Coventry City Former Players Association committee member Frank Pritchard tracked down a former Sky Blue defender from the -a big man in football terms in every sense, Sam Allardyce! Bobby Gould brought ‘Big Sam’ to Highfield Road from Tampa Bay Rowdies and he skippered the Sky Blues in 1983-84 making 32 first team appearances for CCFC (scoring 1 goal) before leaving for Huddersfield Town. Sam is a vastly experienced player and manager and is always in demand.
Frank Leads the Sky Blues Ballet Experiment!
Frank travelled down to Vicarage Road last Sunday to see the Watford v Sunderland fixture. Thanks to the manager they had appointed in October 2015 when 19th in the Premier League to save the Mackems from their sinking feeling. Sunderland AFC were relying on Big Sam’s reputation for never having managed a relegated team and he delivered – they had already done the business with a game to spare last week. The Black Cats had the added satisfaction of sending North-Eastern rivals Newcastle down to the Championship instead (along with Norwich City). Ironically Sam is the only man to have managed both North Eastern sides!
Vicarage Road
Frank Presents Sam With His CCFPA Tie
So on Sunday there was no real pressure on Sam’s Sunderland other than to see the season out in style and extend their four match unbeaten run. This they duly did with a 2-2 draw against the Hornets and Big Sam saw the season off with a big smile on his face. Frank was able to engineer a meet with the former Sky Blue and we let him take up the story….
“Tracking down Former Coventry Players occasionally proves tough and they can be very long days, as was the case today Sunday 15th May the final day of the Premier League season.
To be perfectly honest I didn’t see this one coming and it was all very last minute really. An early alarm for a Sunday and a train down to Watford with a 30 minute walk to Vicarage Road but arrived before mid-day!
Big Sam on the Black Cats’ Bench
At the end of the day it’s all down to making the right contacts at the ground, timing and being ‘lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time’. Managed to get to the Sunderland dressing room and their staff were most accommodating and extremely helpful getting my message and details through to Sam. He gave me the ‘nod’ and acknowledged me before kick-off but I was still uncertain wether he’d received my message? Turned out he hadn’t and thought he’d slip away without our paths crossing; however that didn’t prove to be the case and I must thank Watford FC staff for getting me into the right place at the right time.
That happened to be the media room and I eventually caught Sam briefly for a couple of minutes on his exit after being interviewed by Sky TV. He was delighted to sign and mentioned during our conversation that he ‘Skippered’ the Sky Blues at one stage during his time at Highfield Road. A very warm welcome Sam and congratulations on maintaining your record of never managing a relegated side” (Definitely from the Prem!) Also had a most interesting and illuminating conversation with another CCFPA member, former Sky Blues player and manager Micky Adams but that’s a tale for another day. Still buzzing, what an eventful day! PUSB. Frank”
As can be seen Frank signed up Big Sam and presented him with his official Association tie. We look forward to seeing him back at the Ricoh either when his official duties allow or if and when the Sky Blues are drawn against the Black Cats next season!