Former City player Ernie Machin passes away...

The Association is extremely sad to report the death of Coventry City legend Ernie Machin who passed away in Coventry last Sunday (22nd July 2012) aged 68.

We hope to report details of the funeral arrangements in due course as we are sure that many in the land of Coventry Sky Blue will wish to pay their respects.

Ernie made 284 appearances for the Sky Blues, scoring 39 goals and will be remembered for taking over the club captaincy from another legend George Curtis in 1967 when George suffered a broken leg. His inspiring leadership on the pitch was a key factor in City surviving relegation in their first two seasons in the top flight.

Ernie had suffered poor health for a number of years but he had attended a reunion of the 1967 promotion team in 2007 as well as the last two Legends’ Days organised by the Former Players Association. In 2008 he was one of thirty former players inducted into the club’s Legends Group for services to the football club. The epithet Legend is a word used too often about mediocre players in the hyperbole-driven modern media however Ernie Machin was a true Coventry City Legend.