John Sillett

1st June 1987 – 14th November 1990

John Sillett will always be remembered for his part in the 1987 FA Cup victory but the other testament to his ability as a manager is that under his charge Coventry City were never involved in a relegation battle.

The son of Charlie Sillett who played for Southampton before the war, John and his elder brother Peter grew up in the Hampshire village of Nomansland and both were on Southampton’s books before joining Chelsea as teenagers. Peter won international honours and played in the Chelsea championship side of 1955 and John followed him into the first team partnering his brother at full back and making over 100 appearances. After the arrival of Tommy Docherty in 1961 John lost his place and in April 1962 he joined Jimmy Hill’s Sky Blue revolution.

Whilst never a spectacular player he was a steadying influence on the Coventry defence and played a big part in the 1963 FA Cup run and the 1964 Third Division championship side. His fitness suffered after a slipped disc problem and in 1966 he joined Plymouth and after retiring from playing he moved into coaching with Bristol City. In 1974 he became manager of Hereford United and two years later led them to promotion to the old Division Two.

In 1979 managing director Jimmy Hill brought him back to Highfield Road as youth team coach but he left soon after Bobby Gould became manager in 1983. Don Mackay invited him back in 1985 and when Mackay resigned in May 1986 ‘Snozz’, as he was nicknamed, became chief coach with George Curtis as manager.

The Curtis-Sillett partnership was immediately successful, bringing a breath of fresh air to the club after years of struggling, with their happy-go-lucky attitude and expressive style of football. Sillett got the best out of Dave Bennett and Cyrille Regis and with a side largely inherited from Mackay and Gould, but inspired by Curtis and Sillett, the Sky Blues roared to the FA Cup final.

On that momentous day in May 1987 they put the smiles back on the faces of not only Coventry City but also football in general in one of the most attractive and exciting finals since the war. Big John was deservedly rewarded with promotion to team manager.

Two months after the Wembley triumph he made his first significant purchase signing David Speedie from Chelsea for £780,000. His immortal quote at the time was “Coventry City have shopped at Woolworths for too long, from now on we’re shopping at Harrods”.

For the next three years Sillett achieved a miracle. His team was rarely out of the top half of the table and never had a relegation battle, they did however suffer embarrassing Cup defeats at Sutton and Northampton and many fans felt he should have gone after the latter. His critics argued that he should have broken up the 1987 side sooner and that his transfer dealings were uninspiring. Despite this his cheery style always shone through and he was an excellent ambassador for the club. In retrospect he raised expectations to high levels in 1987 and subsequently failed to live up to them.

In October 1990 he was relieved of duties after indicating that he did not want to renew his contract at the end of the season. Sadly, chairman John Poynton dealt with his departure in an untidy fashion, negotiating with Terry Butcher whilst John was on his sick bed and unaware of developments.

John had a further spell as manager of Hereford and spent a lot of time at Highfield Road after the departure of Poynton in 1991. Many fans will remember him for his rallying call on the arrival of Ron Atkinson in 1995 when the reception he received was almost as great as that given Big Ron.

He still lives in the Coventry area and has been part of Sven Goran Eriksson’s scouting set up working with other former City managers Dave Sexton and Noel Cantwell and also did some work as a media pundit.

Sillett died in the morning of 30 November 2021, at the age of 85.

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As joint manager with George Curtis:

Division One Manager of the Month April 1987

Joined: 14th April 1986
First game: 19th April 1986 v Luton Town, home, First Division, won 1-0

Left: 1st June 1987
Last game: 16th May 1987 v Tottenham Hotspur, Wembley Stadium, FA Cup Final, won 3-2 aet

57 games as joint manager

	Lge	Pl	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Win %	Pos
1985-86	Div 1	3	2	0	1	3	2	6	66.6	17th
1986-87	Div 1	42	17	12	13	50	45	63	40.4	10th
Totals		45	19	12	14	53	47	69	42.2

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As sole manager:

Joined: 1st June 1987
First game: 1st August 1987 v Everton, Wembley Stadium, FA Charity Shield, lost 0-1

Left: 14th November 1990
Last game: 10th November 1990 v Sunderland, away, First Division, drew 0-0

156 games as manager

	Lge	Pl	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Win %	Pos
1987-88	Div 1	40	13	14	13	46	53	53	32.5	10th
1988-89	Div 1	38	14	13	11	47	42	55	36.8	7th
1989-90	Div 1	38	14	7	17	39	59	49	36.8	12th
1990-91	Div 1	12	3	3	6	11	15	12	25.0	14th
Totals		128	44	37	47	143	166	69	34.3

FA Charity Shield: 1 game (loss)

League Cup: 17 games (11 wins, 2 draws, 4 losses)

Anglo-Scottish Challenge: 1 game (1 draw)

FA Cup: 4 games (1 win, 3 losses)

Simod/ZDS Cup: 5 games (2 wins, 1 draw – lost on pens, 2 losses)

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Overall:

	Lge	Pl	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Win %	Pos
1985-86	Div 1	3	2	0	1	3	2	6	66.6	17th
1986-87	Div 1	42	17	12	13	50	45	63	40.4	10th
1987-88	Div 1	40	13	14	13	46	53	53	32.5	10th
1988-89	Div 1	38	14	13	11	47	42	55	36.8	7th
1989-90	Div 1	38	14	7	17	39	59	49	36.8	12th
1990-91	Div 1	12	3	3	6	11	15	12	25.0	14th
Totals		173	63	49	61	196	216	238	36.4

FA Charity Shield: 1 game (loss)

League Cup: 22 games (14 wins, 3 draws, 5 losses)

Anglo-Scottish Challenge: 1 game (1 draw)

FA Cup: 10 games (7 wins, 3 losses)

Full Members/Simod/ZDS Cup: 6 games (2 wins, 1 draw – lost on pens, 2 losses)

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