Matchday Memories: On This Day 1976 – Sky Blues Start Swedish Tour Losing To Roland’s Home Team!

Helsingborgs IF badge

Late May/ early June in the 1960s and 1970s typically saw the Sky Blues enjoying a playing holiday in some warm climate after a hard season. Apart from the 7-1 win in May in Barbados at season’s end 1969 and the two other games in 1966 and 1972 we told you about in earlier posts the Sky Blues also played two other overseas games on this day in the latter half of the 1970s (with mixed fortunes). The first one was in Scandinavia (the other one we will tell you in the next post)

Sky Blue Manager Gordon

On this day in 1976 Sweden was the destination for a short two game tour. CCFPA member Gordon Milne‘s men first took on Swedish Second Division outfit Helsingborgs IF in front of a tiny crowd of 759 before moving on to Malmo a couple of days later.

Les Cartwright bamboozles a Derby defender

City lost both games as Helsingborg managed to score twice against the Sky Blues defence and Welsh winger (and CCFPA member) Les Cartwright got our only score of the day (in the first half). City wasted a number of good chances after dominating the first period with Tommy Hutchison, David Cross and Alan Green all culprits

The Sky Blues were represented by:-

Jim Blyth (sub. Bryan King), Graham Oakey, Barry Powell, the late John Craven, Alan Dugdale, Mick Coop, Les Cartwright, Alan Green, David Cross, Donal Murphy and Tom Hutchison.

Roland Nilsson in the Sky Blue

Apart from John who passed away in the States in 1996 at the tragically early age of 49, all the rest of the Sky Blues team that day later became CCFPA members. Good to see Jim, Bryan, Barry, Alan and Tommy at recent Sky Blues games at the CBS Arena including Legends Day 2023. Barry also came to LD24.

A Sky Blue connection with Helsingborg is that it is the birthplace of consummate full back and future Sky Blue player (1997-99) and player-manager (2001-02) Roland Nilsson. City signed him from his home town club each time he came to Coventry and Highfield Road! He would have been coming up 13 when this match was played. I wonder if he was in the crowd that day? City’s replacement ‘keeper that day Bryan King after he had moved to Norway as a UK scout apparently had a hand in recommending Roland to come to England to further his career! Both are now CCFPA members.