CCFPA member and former Sky Blue Ian Goodwin will be the Association’s special guest at next Tuesday night’s (4th October) English League Trophy tie against Northampton Town at the Ricoh. The game will, of course, be the first ‘post Mogga’ home fixture and with pressure to gain League points not at stake in this game Ian will be hoping to see the Sky Blues make progress. Having already seen off West Ham U23s 4-2 in the competition a Sky Blues win might well make the third fixture in this round, away at Wycombe Wanderers on November 8th, academic.
Ian with Maggie Cantwell (Noel’s widow) at a previous fixture with the Posh
Ian who is a Mancunian by birth was apprenticed at nearby Oldham Athletic when his brother Stephen was invited to a trial at Highfield Road in the late sixties and Ian drove him to Coventry and got roped in! It was Ian who was offered an apprenticeship in Jimmy Hill’s Sky Blues’ youth factory and Ian turned professional in March 1969 awaiting his eventual debut at right midfield in a Div.1 2-0 win at Portman Road, Ipswich.
Competition in the Sky Blues defence at the time was fierce and ‘Reggie’ as his was nicknamed only made 4 appearances before being loaned to Brighton in October 1970 to gain experience. In March 1971 the loan turned into a permanent move and Ian made 60 appearances for the Albion until released in 1974, playing for the Seagulls latterly under Brian Clough. Ian then moved his family to Nuneaton and turned out for the ‘Borough’ and other local teams before hanging up his boots.
CCFPA Ricoh Regulars: Ken Brown, Brian Nicholas, Graham Walker, Dietmar Bruck, Ian, (& Quintin Young) at a previous Legends Day
Ian is a matchday regular at the Ricoh and is an active CCFPA member turning out at Association events and until a recent knee op paricipated with colleagues in ‘Walking Football’ He has a great sense of humour which will be needed given the parlous situation CCFC find themselves in! So look out for Ian ‘around the lounges’ before the game, and down in the G-Casino after the game, not gambling but on the stage of Lady Gs commenting on the evening’s action and indulging in some light hearted repartee with host CCFPA vice chairman Billy Bell. If you can’t get to the game Ian will also be ‘riding the airways’ with the BBC CWR matchday commentary team so listen in!