Gordon Joe & Eddie Plumley signing Tommy Hutchison 1972
On this day (11th November) in 1972 the Sky Blues under the managerial 'M-Men' duo of Joe Mercer and Gordon Milne produced a scintillating display to get their first ever top flight win over West Ham United at Highfield Road. The Sky Blues had been beaten by the only goal of the game, scored in the 63rd minute by Clyde Best, at Upton Park in the second game of the season in mid August so revenge was in mind.
The 27,172 crowd were pleased that their beloved Sky Blues were able to take their unbeaten run to six games since the arrival of new signings Colin Stein and Tommy Hutchison (both now CCFPA members) and both managed to score in the 3-1 win.
The first goal on 25 minutes came from Tommy Hutch who hit a terrific shot from the edge of the box to make it 1-0 to the City at half-time. Colin then grabbed the second, two minutes before the hour, heading in from a Mick Coop cross.
Brian Alderson in the Sky Blue
Though the Hammers' John McDowell pulled one back six minutes later with a thirty yard bender, the Sky Blues Scottish winger Brian Alderson (who sadly passed away in the USA in 1997 at the tragically early age of 47) made the game safe for the home side with just five minutes to go blasting in after robbing Tommy Taylor.
Though the Hammers' England captain Bobby Moore played a blinder the Sky Blues were irresistable and thoroughly deserved their win!
The two line-ups can be seen in the graphic below. Every member of the Sky Blue team that day later went on to join this Association. The Referee was Mr. J.Williams. 
The win took the Sky Blues up to thirteenth position though things slipped a bit in the second part of the season as CCFC finished only five points and a couple of places above the drop zone in nineteenth place.
Crystal Palace (21st) and, firmly bottom, West Bromwich Albion were relegated from Division One in 1972-73. West Ham United had a pretty good season finishing sixth fourteen points behind Champions Liverpool.
Thanks to CCFPA's Mike Young (& Dean Nelson) for sourcing the images and graphic.
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