Harry Storer

1st June 1931 – 13th June 1945 and 29th November 1948 – 4th November 1953

The majority of City fans with memories of the 1930s will tell you that Harry Storer was the greatest Coventry City manager of all time. He took the club from the lower reaches of Division Three to the verge of Division One, many said that but for the war he would have taken them into the top flight.

Harry was no-nonsense, forthright character who had no time for players who did not give their all. He was hard and aggressive but players always knew where they stood with him. Some could not stand him, but many others did not mind his bullying, domineering style. The famous manager Brian Clough regards him as his greatest mentor in the game.

Liverpool-born Harry came from a sporting family. His father was a goalkeeper for Woolwich Arsenal and Liverpool and his uncle played cricket for Derbyshire and England. In 1921, after a spell with Grimsby Town, Harry joined Derby County. He was a strong tackling wing half with a good football brain and became a regular and won two England caps. A big money move to Burnley came in 1929 and when he retired from playing in 1931 he had played almost 400 first-class games. Like his uncle he was an excellent cricketer and between 1920 and 1936 scored over 13,000 runs for Derbyshire.

From 1931 he performed a quiet revolution at Highfield Road. His first signing, Clarrie Bourton was the league’s leading scorer with 49 goals in the 1931-32 season and although promotion was never a possibility the seeds of success were sown. Storer’s team finished runners-up in 1934, but only the champions were promoted in those days, and third the following year. 1936 was the golden year and, with 19 home wins out of 21 games and over one hundred goals for the fourth season out of five, the Bantams were promoted.

In Division Two Storer put more emphasis on the defence and after finishing eighth in their first season they made a serious challenge for promotion in 1937-38 before fizzling out on the final run-in and missing out by one point, repeating that finish in the last season before the war. The outbreak of war saw all the players paid off but Harry stayed, on half his pre-war salary, managing a makeshift team and keeping the club alive.

In June 1945 with football beginning to get itself back on it’s feet Storer was surprisingly lured away to become Birmingham’s manager. He won them promotion to Division One in 1948 but six months later he returned, like the prodigal son, to Highfield Road to take over a side who looked good bets for relegation to Division Three.

He saved them that year but the following season was another struggle. In 1950-51 however Storer produced a side which harked back to the 1930s with goals galore, exciting football and big crowds. Promotion looked a certainty at Christmas but a spate of injuries and loss of form cost them their chance. The following season was disastrous with the ageing team relegated.

Any hopes of a quick return were quickly shattered, Storer had to trim a massive playing staff. After a poor start to the 1953-54 season Harry was sacked. It was an acrimonious departure and he was out of the game for eighteen months until his old club Derby invited him back as manager. He took them out of Division Three within two years and before he left in 1962 he had established them as a strong Division Two side.

He died in Derby in 1967 and was still scouting for Everton up to the time of his death.

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First spell:

From: 1st June 1931
First game:

Until: 13th June 1945
Last game:

? games

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Second spell:

From: 29th November 1948
First game:

Until: 4th November 1953
Last game:

226 games

	Lge	Pl	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Win %	Pos
1948-49	Div 2	27	11	4	8	32	27	26	40.7	16th
1949-50	Div 2	42	13	13	16	55	55	39	30.9	12th
1950-51	Div 2	42	19	7	16	75	59	45	45.2	7th
1951-52	Div 2	42	14	6	22	59	82	34	33.3	21st
1952-53	Div3S	46	19	12	15	77	62	50	41.3	6th
1953-54	Div3S	18	7	4	7	23	20	18	38.8	11th
Totals		217	83	46	84	321	305	212	38.2

FA Cup: 9 games (3 wins, 1 draw, 5 losses)

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Overall:

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