Matchday Memories: On This Day 2005 – City’s Seasonal Starter Sees Canaries Stalemate

Sky Blue Manager Micky

On this day (6th August) in 2005 the Sky Blues opened up their season with a 1-1 draw at Norwich City in front of 25,355 fans. Former Sky Blue player (and now CCFPA member) Micky Adams had been in the CCFC managerial hot seat since January 2005.

City were forced to play their first three games of the season away from home due to their new stadium, the Ricoh Arena, not yet being ready in time for the start of the campaign. Three days later they got a goalless draw in London at Millwall‘s New Den and on the 13th August were tanned 4-0 at Burnley.

Dele in the Sky Blue

However, on the 20th in their first ever game at their new stadium, they opened it in style beating Queens Park Rangers 3-0 in front of 23,000 delighted Sky Blues fans with a brace from ‘Dele Adebola and one from Claus Bech Jorgensen (both  now CCFPA members).

Today it was ‘Dele who scored the Sky Blues equalising goal at Carrow Road five minutes after the hour following Dean Ashton‘s opener for the Canaries in the 21st minute of the first half.

Leon in the Sky Blue

Of the twelve players used that day nine later became CCFPA members, Matt Heath, Robert Page, Marcus Hall, Michael Doyle, Stephen Hughes, James Scowcroft, ‘Dele Adebola, Gary McSheffrey and CBJ.

The Canaries’ forward had two players with Sky Blues’ connections. Darren Huckerby was an exciting (but sometimes perplexing) Sky Blues striker between 1996-99 scoring 34 goals in his 109 appearances. Leon McKenzie signed for the Sky Blues a year after this game in August 2006 and also like ‘Hucks’ later became an Association member. After hanging up his football boots he became a pretty successful boxing professional before retiring for a second time from a second professional career!

Full details of the game can be found in the graphic below:-