During the 2001–02 English football season, Coventry City F.C. competed in the Football League First Division, following relegation from the FA Premier League the previous season.
Season summary Despite the signing of prolific striker Lee Hughes from local rivals West Bromwich Albion, Coventry City were unable to make a genuine push for an immediate return to the Premier League and finished well away from promotion in 11th place. Manager Gordon Strachan had been sacked after five games with only one win and Coventry 19th; this heralded the beginning of an eleven-match unbeaten run which saw Coventry top the table with a third of the season gone, but from then three straight losses took them down to ninth. Coventry never regained the form from that unbeaten run, but with seven games left to play they stood fourth and appeared almost certain to gain a playoff place. Unfortunately, Coventry only gained one point from those last seven games and fell down to 11th place.
Final league table
Results Coventry City's score comes first
Legend WinDrawLoss
Football League First Division DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 11 August 2001 Stockport CountyA2–09,329Hughes, Carsley 19 August 2001 Wolverhampton WanderersH0–122,902 24 August 2001 Bradford CityA1–215,085Bothroyd 27 August 2001 Nottingham ForestH0–018,467 8 September 2001 Grimsby TownH0–114,980 15 September 2001 Sheffield UnitedA1–016,168Delorge 19 September 2001 Manchester CityH4–318,804Pearce (own goal), Konjić, Hughes, Thompson 22 September 2001 PortsmouthH2–018,303Bothroyd, Carsley 25 September 2001 BarnsleyA1–111,692Martínez 29 September 2001 GillinghamA2–19,435Martínez, Chippo 14 October 2001 WalsallA1–07,515Thompson 17 October 2001 Rotherham UnitedA0–06,582 21 October 2001 Crewe AlexandraH1–015,788Hughes (pen) 24 October 2001 WimbledonA1–05,883Thompson 27 October 2001 Sheffield WednesdayH2–017,381Safri, Hughes (pen) 31 October 2001 Preston North EndH2–215,755Thompson (2) 3 November 2001 MillwallA2–315,748Martínez, Bothroyd 17 November 2001 BurnleyH0–216,849 25 November 2001 Birmingham CityA0–218,279 28 November 2001 Crystal PalaceH2–013,695Delorge, Mills 1 December 2001 WimbledonH3–117,303Hughes, Mills, Thompson 9 December 2001 WatfordH0–213,251 12 December 2001 West Bromwich AlbionA0–122,543 15 December 2001 Norwich CityA0–217,889 23 December 2001 Bradford CityH4–014,977Hughes (2, 1 pen), Thompson, Joachim 26 December 2001 Grimsby TownA1–07,568Hughes 29 December 2001 Nottingham ForestA1–222,706Chippo 13 January 2002 Wolverhampton WanderersA1–321,009Bothroyd 19 January 2002 Stockport CountyH0–012,448 29 January 2002 Crystal PalaceA3–116,197Bothroyd, Hall, McSheffrey 2 February 2002 GillinghamH1–214,337Bothroyd 6 February 2002 Rotherham UnitedH2–012,893Konjić, Hughes 9 February 2002 Crewe AlexandraA6–17,835Delorge (2), Hughes (3), Thompson 16 February 2002 WalsallH2–113,736Thompson, Chippo 23 February 2002 BarnsleyH4–015,092Chippo, Thompson (2), Mills 26 February 2002 PortsmouthA0–112,336 3 March 2002 Manchester CityA2–433,335Mills (2) 6 March 2002 Sheffield UnitedH1–012,963Thompson 9 March 2002 Norwich CityH2–116,744Hughes (2, 1 pen) 16 March 2002 WatfordA0–315,833 24 March 2002 Birmingham CityH1–117,945Healy 29 March 2002 Sheffield WednesdayA1–221,470Healy 1 April 2002 West Bromwich AlbionH0–121,513 6 April 2002 Preston North EndA0–415,665 12 April 2002 MillwallH0–115,335 21 April 2002 BurnleyA0–118,751
FA Cup
+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR316 January 2002 Tottenham HotspurH0–220,758
League Cup
+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR211 September 2001 Peterborough UnitedA2–2 (won 4–2 on pens)5,729Thompson, CarsleyR39 October 2001 ChelseaH0–212,582
Squad
Left club during season
Reserve squad
Transfers
In Julian Joachim - Aston Villa, 6 July, part-exchange Keith O'Neill - Middlesbrough, 8 August, £750,000 Lee Hughes - West Bromwich Albion, 8 August, £5,000,001 Youssef Safri - Raja Casablanca, 11 August, £700,000 Andy Goram - unattached (last at Hamilton Academical), 24 AugustGoram initially signed a month-to-month deal before signing with the club for the rest of the season on 24 October. Lee Mills - Portsmouth, 1 January, £250,000 Paul Trollope - Fulham, 22 March, free
Out Stephen McPhee - released (later joined Port Vale on 24 June) Craig Bellamy - Newcastle United, 25 June, £6,000,000 John Aloisi - Osasuna, 3 July, £1,200,000 Mustapha Hadji - Aston Villa, 6 July, £2,000,000 plus Julian Joachim John Hartson - Celtic, 2 August, £6,000,000 Chris Kirkland - Liverpool, 31 August, £6,000,000 Paul Williams - Southampton, 31 October, free Paul Telfer - Southampton, 31 October, free Carlton Palmer - Stockport County, 6 November, free Tomas Gustafsson - Copenhagen, 4 February, undisclosed Lee Carsley - Everton, 8 February, £1,900,000 Roland Nilsson - retired, 8 April Steve Froggatt - retired Andy Goram - Oldham Athletic
Loan in Lee Mills - Portsmouth, December, one month Horacio Carbonari - Derby County, 22 March, one month Colin Healy - Celtic, 29 January, 84 days Tim Flowers - Leicester City
Loan out Carlton Palmer - Sheffield Wednesday, 4 September, 46 daysPalmer originally signed on loan for three months, but the loan was terminated early.
Statistics Appearances and goals
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Goalkeepers
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Defenders
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Midfielders
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Forwards
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Players transferred or loaned out during the season
References