A-Z of Coventry City transfers: N for Ndlovu

One of John Sillett’s parting gifts as Coventry City manager was to identify a raw Zimbabwean youth as worthy of a gamble in the English game.

Terry Butcher was in charge when the Sky Blues risked a whole £10,000 on Peter Ndlovu of Highlanders.

Still in his teens, the winger made an immediate impact in the 1991/92 season and was one of the few bright spots of a dismal campaign, winning over the fans immediately with a superb winning goal against Aston Villa.

Like most wingers Ndlovu was inconsistent but he enjoyed more purple patches during his time at Highfield Road, firstly as part of an attacking line-up under Bobby Gould, scoring a classic against Norwich City in the Match of the Day feature, secondly after Ron Atkinson’s arrival at the club when Ndlovu netted an historic hat-trick away to Liverpool.

Injury problems restricted his appearances more and more and led to City agreeing a pay-as-you play transfer deal with Birmingham City for his services in 1997.