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They say a week is a long time in football. What, then, does that make 25 years? A quarter of a century after they were relegated from the Premier League, Coventry City are back.
"Coventry City have been to the abyss since relegation," says Sky Blues goalkeeping legend Steve "Oggy" Ogrizovic, who played more than 600 games for the club and spent a further 19 years as a coach before taking up his current role as a match summariser for Midlands radio station BBC CWR.
"When we got relegated in 2001 it was disappointing, but there was always a feeling we’d get promoted straight back. You’d think, 'Right, last season was a struggle, next season will get better.' For a long period, it didn’t happen. Bad decisions were made. Instead of improving, every season got worse."
An FA Cup winner in 1987 and mainstay between the sticks during Coventry’s 34-year stint in the top flight, Oggy hung up his gloves in 2000. Since then he has watched the club suffer relegations, administration, and multiple spells playing away from their home ground.
"Probably our lowest point was when we were relegated to League Two," he says. "The problems were in the boardroom. When you’ve got turmoil upstairs in a football club, it translates very quickly downstairs. It only started to improve when Mark Robins returned for his second spell as manager in 2017.
"One of the greatest things Mark did was get the recruitment right. He built a team that got us out of League Two, stabilised us in League One, and then got us into the Championship. The five years we had in the Championship have been brilliant. Results have improved, recruitment has been excellent and the fans have come flooding back."
The 2023 takeover by Doug King, a local businessman and Sky Blues fan, was another key turning point. He made the bold move to replace fan favourite Robins with Frank Lampard two years ago. It proved a masterstroke: last season, Coventry were a cut above in the Championship, scoring 97 goals and winning the title with 95 points.
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"It's been so exciting," says Oggy. "The team are vibrant, they’re energetic, they’re fighters. They scored a ridiculous number of goals last season. Frank Lampard takes a lot of credit for the way he shaped his team up and got them over the line.
"It’s a nice message to send out to every single football club down there. The history of Coventry over the last 60 years is 35 years of continued success in the top flight, the fall from grace, then the way back. It’s a terrific story."
So what can the Premier League expect from Coventry – and vice versa? "We’ll be competitive but I think it will be difficult," he says. "Surviving in the Premier League is the number one priority."
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