What does Coventry City's promotion mean to me?
Congratulations to Coventry City Football Club on securing promotion back to the Premier League, following a 25-year absence from the top flight.
We know that there are lots of things to consider when choosing a university - where is the best course, what is the campus like, who are the lecturers? But who would have thought that how the local football team got on last season could be a factor.
According to academic research, students can be influenced in their choice by the performance of football clubs linked to the university鈥檚 town or city. Universities with successful local football teams may be more attractive for prospective students, and those whose local teams struggle can see their application numbers drop.
We鈥檙e hoping that the Sky Blues success will bring lots more visitors to the city and more students to campus, but what does promotion mean to our staff who are among the Sky Blue Army?
"We鈥檝e followed Coventry City for years, through relegation to League Two and the long, emotional journey back up to the Premier League. Along the way, we鈥檝e experienced the crushing deflation of Wembley losses and the unforgettable elation of Wembley wins. We鈥檝e followed the club through thick and thin, and we鈥檙e absolutely thrilled to finally be back in the Premier League!
Realistically, our calendars and social lives have largely revolved around the football club and its fixtures. In amongst daily routines and busy weeks, having games to look forward to has brought real joy. We follow City home and away across the country with our Dad, which has been an incredible experience and one we don鈥檛 take for granted. We鈥檝e slowly been collecting grounds along the way, and we can鈥檛 wait to add Premier League stadiums to that list next season.
Through the football, we鈥檝e built an incredible group of friends, people we simply wouldn鈥檛 know without the football. Our 'team' includes teachers, bankers, musicians, economists and the one thing that links us all is Coventry City. When meeting up in London Supporters鈥� Club pubs across the country and walking into a pub in a completely new city, the feeling is always the same, suddenly it鈥檚 full of familiar faces we see all over the country."
"Across the University, we鈥檝e met some wonderful colleagues who support clubs of their own, not just Coventry City. Understanding people鈥檚 football affiliations is often an instant icebreaker, a way to build relationships with colleagues you might not otherwise get to know. Those conversations on Monday mornings catching up on results, genuinely add to the social side of work.
To see the City succeed like this is something we never really believed would happen. There鈥檚 always been that typical Coventry mindset, as the lyrics go in 'We'll Live and Die In These Towns', 鈥淚t never happens for people like us, you know鈥�. But this time it has, 鈥渁nd it鈥檚 all too much for your head to take.鈥� We鈥檙e extremely grateful to have shared these moments with our Dad and our friendship group, experiences like this don鈥檛 come around often, and they may never come again.
The impact on the city itself has been impossible to miss. Growing up in Coventry, many friends supported so-called "bigger" clubs, like Manchester United or Chelsea. Now, walking through the city centre, you see far more sky blue shirts worn with pride. Increased crowds at the CBS Arena have transformed the atmosphere, and the knock-on effect for the City鈥檚 confidence and identity feels huge.
Like most Coventry City fans, we鈥檒l be keeping everything crossed next season. Survival is the first hope! Whatever happens, our experience following the club and this promotion has already given us memories, connections, and pride that will last a lifetime.
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!"
Esme Long, Senior Operations Coordinator, Masters Programmes, WBS and Ella Long, Applicant Support Assistant, Education
"In a bygone era, people used to sell newspapers on busy streets. They wouldn鈥檛 use flashy gimmicks or sophisticated sales techniques, and online subscriptions didn鈥檛 exist yet. In the UK they would simply shout the headline of the main story that day, in the hope it would interest anyone passing enough to buy the paper and read further.
Growing up in early 1990s Coventry, there would always be a man selling the Evening Telegraph newspaper on a shop corner in Broadgate during the day. Every few minutes he would shout 鈥楥ity Final!鈥� in tribute to the famous FA Cup victory that had happened a few years before in 1987. It was almost as though the most important thing to happen to the city of Coventry on a random Saturday in 1992 was that Cov had won the FA Cup 5 years ago!"
"Coventry City are not Real Madrid, Liverpool or Manchester United. The successes (and failures) of the football club tend to live long in the memory and on the streets of the city.
In the years since we dropped out of the top flight of English football, it has often felt like the fortunes of the football club and the city itself are intertwined. Our club moving out of Highfield Road stadium to become tenants in a commercial arena we鈥檇 subsequently be exiled from, seemed to happen alongside car manufacturing moving out of the city. As if the football club and the city鈥檚 identity had been booted out together.
The road back to rediscovering our identity, or even forging a new identity, felt like a long one. The photo is of me, I'm the one at the back raising my fist, with a group of friends at the League Two Playoff Final at Wembley in 2018, where we were promoted back to League One. This group remembers the great escapes, the final day Premier League relegation survival at White Hart Lane, Peter Ndlovu, Dion Dublin, Robbie Keane, the relegation at Villa Park, the dazzling attacking football we played under Aidy Boothroyd (fact check needed) and Grimsby Away.
Two seasons in League One, and six seasons in the Championship later, we鈥檙e on the coach back from Blackburn, Lancashire. Promotion back to the top flight has been confirmed. Ears still ringing and voices shot to bits by the euphoria outside Ewood Park that followed Bobby Thomas鈥� late equalizer. Men and women in their early twenties (whose first big day with Cov can easily be assumed to be that 2018 Playoff promotion, or the EFL Trophy win the previous year) are reliving the moment by watching clips on their phones, and video of Broadgate alive with Cov fans singing again.
Every Wembley trip, every trophy lift, every late goal, every Ewood Park moment, ensures a new generation of lifelong Cov fans. In a city (and country) where football clubs have become the heart and soul of their communities."
Phil Morley, AV Support Technician, IDG
"Football brings so many people together. If any team deserves this, its the Sky Blues. We have endured so much over the past 25 years.
This is our time now. I am a true Coventrian and I am so proud of my City and my team. My motto is always, "LOUD & PROUD!"
Elizabeth Cronin, Operations Coordinator, Student Information Centre
Play Up Sky Blues! Are you a fan? Let us know what the City's promotion means to you in the comments below.
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