Sport
Seven footballers whose careers took a different turn after departing from Coventry City
There isn’t a very long list of players who have done well at Coventry City and hit a brick wall after deciding the grass would be greener away from the West Midlands club.
But there are a number of players who have opted to leave the Sky Blues over the years and may well have regretted the decision. Some simply ran down their contracts and left on frees, which is their prerogative, of course, while others hit such heights that made them wanted men and then forced a move when an acceptable bid came in.
But those departures don’t always go to plan. Granted, in most cases the players in question will have benefited greatly from the financial boost to their careers, so no regrets there. But on the pitch can be a completely different matter in a short-lived career, and unless a player is past their best and at the tail end of their playing days, most will want to rise as high as possible in their profession, to play at the highest level and with the best players.
We’ve gone back through the archives to pick out seven what-might-have-beens. Any other suggestions to add to this catalogue? Join the debate here.
Marc McNulty
A real fans’ favourite who joined the Sky Blues from Sheffield United and hit the ground running in League Two, scoring an incredible 28 goals in his first sensational season, 23 of which helped fire the club back up to League One at the first time of asking. He then cut short his two year deal when Championship Reading came calling in the summer and, understandably, made the jump up two divisions with a significant pay rise, despite City’s best efforts to keep him. From a financial point of view it made perfect sense for the player but it was a different story on the pitch where he played just 13 league games for the Royals over the course of his four year contract. He did, however, get game time during two loan spells at Hibs in the Scottish Premier and Sunderland in League One before a permanent switch to Dundee United. Now 31, McNulty is playing for Orange County, California, in the USL Championship and enjoying a very nice life in the States. But one can’t help wondering what might have been if he’d stayed a bit longer and helped Mark Robins’ men out of League One.
George Thomas
The Sky Blues Academy graduate successfully bridged the gap to first team football and helped the club to their Checkatrade Trophy victory over Oxford United, scoring the winning goal in the 2-1 win – City’s first trip to Wembley since lifting the FA Cup in 1987. The young striker left the club he’d been at since the age of nine when his contract ran out at the end of the season, opting to join his home-town club Leicester City in the Premier League rather than help the Sky Blues battle out of League Two following their relegation. Coventry said at the time: “After it became clear George wanted to move on, we have reluctantly accepted the (compensation) offer from Leicester City after a protracted period of negotiating a revised contract with George.” Signing a three year contract, the then 20-year-old would have enjoyed vastly improved wages but he didn’t play a senior game for the Foxes. He went on to sign for Championship QPR on a free, scoring 13 goals over 46 games over a three year period before joining League One Cambridge United.
Gael Bigirimana
Another Academy graduate and hugely popular player when he first broke into the first team, the Burundi-born midfielder looked destined for the top and, when Newcastle United came calling, joined the Premier League Magpies for an undisclosed fee, signing a lucrative five-year contract. However, he made just 13 top flight appearances before a failed move to Rangers and then eventual return to City on loan, ahead of a permanent deal, going on to score in the Checkatrade Trophy final at Wembley. He opted to leave but his career was never the same again, and after a spell in the Scottish Premier with Motherwell and Hibs, he joined non-league Solihull Moors before moving to Northern Ireland side Glentoran. Now 30, he was last reported to be at semi-pro outfit Dungannon Swifts.
Sammy Clingan
The midfielder signed for the Sky Blues for an undisclosed fee from Norwich City in 2009, joining on a three year deal in Coventry’s previous stint in the Championship. He went on to captain the side but in May 2012 he rejected a new contract and left as a free agent.
He was without a club for the first few months of the 2012–13 season before signing a month by month contract for League One Doncaster Rovers in October 2012. In December 2012 it was confirmed that Clingan would not be offered an extension to his contract and left. He went on to have a decent stay at Kilmarnock before spells at Linfield and Glenavon before hanging up his boots and re-training as a firefighter. Speaking to CoventryLive last year, he admitted: “To be honest with you, I really enjoyed my time at Coventry. I know I got offered a new three year contract and I was weighing up my options at the time and wondering what to do. And I look back and think, in hindsight, that I probably should have stayed there.”
