Re-Union on the Hill
Remember those dark times between August 2013 and August 2014? The Sixfields Era, one of the most disgraceful episodes in any football club's history, let alone the life of Coventry City FC.
For the majority of the games played in Northampton, I stood on the Hill with a group of people who were mostly strangers when I first started going. The few things that we had in common were: a love of the Sky Blues; a determination that we would not cross the threshold into the "forbidden land" below us; a disgust at the indignities heaped upon our club by Tim Fisher and Joy Seppala; and the desire to make our presence and anger known, with the objective of getting the City back to Coventry. We became known as the Hillers.
It was a terrible time to be a Sky Blues fan and yet there was a silver-lining for me and others in that group. Over the course of that 2013/14 season and the first few home games of the following campaign, strong bonds were formed between the Hillers and I now count many of them as good friends. Some of them are active in the Jimmy Hill Way campaign, others I have hardly seen since the club returned to its rightful home in September 2014, but that camaraderie will never be forgotten. For all that we suffered as supporters, despite the very restricted view of the action during games, in defiance of the weather that was seldom better than awful, believe it or not we had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs. So I have good memories of that time even though I am so glad it didn't last more than 12 months.
This Saturday 28th January, Coventry City return to the scene of the crime .... but this time as the away team v Northampton Town, exactly as it should be. But there is only one place that I am going to be, that's up on the Hill with some old mates. Of course, some of the Hillers will be going into the match, experiencing a first visit into the ground, but I hope that they will come to say "Hello" before the game
starts.
Therefore, this blog is by way of invitation to a re-union. It will be great to see everyone who shared that time together but we will welcome all Coventry City fans to come and join in. Whether you are attending the match or just want to come and experience what the "Fools on the Hill" went through, we will be gathering from about 2.30pm and those who haven't got a ticket can remain after kick-off.
There may be the odd anti-Sisu chant and a few banners, because even though we returned to the Ricoh, our situation is probably bleaker now than it was 3 seasons ago. All those hopes that we had in September 2014 of a new beginning have been crushed under the weight of continued failure by our directors and owners. Then our club was homeless, now it seems to be dying.
This may be the final gathering on the Hill so let's make it count. And remember to bring your big coat ... the weather is guaranteed to be dreadful!