My Coventry City Football Shirt Collection - Mark

Mark's classic Coventry City football shirt collection started around 7 years ago and since then he has picked up some of the greatest shirts in Sky Blues history.

What Football Shirts Do You Collect and Why?

I grew up a stone's throw away from Coventry City and the Ricoh Arena. My dad supports Coventry and therefore there wasn't much chance of anything else happening.

My dad has been fortunate enough to see the rise of the club to the old first division in the 60's and 70's under Jimmy Hill and I too have been lucky enough to go to the cup final in '87. Not so much luck for the younger fans!

I hope the club can find its way back to better times as recent years have been tough being a Coventry fan. The shirts in my collection are fond memories of better days gone by.

How Many Shirts Do You Have In Your Collection?

I now have around 250 shirts in my collection, all of these are Coventry shirts but I also have the home and away 1982 England shirts. Around half of the shirts I have are match worn now too!

What Was Your First Shirt and When Did You Get It?

Actually, my first two shirts were from Classic Football Shirts, so I have CFS to thank for starting my collection. They were purchased about 5 years ago and were the 1983 home by Umbro and the 1977 Admiral home. Both were replica versions but it was fantastic to be able to pick up these shirts in 2012!

I have the 1983 home as a player issue now, the badge is embroidered but the shirt is 100% polyester as were the replicas, the shirt was deemed too hot to wear half way through the season and swapped to a finer fabric. Mine also has no number or sponsor (we wore the Tallon sponsor at the beginning of the season) but with it being player issue specification I think it must be from the squad photo!

I also now have the 1978 home matchworn by Terry Yorath, this is the same shirt as the 77 home but it featured the admiral logo ad Coventry badge both in navy.

Which is Your Favourite Shirt and Why Is It So Special to You?

My favourite shirt has to be the 1981 red away Talbot shirt. It was the holy grail shirt for me as I never thought I'd find one. I'm pretty sure they didn't make them in adult sizes as replicas so the only way to own an adult shirt was to find a match worn one. I've never seen another anywhere for sale so I know it's pretty rare.

It's tough to choose an outright favourite and therefore it's worth mentioning the match worn home shirt from the same season. Its design is well known because of the blatantly large Talbot logo at a time when sponsorship was a new phenomenon. Jimmy Hill even tried to change the name of the club to Coventry Talbot at one point!

I now have 4 iterations of Coventry Talbot shirts, the rarest being the matchworn Mark Hateley without the Talbot sponsoring. The Talbot text was taken off the shirts in an attempt to appease the BBC who were against the advertising, something that is now seen on just about every football shirt! Despite the Talbot text being removed the BBC were still not happy with the trademark Talbot T still featuring on the shirt. Another recent purchase was a matchworn Roger Van Gool.

Do You Have Any Other Rare Shirts In Your Collection?

I'd say the rarest shirt in my collection is the classic Admiral tramline design brown shirt with the additional Talbot logo embroidery. A great shirt and only worn for one season, 1980-81, so there aren't many about. The shirt design is most famous for regularly being voted the worst kit of all time! I'm not sure I agree.

If we are talking rare shirts then it's worth mentioning the 1987 David Speedie Hummel shirt worn in the charity shield. A one off shirt signed by the player and auctioned by the club for charity after the game, Speedie wore number 9 that day as Regis the regular number 9 was injured. That isn’t the only shirt that I have matchworn by Speedie, I also have the iconic 1988 home shirt which he played in and wore the number 8. I have now also managed to get hold of the 1987 away without the 'Granada Bingo' sponsor too, it’s the only one I’ve ever seen available and was worn by FA Cup hero Trevor Peake.

Have you had any interesting recent additions to your collection?

Yes! I recently bought a match worn 1972 away shirt made by Umbro. The green and black stripe is a much used colour combo for Coventry away kits over the last 40 years or so, including last seasons third shirt. This shirt has the Tangeru label in the back neck and has number 3 on the back, worn by Chris Cattlin. It’s my oldest shirt to date and already one of my favourites.

I’ve also recently managed to get my hands on my first and only matchworn Dion Dublin shirt in the form of the 1996-97 away shirt, best known for being worn by Chelsea at Highfield Road after their Kitman forgot to bring their kits.

I now proudly own a matchworn shirt and shorts from the first season of the premier league. These were played in by the mighty Mick Quinn, a sky blue great who finished with 17 goals in the league that year.

Whilst we’re on the top of prolific goal scorers I have to mention our then record signing Robbie Keane, I managed to get this 1999-00 home shirt worn by the man himself. It’s by no means a special shirt but Robbie was definitely a special player.

I also picked up a rare gem from Classic Football Shirts in the 1984 away shirt as made by Umbro. Finally, I also picked up a matchworn 1991 home shirt as worn by then sky blue number 3 and 86 time England player Kenny Samson.

What is the Shirt You Would Like Most In Your Collection But Don’t Have Yet?

I'm still looking for a match worn shirt from the 1986-87 season by Triple S. It's the FA cup winning season, so the shirts will have a special place in all fans hearts. I'd love a cup final or semi-final shirt, but to be honest I'd be happy with anything as they just don't come up anywhere! The away shirts from this season are even rarer, as once again, they didn't make a replica version. Any help finding them would be greatly appreciated!

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