Meet the opposition | Coventry City
As Swansea City prepare to host Coventry City on Friday, we take a closer look at the Sky Blues.
What’s their story?
Singers FC was formed in 1883 by a group of men at the Singer Factory Gentleman’s Club, and five years later they changed the team name to Coventry City. After 11 years competing in the Southern League, they were elected to the Football League in 1919.
Between 1925 and 1958 Coventry spent their time between non-league and the EFL but, under the guidance of manager Jimmy Hill, they manufactured a meteoric rise in the early 1960s and reached the top tier for the first time in 1967.
The Sky Blues remained there for 34 years before suffering relegation in 2001. They dropped to Sky Bet League One just over a decade later and, in 2017, they were relegated to League Two.
The appointment of Mark Robbins as manager (for the second time) proved to be a shrewd one. They spent just one season in the fourth tier under him before earning promotion via the play-offs in 2018. The Sky Blues went on to become champions of the curtailed 2019-20 League One season on a points per game basis.
They have impressed since returning to the second tier and were play-off contenders last term.
Coventry's only major trophy came in 1987 when they defeated Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 to win the FA Cup, with Keith Houchen's diving header proving one of the iconic Wembley goals.
How’s their form?
Very good. The Sky Blues may have lost 4-0 at home to Stoke last time out, but they had been on a nine-match unbeaten run prior to that surprise result.
There were five wins and four draws in that sequence, including a win and a draw against promotion chasing Millwall and Luton respectively.
Coventry and four points off the play-off places with seven games remaining in the season.
Who’s the gaffer?
Mark Robins. The 53-year-old came through the ranks at Manchester United and made around 50 appearances for the club before moving on to Norwich City. He played more than 400 games in a 17-year playing career, but is best known for time with the Canaries and Leicester City.
The striker scored more than 100 career goals and took his first steps into management in 2007 when he took the reins at Rotherham United on a caretaker basis. After picking up three wins in six, Robins was given the role permanently and went on to have two successful campaigns with the Millers.
He left to join their south Yorkshire rivals Barnsley before heading to Coventry for his first spell in charge of the Midlands club. He helped turn the side from relegation battlers to promotion contenders, but soon departed for another Yorkshire side in Huddersfield Town.
In 2014, he took over at struggling Scunthorpe United but was dismissed after only eight games in charge.
He returned to the Sky Blues in March 2017 and guided them to an unexpected EFL Trophy win less than a month later, but he was unable to prevent relegation to the fourth tier.
However, Robins galvanised the club and led them to promotion via the play-offs with a 3-1 win over Exeter City at Wembley the following campaign.
Two seasons later, he led Coventry to the League One title during the curtailed 2019-20 season to make a return to the Championship, where they have performed strongly.
Who’s the captain?
Scottish midfielder Liam Kelly was named club captain in February 2019, however, he has only made a handful of appearances this term.
In his absence, Kyle McFadzean has been wearing the armband, with the defender recently returning from injury and signing a contract extension at the CBS Arena.
The 35-year-old joined Coventry from Burton Albion in 2019, and has made nearly 150 appearances since.
McFadzean previously had spells with Sheffield United, Alfreton, Crawley and MK Dons.
Who are the key men?
When it comes to Coventry's attacking threats, look no further than Viktor Gyökeres. The striker - who had a loan spell with the Swans during the 2020-21 season - has 19 goals to his name this season (12 more than any of his team-mates) and has also contributed eight assists.
Having started his career in his homeland, Gyokeres joined Brighton in 2018, but never made a league appearance for the Seagulls.
He had loan spells with St Pauli and the Swans, before finding a home at the CBS Arena after turning a loan spell with the Sky Blues into a permanent move in the summer of 2021.
He has not looked back and has enjoyed two excellent seasons which have seen him linked with a number of Premier League clubs in recent transfer windows.
Brazilian-born midfielder Gustavo Hamer is an energetic presence in the middle of the park for Coventry, and has six goals and six assists to his name heading into the final stages of the season.
The 25-year-old moved to the Netherlands as a child – and has represented them at youth international level – where he joined Feyenoord’s youth set-up.
After two first-team appearances he moved to PEC Zwolle in the summer of 2018, and spent two seasons on their books before joining the Sky Blues.
He has been an integral figure for them ever since, and has racked up 120 appearances in his near three seasons in Coventry colours.
Former Arsenal player Ben Sheaf is industrious in the middle of the park, keeping them ticking over and sweeping up play to allow the flare players ahead of him to cause problems.
He has dovetailed well with Hamer and has racked up 32 appearances so far this term.
As technically gifted as you would expect of a Gunners' academy product, he made his senior debut against Red Star Belgrade in the Europa League back in 2017.
Loan spells with Stevenage and Doncaster followed, before he made the initial loan move to the CBS Arena in the summer of 2020.
His showings convinced manager Mark Robins to make the deal permanent the following summer and he has been a regular ever since.