Gordon the 'gaffer' in a brown mood

On this day (11th November) in 1978 the Sky Blues' manager Gordon Milne picked a team to seek a double over opponents Middlesbrough at Highfield Road. In the very first game of this Division One season City had travelled to Ayresome Park and came from behind to come away with a very encouraging 2-1 win with second half goals from Barry Powell (68 minutes) and Mick Ferguson two minutes from the final whistle. Both Barry and Mick are now Association members along with Gordon. Gordon the 'gaffer' got his way as the Sky Blues repeated the score over their rivals from the North East to go sixth in the league and 'do the double' over the Teesiders!.

An orange ball was used to help the 18,636 crowd see the unfolding game more easily through the heavy mist. Les Sealey retained the Sky Blues 'keeper's jersey as news broke that his erstwhile rival for the No.1 shirt (now CCFPA member) Jim Blyth was on his way to Manchester United for a record PS440k!

That move broke down when, sadly, Jim failed a medical because of a back problem. City's will of the whisp Scottish striker Ian Wallace (who was featured on the front of the programme -left) ended his goal drought in this game, netting in the 28th minute.

Ian in Sky Blue action

Now an Association member, Wally's lead lasted until the 78th minute when Boro's Micky Burns was able to equalise to earn what away fans thought was a hard earned point.

However, as in their first contest, the Sky Blues hit 'Boro hard with two minutes left on the clock as, this time, it was Sky Blue striker Garry Thompson who popped up with a late headed winner!

Apart from Les, who sadly died in an accident in the USA at a tragically early age before he had the chance to join CCFPA every other member of the team this day (plus 'gaffer' Gordon) later joined this Association.

Most of the match details can be found in the graphic below from the 11v11 website. The referee was Mr. D.Hutchinson:-

The 1978-79 season finished with a pretty comfortable mid-table (tenth) spot for the Sky Blues whilst 'Boro' finished a couple of places lower four points behind City. Local rivals Birmingham finished with only six wins in total and, therefore, went down in penultimate (21st) position with 22 points along with Queen's Park Rangers (25) and bottom club Chelsea with twenty points! Liverpool were clear Champions from Nottingham Forest in runners up spot.

Thanks to CCFPA's Mike Young (& Dean Nelson) for sourcing the images. Share Post