Belford targets return to action for next season
THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF CITY’S LAST GAME AT HIGHFIELD WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SQUAD THAT THRASHED DERBY
TYRELL Belford is looking to continue his football adventure next season – whenever and wherever that may be.
Belford played the full 90 minutes in what turned out to be the last match-up of the season for Nuneaton Borough – a 2-0 win away at Alvechurch in early March.
But now, with the season null and void, and the future anything but certain, Belford is aiming to just make sure he is ready when needed.
He said: “That is all we can do as players right now.
“We know the season has gone and we know that football won’t be back for a while and even then we don’t know what shape it will take.
“All we can do, though, is make sure we are ready when it does come back.
“For me that is about staying in shape and keeping myself fit.
“I have had a while out of the game and I have no doubt that if we are allowed to play next season I will be playing.
“I am keen to show what I can do and will be using the time we have now to make sure I can do that when we are allowed to play again.”
Not that Belford has had any talks in terms of where his future might be.
He said: “I haven’t even started those kind of talks yet and I will be surprised if any player has.
“It is not that they don’t want to get their futures sorted, it is just the fact nobody knows anything yet.
“Clubs don’t know what the future is, they don’t know if they will be allowed to have fans in, that will have a huge impact on the kind of money they will have.
“It is all up in the air so I think it will be a while before clubs start talking to players yet. “This is the time of year where all those talks normally start, but I cannot see any of that yet.
“I think they will want to know what they can afford and who and for the players it will be about what they want to play for.”
That is if there are clubs to come back to for some players.
Belford added: “It is going to be a tough summer for so many clubs in non-league and even the Football League. This will have hit them hard and being able to play next season is the main aim for a lot of them.
“What players they can and will have will not be at the top of their minds, it will just be about staying in business.”
Luke Steele
The goalkeeper was then in his first of three loan spells with the Sky Blues from Manchester United.
He would go on to play for West Brom, Barnsley, Bristol City and Greek side Panathinaikos. He now plays for Millwall after completing a move from Nottingham Forest. Robert Page
Page was in his first season with Coventry and went on to have a further two years with the club before leaving to join Huddersfield Town and Chesterfield.
His managerial career saw him take charge of Port Vale and Northampton before stepping back from first-team management to become an assistant boss with Wales.
nnSteve Staunton
The Republic of Ireland international spent two years with the Sky Blues towards the end of his career.
He went on to manage Ireland during an unsuccessful spell and Darlington and was for a brief time a scout with Sunderland. Richard Duffy Duffy had four different loan spells with the Sky Blues while at Portsmouth. He left Fratton Park for Millwall in 2009 and has played for Exeter, Port Vale, Eastleigh and Notts County. He now plays for Kidsgrove Athletic in non-league. Marcus Hall
The defender was in his second stint with the Sky Blues and stayed
nnnwith the club until 2010, ending his Coventry career with more than 300 appearances.
Now retired, he works as a football consultant for Sport First. Michael Doyle
Whatever happened to Doyle? The Irishman was in the middle of his initial eight-year spell with the Sky Blues, where appeared more than 300 times.
After stints with Leeds, Sheffield United and Portsmouth he returned in 2017 to help the club to promotion out of League Two – cementing his place as a club legend.
He is now captain of Notts County in the National League but still keeps his close ties with the Sky Blues.
nStephen Hughes
The former Arsenal man was then club captain for Coventry and had a good stint with the club.
After ending his career at Walsall, he moved into broadcasting and worked for Arsenal television as their matchday show co-commentator.
Claus Bech Jorgensen
The Faroe Islands international left the Ricoh Arena in 2006 to join Blackpool having made 52 appearances.
Five months on from this game, he would score the first goal at the Ricoh Arena in a win over QPR.
He retired in 2009 and now runs his own floor cleaning company based in Warwick.
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