What a Bank Holiday it was as an army of Coventry City supporters headed down to Wembley for the League Two play-off final and saw the Sky Blues secure an immediate return to the third tier of English football with a deserved 3-1 win against Exeter City.
A consistent season with some low points in far-off places ultimately came down to two matches in which Mark Robins young side played fearless football and, despite it being ‘only’ League Two, wrote themselves into City folklore at a point in the club’s history when the downward spiral of the last few years could easily have been continued.
The victory at Notts County and the win against Exeter confirmed Robins’ belief in the quality of his squad and suddenly all the talk around the city is of another push for promotion next season.
And that is not too fanciful given that getting out of League Two at the first opportunity has allowed the manager that rarest of luxuries for a Sky Blues boss, that of continuity going into the summer.
That is shown in the size of his released list with only four names on it (the Kelly-Evans twins, Kyel Reid and Bilal Sayoud) and the vast majority of the players who have contributed this season still being under contract for 2018/19 including skipper Michael Doyle who has triggered the extension to his deal.
New signings have already been added to that group and there could also be another couple of youngsters coming through to match the quality shown this season by the likes of Shipley and Bayliss.
City will have a head start over many of the clubs in League One by not having to engage in the yearly battle of recruiting almost a whole new squad.
The manager himself is a part of the club in the way that few bosses ever get to be and the support, even if coming to the Ricoh on a regular basis remains a difficult dilemma for many, will be there up and down the land from Sunderland to Plymouth next season.
PUSB!
