Members News: Remembering Jimmy Who Would Have Been 90 Today

JH’s New Forward Line 1962: Jim Whitehouse, Willie,Hugh Barr, Terry Bly & Bobby Laverick

Sky Blue Jimmy Whitehouse R.I.P.

Jimmy Whitehouse was a hard working inside forward with silky skills from the earliest Sky Blue era (1962-64) playing 58 games for us and grabbing 19 goals. Jimmy was born at West Bromwich on 19th September 1934 and would have celebrated his 90th birthday today.

JW at the Ricoh in 2009

Jim’s last visit to Coventry was as a ‘special guest’ in October 2009 when he was our guest at a game with Reading the club from whom we signed him and for whom he played over 240 games scoring 67 goals. What better reminder of Jimmy’s place in the Sky Blue story is an interview CCFPA chairman and CCFC Official Club historian Jim Brown did with him for the Coventry Telegraph over twenty years ago (reproduced below).

‘ANY City fans over the age of 50 will remember Jimmy Whitehouse.  The tall, blond scheming inside-forward was a star of Coventry’s famous 1963 FA Cup run when, as a Third Division club (now League One), they reached the sixth round in a blaze of glory.  Jimmy, now 70 and living in retirement in his adopted home town of Reading, well remembers the Cup adventure.

Jim Whitehouse & Jim Brown

“It was the winter of the big freeze and there was virtually no football from Christmas until the end of February. Our third round game at Lincoln was postponed 16 times and when the thaw finally came we ended up playing six Cup games in three weeks,” he said.  City, who prior to the freeze had been in a strong league position, just four points behind leaders Peterborough, romped home 5-1 at Lincoln to earn a plum tie with Second Division (Championship) Portsmouth a week later. A late Ken Hale goal gave City a fortunate 1-1 draw at Fratton Park and, three days later, a pulsating replay ending 2-2.

Jimmy Whitehouse in Sky Blue action

Jimmy said: “I scored two goals and we were 2-0 up and looked home and dry but Pompey scored twice to take it to extra-time. We had to play the second replay at White Hart Lane and I can remember the amazing vocal support of the City fans. I scored one and Terry Bly the other and we won 2-1.”  Six days later Second Division (Championship) leaders Sunderland were humbled 2-1 in front of a cup-crazy Highfield Road crowd. They saw the Sky Blues win a thriller with two late goals to earn a home tie with Manchester United. 

Five days later in front of a capacity 44,000 crowd City’s run ended as they lost 3-1 to Matt Busby‘s star-studded team that included Bobby Charlton and Denis Law. Jimmy had scored nine goals in six FA Cup games to add to his nine league goals and played some of the best football of his career but it was not sufficient to win promotion for the club. The frantic cup run had taken too much out of the players and City slipped to finish fourth.

During the 1963 close season Jimmy suffered a stomach muscle injury and, when he recovered, he could not win his place back from Ernie Machin and played only nine more games in Sky Blue. In March, 1964, manager Jimmy Hill sold him to Millwall for £4,500. He had been signed on a free transfer from Reading, where he had a five- year career scoring 67 goals in over 220 games.

Hugh Barr & Jimmy Whitehouse July 1962

Born at Greets Green in the Black Country he joined his local team West Brom and had six years at the Hawthorns but Baggies were one of the top teams in the country in the mid-1950s and Jimmy had to move to Reading to make a name for himself. The stay at Millwall was brief – he played less than a season before moving on to Non-League football with first Hillingdon Borough and later Hastings United and Andover.

He worked for an engineering company in Reading after hanging up his boots and later indulged his love of betting by becoming an on-course bookmaker and he could often be found at Oxford or Reading dog-tracks. “Jimmy Hill was very good to me and I have some fond memories of Coventry and the football club,” he added. “Those Cup ties were unbelievable and I can remember them as if they happened yesterday.”‘

Jimmy sadly passed away on 26th May 2022. R.I.P.

Thanks to CCFPA’s Mike Young for sourcing the images.