SWINDON TOWN v COVENTRY CITY: A potted history (From Swindon Advertiser)

SWINDON TOWN v COVENTRY CITY: A potted history

6:00am Friday 12th October 2012 in STFC News

OVER the past 40 years, Swindon Town and Coventry City have become footballing strangers.

Since 1968 the Robins have hosted the Sky Blues just twice at the County Ground - in a Premier League clash in February 1994 and an FA Cup third-round match in January 2001.

On the first of those two occasions, Jan-Aage Fjortoft hit the first of his two hat-tricks in the red of Swindon, scoring twice from the penalty spot in a 3-1 win.

Eight years later and two divisions lower, Town entertained the still-Premier League Sky Blues in the FA Cup after defeating Ilkeston and Gateshead in rounds one and two.

The Robins fell behind to a Craig Bellamy goal and were killed off by Mustapha Hadji’s second-half strike, as Coventry fielded a team which featured former loanee David Thompson.

While those two matches may be the most recent, perhaps the most famous meeting of the two teams in Wiltshire came back in 1968 in the fourth round of the League Cup.

After the sides drew 2-2 at Highfield Road in the initial game, they reconvened at the County Ground in mid-October and Town ran riot.

Don Rogers and Roger Smart put the hosts two-up inside 16 minutes, Willie Penman added a rare goal before halt-time and Swindon progressed with a 3-0 victory.

And we all know what happened next.

Rewinding back further through the years and into the inter-war period, we stumble across the remarkable goalscoring record Town legend Harry Morris had against Coventry.

The man signed for just £110 in the summer of 1926 netted nine times in four appearances over the course of three and a half years, including four in a 6-0 Swindon win in August 1927.

Overall, Town have beaten Coventry on 10 of the 27 occasions the teams have played each other at SN1, with the Sky Blues winning nine and eight ending in draws.