “Killer” Kilcline limped up the Wembley steps to lift the FA Cup.
Given that history, many Coventry fans might have accepted a bruising return to the Premier League simply because it meant the club was finally back among the elite. For a while, that is exactly what seemed to be unfolding. Coventry lost their opening four league games, conceding 10 goals without reply. Three of those defeats came against Arsenal, Manchester City and Brighton, the sides currently occupying the top three places. Yet even in defeat, Coventry were creating chances – chances they have since started to convert.
Monday night’s thrashing of a shambolic and charitable Newcastle side gave Coventry back-to-back wins and their first top-flight home victory since April 2001, when John Hartson scored the only goal in a win over Sunderland at Highfield Road. Frank Lampard, watching his young and inexperienced side score four against the hapless Magpies, was quick to counsel caution. “We have to keep very much our feet on the ground because it’s so hard in this league,” he said. “If we think we’ve cracked it, if we think everything is fine … well, it’s not.” Lampard is right not to get carried away, and Coventry still have plenty of road to run. But after a night when Jack Rudoni announced himself as the top-flight midfielder many Coventry fans suspected he might be, things are looking up.
The Premier League season is still in its infancy, yet it is already more uncertain than any that has come before. The signs of life from the three promoted sides have helped make the relegation battle look like an eight- or nine-way fight – a scrap likely to be more entertaining and far less weird than the phoney war at the top. Of course, if historical precedent is any guide, there is every chance this is just a temporary blip. Coventry could yet find themselves playing League Two football – possibly against Manchester City – again in three years’ time.