Sports reporter Derek Henderson dies, aged 81

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Sports reporter Derek Henderson dies, aged 81

Postby dutchman » Thu Jul 21, 2011 3:56 pm

The man who came up with the Sky Blues nickname that has stuck with Coventry City for the last 49 years has died.

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Sports reporter Derek Henderson had been working for the Evening Telegraph for four years when he described Jimmy Hill’s men as the Sky Blues in a match report in 1962.

The club had donned a new kit during a pre-season friendly against Birmingham.

Mr Henderson, who died on Sunday aged 81, spent 15 years as the Telegraph’s Coventry City reporter, covering one of the most dramatic periods in the club’s history.

His first game was the third division clash with Exeter that all but sealed the club’s relegation to the newly-formed fourth division.

He went on to report the club’s fortunes as they won promotion to the third division and appointed Jimmy Hill as manager and then made a rapid climb to to the old first division in 1967.

In the early part of his career he wrote under the pen name Nemo.

After leaving the Telegraph, Mr Henderson returned to his native Devon where he continued to work as a reporter until he finally put down his pen and pad, aged 76.

As well as writing for the Telegraph, Mr Henderson wrote a book on the club, an encyclopaedia on the game entitled Soccer, and Northern Ireland international Tommy Doherty’s autobiography.

In his time on the paper Mr Henderson visited virtually every Football League club’s ground, missing out on just two.

He also broke the exclusive story that Jimmy Hill was resigning from the manager’s post just after securing promotion to the old first division.

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