Fan-tastic to be back

22 Aug 2026 - Coventry Telegraph

By BRIAN DICK

THREE thousand Coventry City fans made the 100-mile, 25-year journey to the Emirates Stadium last night mindful of – but in truth not too hung up on – their curtain-raiser’s result.

In fact the Sky Blues struggled against the home side as Arsenal turned on the style winning the game 3-0.

If ever an opening fixture said ‘Welcome back to the Premier League’ a show-piece appointment away to the reigning champions was it.

And if ever a match contrasted with the Sky Blues’ last top flight game, a 0-0 draw with Bradford City at Highfield Road in May 2001, this was also it.

Having laid waste to the Championship last season, Frank Lampard’s men stepped blinking back into the Premier League spotlight. The stage could not have been any higher nor the lights any brighter.

They did so with those 3,000 in the ground but with one hundred times that number in their corner, albeit further afield. They also did so with the eyes of the world, admittedly most focused on the Gunners, watching all from across the planet.

From Adelaide to Zanzibar, from Zhengzhou back to Atlanta, Lampard, Doug King, Banner Man and Coventry City have returned to global consciousness. Hopefully John Mullaney was watching from Brisbane, Australia.

Coventry City really are back in the big time and as imposing as opponents like Arsenal might be, we’re all happy for that because very few clubs deserve this opportunity, this exacting, imposing nine-month challenge, as much as their longsuffering supporters.

You see the Sky Blues haven’t merely been out of the top flight for a quarter-century, they had more privations heaped upon them than pretty much any other fanbase in the land, with the possible exception of Bury, Macclesfield and Aldershot who all lost their clubs.

Even so, few fell as far, nor spent as long marooned in the nether regions of the Football League. None, AFC Wimbledon aside, saw their team leave their home town in search of a ground to play in.

Last night was for those who schlepped to Sixfields and St Andrew’s – and for those who fell by the wayside or reluctantly found themselves forced into the role of conscientious objector.

Last night was for those who watched VAR rob Mark Robins and his players of a miracle FA Cup final.

Last night was for Fankaty Dabo and the team-mates that came so close against Luton Town.

Last night was for Lampard and those who were at the Stadium of Light where darkness once again enveloped the club. Those disappointments were fleeting compared to the existential crises of yesteryear, therefore last night was mostly about the Sky Blue light that refuses to be extinguished – no matter what Arsenal threw at them.

That light will burn brightly at the CBS Arena next weekend, when the pressure to beat fellow newbies Hull City will be intense. It will shine bright at Manchester City on September 5 and it will shine mostly defiantly of all at Villa Park next April.

Coventry City’s Premier League return at Arsenal wasn’t about the outcome of a football match, it was about the existence of a football club.