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USMNT striker Haji Wright is ahead of Coventry City’s FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United (0:51).
The FA Cup has an uncanny ability to create unforgettable memories, such as the moment evoked by Coventry City and American foreign striker Haji Wright on March 16 at Molineux.
It was the tenth minute of stoppage time in Coventry City’s FA Cup quarter-final against Wolves, and the Sky Blues had one last chance to forge a chance to win the game before extra time. Ellis Simms had scored the equalizer 3 minutes earlier, in the 97th minute. The match was slightly tied 2-2, and the visiting team of Coventry City was already a scene of real chaos as they looked for one last chance.
– Stream LIVE on ESPN: Manchester United vs. Manchester United Coventry City, Sunday, 10:30 a. m. m. ET (USA)
“The game was a whirlwind, back and forth,” Wright told ESPN. “Every FA Cup game is like that. I hadn’t realized how much time had been wasted there, so I looked into an extension, but I had a feeling that there would be one more chance. “
Wright knew where he needed to be: to the left of the Wolves goal, about 15 yards out, as if they had been training. “We practiced all week, but it didn’t work out well for me in practice, I think I didn’t hit the ball the way I wanted to,” Wright said. Jake Bidwell took the throw-in, Callum O’Hare was able to contain the Wolves defender and discovered Simms with his back to goal. He conscientiously cushioned the ball. to Wright waiting.
“It’s muscle memory,” he says. As soon as I [took] the photo, I can tell it’s going to show up. “
When the ball flew past Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sá, Wright’s first felt a fleeting relief. Then the position went haywire.
“I just go out there and celebrate with the fans,” Wright said. The second-division championship team had just eliminated the Premier League stalwarts.
In the stands, Coventry City fans hugged everyone and everyone nearby. Dave Boddy, the club’s outgoing general manager, who joined the club in 2017 and left earlier this year, felt his feelings boil over. “When we won the game, I shed a tear. ” Boddy told ESPN. “I’m out there, surrounded by some of my former colleagues, the ones who had been with me since I arrived. “
Steve Ogrizovic, record holder for maximum appearances in Coventry, was on hand to cover the event for a local BBC radio station. “I had to be as reserved as possible,” Ogrizovic told ESPN. “Look, it’s a cliché, but that’s what dreams are made of. “
Collectively, all Coventry City enthusiasts have tried to suppress that feeling while it lasts. “Since then, my enthusiasts have told me how much it means to them,” Wright said.
The last 20 years of Coventry City have been crazy. They were on the verge of disappearing due to bankruptcy, they almost ran out of stadium and, just when they thought everything would go back to normal, the Commonwealth Games destroyed their grounds.
Still, trips to Wembley have given them some respite, and on Sunday they head to the famous stadium in search of lasting memories when they face Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final. Coach Mark Robins and his team are self-assured, as they have observed. late under his belt.
This week, at the Coventry City club store, they celebrated as they did in 1987. Replica jerseys of the FA Cup-winning team were on sale; Fans of a seniority are sure to have the original version, a physical reminder of the club’s best day when they beat Tottenham 3-2 at old Wembley.
“This run brings everything back,” says Ogrizovic, who was Coventry’s goalkeeper that day. “People realize that we have a history that makes us proud. But it wasn’t just in 1987: we were in the elite for 35 years after our ascent. in 1967, and how we survived. But I guess the fact that we won a primary trophy is what other people love. “
Ogrizovic is a Coventry legend City. Su playing career spanned 4 decades and spent 16 years at Coventry, serving as a prop between positions during his years in the Premier League. He then joined the club’s coaching staff after football and held that role until his retirement in 2019. .
“I spent some fantastic years there as a player and another 19 as a coach. It’s my life, it’s a glorious position,” he says. But despite all the peaks of his Premier League career, winning the FA Cup in 1987, the club went through a rocky period. They were relegated to second place in English football in 2001 and have yet to return to the Premier League. “The upheavals the club has faced over the last 20 years have been immense, but the fans have stayed with them,” he added.
In 2007, the club was bought through Sisu Capital, but they have become questionable owners. “I have to be careful with the words I use here,” Ogrizovic says. “What can I say about Sisu? Well, let’s put it this way. : They were not the proper owners of the football club. I think they thought they could make money without any problems and run a respectable football club, but that didn’t turn out to be the case.
“You’ve got to have a lot more football than they brought. Every year you think you’re going to get better, but money was tight, we snuck into the league and we had another coach every year. We had some great coaches at the club, but through no fault of their own, they didn’t accomplish much for a couple of years. It’s like it’s all instinctive. You may feel like it’s not right.
Andre Onana insists Manchester United will underestimate Coventry City’s risk of the championship in their FA Cup semi-final.
The club has enjoyed turbulent dating for two decades with its intermittent 32,600-capacity Coventry Arena (now as Coventry Building Society Arena, or CBS) venue.
The club moved there in 2005 after 106 years on Highfield Road, but the experience was shaky. Since moving in 2005, they have lived in halfway houses three other times. In 2012, when the club was recently relegated to Ligue 1, Sisu Capital had a lease dispute with the stadium’s control company. The club moved and shared flats with Northampton Town in the 2013–14 season. In doing so, they received two 10-point deductions once they went into liquidation, one at the end of the 2012-13 season and another at the start of the 2013-14 season.
“Those were dark days,” Ogrizovic says.
Having been saved from extinction, the club returned to the stadium from 2014 to 2019, however, there was another dispute with the owners of the house at the time, Wasps Rugby, who had bought the ground from the former owners of Coventry City Council and charity Alan Edward Higgs in 2014 – saw them share St. Andrew’s with Birmingham City from 2019 to 2021. “If Birmingham City hadn’t let us go, we might have just gone to bed,” Boddy says. “There was no alternative. Les Bleus were wonderful for us, but it was a real low point, a moment close to the goal for us. “
They returned to the Arena in 2021, but in 2022-2023, Coventry returned for short-term accommodation. The Commonwealth Games had been held in Birmingham that summer and rugby was played at the Arena. The poles had destroyed the field. The unplayable surface. The stadium’s owners, Wasps, took over at the end of 2022, and Coventry only signed a 10-year lease, further muddying the waters.
“To me, that’s the real low point,” Boddy says. “The HCPs were on the verge of bankruptcy and didn’t need to contact us because they didn’t have the answers. They couldn’t do anything. The speech is just awful. “
They were forced to postpone their first three home games and had a five-point deduction suspended through the EFL.
“In the end, we paid what we had to pay, but it was a low point for me. I was ahead of the curve and I had to make it,” Boddy said.
When Wasps went bankrupt in 2022, the stadium fell into the hands of the directors and once again Coventry was at risk of homelessness. After an era of difficult negotiations, Coventry City has reached an agreement with its new owners (Mike Ashley’s Fraser Group) until 2028.
Despite all the conflicts, enthusiasts came here to see their team despite their anger at the way the club worked. “[When I arrived in 2017, the situation] was toxic,” Boddy says. “There have been protests against the owners. It’s a nightmare situation. “
At the end of the 2016–17 season, the club was relegated to Ligue 2, but in the darkness there was a rare moment of relief. Speaking to Ogrizovic, Boddy and the fans, they all point to Wembley in April 2017 as a turning point in the club’s fortunes. Mark Robins, the former Man United striker who scored “the goal that kept Sir Alex Ferguson”, returned to the club in March for a second term. A month later, they were in the final of the 2017 EFL Trophy, where they beat Oxford United 2–1.
“It’s like a reset. That’s when we regained some pride at the club,” Ogrizovic said. “We were down, but we still had 45,000 fans. I don’t think the players or the owners realized that pride before. “But you can see that the club is still burning even though we had all those problems. “
“It’s just an amazing opportunity,” he says Boddy. Es you might feel like the enthusiasts are being robbed of success, you can hear it in their voices, and they were amazing. “
After relegation to Ligue 2, the club was promoted to Ligue 1 through the playoffs for the first time in the 2017–18 season. They managed to return to the championship in 2020 when they played in Birmingham.
“We’re slowly getting the fans back, but it’s the year of COVID, and despite a budget that’s in the middle more productive, we’re defying all odds to increase,” Boddy said. Behind the scenes, the club bought through Doug King in January 2023 and last season they reached the play-off final, only to fall to Luton on penalties.
“We exceeded the budget in terms of league standings, and we and Luton were in the last six salary budgets in the league. That was one of Mark’s strengths, he was looking to get us through, but he knew what we were financially capable of and only paintings within limits.
Despite all the uncertainties and turbulence, Robins managed to move the club forward in the leagues. “He had a smart relationship with the previous owner and managed to do things the way he wanted,” Ogrizovic said. “It’s been an upward trajectory under Mark “And a lot of the praise has to go to him for the way he’s reshaped the club. He controlled so that the shipment sailed into calmer waters. “
Robins had already made FA Cup history before this race with Coventry. He was part of the Manchester United team that won the FA Cup in 1990. The Robins scored a standout goal in their 1-0 third-round win over Nottingham Forest, a widely known winner. as the reason that prevented then-manager Alex Ferguson from firing him.
“He told me about his years when I joined the club and what a wonderful striker he was,” Wright says with a laugh.
In Coventry they love the Robins. ” The club is in their DNA,” says Boddy. “He’s a smart coach who organizes us the right way,” Wright says. “He tries to give us words of inspiration before and during games. . He tries to put us in the right frame of mind every week and prepares us well. He knows when it’s the right time to communicate with players and discovers the right words to inspire them. Inspire them, or move on and also knows exactly when to tell us if we’re doing something right or wrong.
A source told ESPN that Robins learned the art of a successful Ferguson delegation, holding those around him accountable and making sure they provided what was needed.
“[Robins] never gets upset, he takes things slow,” Ogrizovic says. “As a player, he’s a very intelligent and level-headed striker. And as a coach, he knows what battles he can win and what battles to leave for others. “day. “
Boddy adds: “He’s an old-school manager in some respects because he’s in charge, and that’s what I think a manager should be. I think he has the same metal characteristics as Alex Ferguson. “
The club’s recruitment section has also worked well. One of the most sought-after strikers in Europe is Sporting’s Viktor Gyökeres, who spent 2021-23 at the club. Coventry had acquired him for £1m from Brighton and 43 goals later, Sporting spent £20m to get him last summer. Gustavo Hamer, who Coventry signed for £1. 5m in 2020 and is now at Sheffield United after a £15m move in August 2023.
“Chris Badlan was in the recruiting process at the time, working a lot with me and Mark to get the players on board,” says Boddy. “They weren’t the finished article; someone like Vik wasn’t anywhere near the player he is today when he signed him. But Mark and [Coventry assistant coach Adi Viveash] have done wonders with those players. “
This influx of cash has led the club to spend a lot. USMNT striker Wright arrived from Antalyaspor for a club-record payment of £7. 65m, scoring 17 goals so far this season. Simms was also signed from Everton for a fee that is said to be as low as £3. 5 million; Other key signings included right-back Milan van Ewijk and centre-backs Bobby Thomas and Liam Kitching. They have settled alongside home side Josh Eccles in midfield, remarkable youngster Ben Sheaf and brilliant attacking midfielder O’Hare to bring the club within striking distance of the play-offs this season, in addition to their FA Cup run.
Their FA Cup crusade began with a 6-2 win over Oxford United. They needed a replay to overcome Sheffield Wednesday in the fourth round, and in the fifth round they brought Maidstone United’s fairytale run to an abrupt end with a 5-0 victory. Then came the memorable afternoon at Wolverhampton, and all eyes are on Manchester United on Sunday at Wembley.
“There were a lot of highlights, but the play-off win against Exeter for promotion from Ligue 2 was incredible, like the [EFL] Trophy final,” Boddy said. “But bringing the club back to Coventry and stabilising it in the most sensitive way of the championship was a real highlight. There have been dark days, but there have also been smart days. We were there together. “
Also in the stands will be three generations of Ogrizovic’s family; Caring for his grandchildren helped him fill his retirement while helping Gordon Strachan with his base at the University of Warwick and doing radio duties. Memories will go back to 1987, but Ogrizovic will love watching Coventry City’s new generation try to triumph in another FA Cup Final.
“I’ll be nervous and proud,” said Ogrizovic. We all know it’s going to be a wonderful opportunity and I’m going to tell you that because of the way the team plays, the confidence they show, they have every chance to do something special if Manchester United are perfect. “
“It’s a game, it can happen either way,” Wright said. “It’s a great club, they have a lot of wonderful players, but I think we’re going through to have opportunities. Hopefully we can make them feel a little bit of pressure. ” You can do anything in one game. “