THE OPPOSITION
Currently occupying eighth place in the Championship, eight points short of the play-off spots, Coventry have defied the odds to join three of the Premier League’s top nine clubs at the penultimate stage of the FA Cup.
However, after beating Oxford United (6-2), Sheffield Wednesday via a replay (4-1) and Maidstone United (5-0), the Sky Blues’ only giant-killing of a top-flight side came in that incredible last round when they made the short trip across the Midlands to Molineux. After a goalless first half, Ellis Simms put City ahead early in the second period and they remained in front for a full half-hour until Rayan Ait-Nouri and Hugo Bueno’s quickfire double, in the 83rd and 88th minutes, appeared to have broken the visitors’ hearts and set the expected ascendancy.
Then came the late, late drama, as if it was setting the template for United’s 4-3 thriller with Liverpool the following day. Simms equalised in the 97th minute and the away end erupted once again, in the 100th, as Haji Wright sent Coventry into the semi-finals as the unlikely 3-2 victors. Cue the flashbacks to 1987 when the club supported by Red Bull Formula 1 team principal Christian Horner and former Sky Sports TV presenter Richard Keys, among other celebrity fans, pulled off one of the biggest FA Cup final shocks by beating Tottenham Hotspur 3-2. Just a shame, for them at least, that Wimbledon produced an even bigger upset 12 months later by dashing Liverpool’s hopes of a Double in 1988.
That was the year Coventry boss Mark Robins made his debut in professional football, by coming on as a substitute for United in a comprehensive 5-0 win over Rotherham United in the League Cup. Brian McClair bagged a hat-trick and two of our FA Cup-winning captains, Bryan Robson and Steve Bruce, also netted.
An Academy graduate, Robins went on to make 70 first-team appearances for the Reds across four seasons, scoring 17 goals with his most famous one – the aforementioned third-round winner at Forest – being mythologised as the saviour of Sir Alex Ferguson’s job in 1990. It kept the legendary manager on an FA Cup run at least, leading to his historic first trophy at United.