Michael Turner

Coventry City fans paid a brilliant tribute to former players for their part in the club’s journey back to the Premier League when they went through their full repertoire of songs and chants at Watford as part of their final day celebrations.

Among the names sung loud and proud from the away end at Vicarage Road was that of Michael Doyle, whose return to the club for a second spell in 2017 helped kick-start the rise back up the football league from the depths of League Two.

Drafted in by Mark Robins, he captained the Sky Blues to their first ever play-offs to get them back to League One as the club never looked back on its upward curve to top flight football. And Doyler couldn’t be happier for the club for which he still holds a great deal of affection, still living in the area and getting to games when he can.

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“I didn’t know that but lovely, fair play, that’s great,” he said, on hearing that the Sky Blue Army were singing his song at Watford.

“They’ve obviously come a long way and it’s probably a case of they haven’t forgotten where they were. So brilliant, very good.”

He added: “I saw a bit of the parade on the news and it looked brilliant.”

The 44-year-old, who is now first team coach at another of his former clubs, Portsmouth, first joined the Sky Blues in 2003 under Gary McAllister’s management, spending an initial eight years, starting at Highfield Road and then at the Ricoh Arena.

He then got the call from Mark Robins in the summer of 2017 following relegation to the fourth tier to lead the initial charge back up the divisions and, ultimately, a return to top flight football.

“When I went back to the club I didn’t think that was happening any time soon but I always remember when I first spoke to Mark (Robins) he said he wanted to take the club back to the Premier League,” reflected the hardman midfielder, speaking to CoventryLive.

“I was at the end of my career when I signed back so I obviously wasn’t going to be part of that. But over the course of the season he spoke to me a few times about it and I remember one occasion when we were at Brighton in the FA Cup and I was injured but we were chatting on the pitch. We talked about me and the future and what we were going to do, saying he wanted to take the club back to the Premier League and then retire, sort of thing, and when we were there in that moment that was him thinking that’s where we want to be. But we were in League Two at the time so it was a long way off at that stage.”

He added: “But it’s just great for the club to finally get there and I am delighted for them because it’s truly deserved. They have had some amazing times over the last few years in terms of play-off campaigns and come away disappointed but they’ve been unbelievable experiences for the fans. And then to go and do it the way they have by winning the league is brilliant for them.”

Doyle, along with the likes of Marc McNulty, Max Biamou and Liam Kelly to name just a few, took the first step by winning the League Two play-offs with a memorable semi-final victory at Notts County before beating Exeter at Wembley.

So does he feel like he and his team-mates from the time provided the turning point in the club’s history and helped kick-start things?

“At the time I like to think we did our bit,” he said. “I had a long association with Coventry from my time as a young player and I went back but I don’t even think people realise.”

Breaking into a chuckle, the Dublin-born player added: “That’s how long ago I first played for Coventry, so a lot of people probably weren’t even born. But I had eight seasons in the Championship with them before and I still remember those years when I was starting out in my career as a first team player and we had one or two seasons where we finished eighth and 12th, something like that, but the majority of those seasons we were fighting for our lives and usually it was going down to the last four or five games to get to 51 points to stay up.

“The potential was always there but when we left Highfield Road, which was a magical place, and went to the Ricoh and things started to dwindle and I never felt that the club was backed or equipped to go to the next level.

“You’d see the likes of West Brom and Wolves going out and buying top players and we’d have to sell ours, so we were always that team that was fighting to stay in the league and then I left and moved onto Sheffield and the club went down. And then I don’t know if it was mis-management from the ownership and council and things but I was still living in the area and watching on and seeing the club fade away.”

He added: “For me it felt like a coincidence timing thing when I came back. I’d been at Portsmouth and been quite successful and then Coventry reached out to me. I never expected to play for the club again so it was a bit of a chance. I was travelling up and down to the south coast and my family were up in Coventry, so it was good timing and I probably benefited from where Coventry were at the time which enabled me to go back.”

As for the part he and previous squads played on the way back up, he said: “There have been so many players who have played there over the last number of years who have done really well and had some success, and fair play to them, but I do think now it’s about the team that have gone and done what they have done. It’s not about the past. It’s about these lads enjoying their moment and no-one else taking it, if that makes sense.

“These lads have worked so hard and the people who have helped the club get to where they have got to will never be forgotten, I suppose, but for now it’s all about Frank Lampard and his team, you know.”

The fact remains that if his side hadn’t won promotion, which led to getting out of League One and driving forward in the Championship, then City wouldn’t be where they are today.

“Of course,” he agreed. “I always loved watching the play-offs and that was the first time Coventry had ever been in the play-offs, which was a brilliant experience with that turnout at Wembley that day. That was kind of the start of it and they have gone on and the big thing is the club has just kept growing. The new owner has come in and taken it to another level.

“When you look at the training ground now and the infrastructure behind the scenes with recruitment and things, it just looks like everything is being put in place and slowly being built. But what a journey the fans have been on over the last ten years!

“I know people were disappointed about losing to Sunderland and Luton in the Championship play-offs but what unbelievable experiences. They’re what football is all about and to get those moments is something that doesn’t always come along. All those years in the Championship and even back to the Premier League 25 years ago, they were always fighting to stay in there.

“So I don’t know if all the young fans realise how lucky they are to have had all these moments because it isn’t always like that.”

And Doyle has a clear message to the supporters ahead of what he expects to be a challenging campaign for the club, saying: “Looking to next season, no matter what we say, it’s going to be an absolute dogfight for them.

“And that’s not a criticism, but they’re going up to the elite league and they’re going to need every bit of positivity behind them because there’s no point in being negative when you get to October/November and they have won one out of four games or something. That’s probably to be expected. That’s not a criticism but you are going to the elite, top level and they’re going to need really positive support because it’s going to be really hard for them.

“That’s what I would say (to the fans), just get right behind them for the whole season because you’ve dreamed about this for years so don’t let it pass them by, as a fan, now that they’re there.

“I am sure the players will be trying to do everything to stay in the division and they’ll need every bit of positivity to help them.”

Doyle’s most recent visit to the CBS was just over six weeks ago when he was in the opposite dugout with Pompey, who were thumped 5-1 on a bitter-sweet night for the coach. While the Sky Blues secured the Championship title in style that night, with two games to go, Portsmouth learned that they were safe from relegation due to results elsewhere.

“I get up there (to the CBS) when I can if we haven’t got a game or if they are playing on a Sunday or whatever and the atmosphere is great,” he said.

“I went up a few years ago when they beat Forest in the first game of the season and you could see then how much things had changed. And it has just got better and better. When I went there with Portsmouth recently the place was packed to the rafters and the atmosphere was unbelievable, and that’s the way it should be because it’s a fantastic stadium and to see it full of sky blue colour is brilliant.”

Every day, the CoventryLive football desk strive to deliver all manner of news, features and transfer-related stories as a part of our overall package of Coventry City content.

Our dedicated reporter Andy Turner - who you can follow on X - follows the Sky Blues home and away and offers you comprehensive coverage from matchdays, press conferences and everything that happens in between.