A Coventry win 25 years in the making

Hear'Say were top of the pops, a mobile phone game called 'Snake' was all the rage and Tony Blair was Prime Minister. Wind the clock back to April 2001 and things looked rather different. It was also the last time Coventry City tasted victory in English football's top flight. That came courtesy of a 1-0 win over Sunderland - John Hartson heading in the winner for Gordon Strachan's side in front of 20,946 fans at Highfield Road. Much has happened in the life of Coventry since that moment 9,287 days ago. A rollercoaster journey might be understating it. They were relegated at the end of the 2000-01 campaign and would spend the next 11 seasons in the second tier before dropping down to League One in 2012. Then followed a particularly dark and turbulent period in the club's history featuring points deductions and a stint in administration. Having left Highfield Road in 2005 they became embroiled in a bitter dispute over the Ricoh Arena in 2013 and its rent. The nadir, arguably, was when they were forced to play matches away from Coventry, at Northampton Town, before later plummeting down to the fourth tier for the first time in 59 years in 2017. Doubtless there were those packed into the Bridgford Stand at the City Ground on Saturday who were present during those years of broadcaster Blue hell. So the explosion of emotion at the full-time whistle - after Jay Dasilva's goal settled matters - felt like broadcaster Blue heaven. "It's been a tough opening for us, so those first Premier League points feel great," Coventry boss Frank Lampard told broadcaster Radio 5 Live. "I thought the players were brilliant. The fight, work ethic and togetherness but also the tactical side of it. They dug and fought for each other which is what you need to win a Premier League game." 'Keep our feet on the ground' Coventry had been stranded on 99 Premier League wins for over a quarter of a century before this victory ticked them over to three figures at long last. Lampard hopes this victory could be a key staging post in a campaign where avoiding relegation will be the main aim. "It's really important for some of the players," he told broadcaster Match of the Day. "For many of them it is their debut in the Premier League, they haven't been here before and they need to feel like they belong and play like that." Lampard acknowledged his players must have thick skins to come through the slog of a Premier League season. The fact this victory came off the back of a 5-0 drubbing at home to Brighton makes it all the more rewarding for the Coventry boss. "There are lots of things we can learn and sometimes this year we may take those hits, it's a reality for teams that get to the Premier League," added Lampard. "It's important we overcome them in terms of how we take it on board and stay together. "It is easy to point in different directions when you lose but the group's really strong, really together, there'll have a good feeling from this one. But we'll keep our feet on the ground because it is one win, but it was needed for us." Follow Coventry City on broadcaster Sounds Pre-match, post-match and topical broadcaster Blues content More on this story