Coventry City 1995–96 football season
During the 1995–96 English football season, Coventry City competed in the FA Premier League .
Once again, Coventry City defied the odds after a season of struggle. This time they had the determination of manager Ron Atkinson and the regular supply of goals from Dion Dublin to thank for their survival. They hit the headlines in December with a spectacular 5–0 win over defending champions Blackburn, but the defence leaked too many goals for the Sky Blues to progress beyond 16th place in the final table, surviving only on goal difference to secure a 30th successive season of top flight football. Tragedy struck the club as promising defender David Busst suffered a harrowing broken-leg injury during a clash with Denis Irwin and Brian McClair from a corner in the 1-0 defeat at Manchester United , often considered one of the worst football injuries in history, which ultimately ended his career. He was diagnosed with MRSA later on from his injury in hospital, forcing him to premature retirement later that year.
New to the side for the season were defender Paul Williams from Derby County (not to be confused with another defender, Paul Williams , who departed the club the following week, nor with yet another Paul Williams , a Northern Irish forward who played for the club on loan from West Brom in the 92-93 season ); Brazilian midfielder Isaías ; and 21-year-old Leeds United striker Noel Whelan .
Atkinson splashed out more than £15 million on new players during the close season, as he looked to build a Coventry side which was capable of matching the high placing of his old club Aston Villa , one of Coventry's deadliest rivals.
Source:
Premier League Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated
Results summary Overall Home Away Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts W D L GF GA GD W D L GF GA GD 38 8 14 16 42 60 −18 38 6 7 6 21 23 −2 2 7 10 21 37 −16
Results by round Round 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 Ground A H H A H A A H A H A H A H H A H A H A H H A A A H H H A H A A H A H A A H Result L W D D D L L L D L L L D L D L W L W W D L D L D W D D D L L L W L W D W D Position 20 11 11 10 11 14 16 16 16 17 18 19 19 20 19 20 19 19 19 17 17 17 17 18 18 17 17 16 15 16 18 19 18 19 18 17 16 16
Source:
Statto.com A = Away;
H = Home;
W = Win;
D = Draw;
L = LossCoventry City's score comes first [ 1]
Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers 19 August 1995 Newcastle United A 0-3 36,485 23 August 1995 Manchester City H 2-1 15,957 Telfer , Dublin 26 August 1995 Arsenal H 0-0 20,065 30 August 1995 Chelsea A 2-2 24,398 Isaías , Ndlovu 9 September 1995 Nottingham Forest H 1-1 17,219 Dublin 16 September 1995 Middlesbrough A 1-2 27,882 Isaías 23 September 1995 Blackburn Rovers A 1-5 24,382 Ndlovu 30 September 1995 Aston Villa H 0-3 20,987 14 October 1995 Liverpool A 0-0 39,079 21 October 1995 Sheffield Wednesday H 0-1 13,998 28 October 1995 Leeds United A 1-3 30,161 Dublin 4 November 1995 Tottenham Hotspur H 2-3 17,545 Dublin , Williams 19 November 1995 Queens Park Rangers A 1-1 11,189 Dublin 22 November 1995 Manchester United H 0-4 23,400 25 November 1995 Wimbledon H 3-3 12,523 Heald (own goal), Dublin , Rennie 4 December 1995 Sheffield Wednesday A 3-4 16,229 Dublin (3) 9 December 1995 Blackburn Rovers H 5-0 13,376 Busst , Dublin , Rennie , Ndlovu , Salako 16 December 1995 Aston Villa A 1-4 28,486 Dublin 23 December 1995 Everton H 2-1 16,639 Busst , Whelan 30 December 1995 Bolton Wanderers A 2-1 16,678 Whelan , Salako (pen) 1 January 1996 Southampton H 1-1 16,818 Whelan 14 January 1996 Newcastle United H 0-1 20,547 20 January 1996 Manchester City A 1-1 25,710 Dublin 31 January 1996 West Ham United A 2-3 18,884 Whelan , Dublin 3 February 1996 Arsenal A 1-1 35,623 Whelan 10 February 1996 Chelsea H 1-0 20,639 Whelan 24 February 1996 Middlesbrough H 0-0 18,810 2 March 1996 West Ham United H 2-2 17,459 Salako , Whelan 9 March 1996 Everton A 2-2 34,517 Daish , Williams 16 March 1996 Bolton Wanderers H 0-2 17,226 25 March 1996 Southampton A 0-1 14,461 30 March 1996 Tottenham Hotspur A 1-3 26,808 Dublin 6 April 1996 Liverpool H 1-0 23,137 Whelan 8 April 1996 Manchester United A 0-1 50,332 13 April 1996 Queens Park Rangers H 1-0 22,910 Jess 17 April 1996 Nottingham Forest A 0-0 24,629 27 April 1996 Wimbledon A 2-0 15,540 Ndlovu (2) 5 May 1996 Leeds United H 0-0 22,769
[ 2] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Left club during season [ edit ] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Date Pos Name From Fee 7 June 1995 MF Calita Farense £250,000 5 July 1995 FW Isaías Benfica £500,000 11 July 1995 MF Paul Telfer Luton Town £1,150,000 3 August 1995 MF John Salako Crystal Palace £1,500,000 6 August 1995 DF Paul Williams Derby County £750,000 12 February 1996 DF Liam Daish Birmingham City £1,500,000 23 February 1996 MF Eoin Jess Aberdeen £2,000,000
Transfers in: Transfers out: Total spending:
National teams
League competitions
Level 1 Levels 2–4 Level 5 Levels 6–7 Levels 8–9 Isthmian League (Two , Three Combined Counties League (level 8 only )Eastern Counties League (Premier , One Essex Senior League (level 8 only )Hellenic League (Premier , One Kent League (level 8 only )Midland Alliance (level 8 only )Midland Football Combination (level 9 only )North West Counties League (One , Two Northern Counties East League (Premier , One Northern League (One , Two South Midlands League (Premier , Senior Spartan League (Premier , One Sussex County League (One , Two United Counties League (Premier , One Wessex League (level 8 only )West Midlands (Regional) League (level 9 only )Western League (Premier , One
Cup competitions
FA cups Football League cups
European competitions
£6,150,000
£2,425,000
