Tributes have been paid to the former Coventry City manager John Sillett, who has died at the age of 85. Sillett guided the club to one of the FA Cup’s most memorable wins in 1987, when they beat the favourites Tottenham 3-2 at Wembley.
“It’s very sad news,” Steve Ogrizovic, the goalkeeper from the Cup-winning team, told BBC CWR. “My thoughts and condolences go to all of the family. First and foremost, he was a great manager and great coach, and above all that a brilliant raconteur. Whenever he entered a room he lit it up with his charisma and personality.
“He had a very shrewd footballing brain and knew how to get the best out of players – he was a real man-manager. He made players feel far far better than they were. The one thing he always did was loved the players who played for him and we certainly loved him.”
‘Snoz’, as Sillett was affectionately known, began his playing career as a full-back at Chelsea. In 1962 he became Jimmy Hill’s first signing at Coventry, costing £3,000, and helped them to the Third Division title two years later, during their ascent to the top flight. After more than 100 games for Coventry, he finished his playing days at Plymouth Argyle.
Sillett had two spells in management at Hereford, with whom he won Division Three in 1975–76, either side of four successful years in charge at Coventry.
He was chief coach, working alongside George Curtis, when the duo led the Sky Blues to their first major trophy. The 1987 FA Cup final featured a classic diving header by Keith Houchen and ended with Sillett snogging the central defender Trevor Peake while galavanting around Wembley, trophy in hand.
“I cried when we won it,” Sillett said in a post-match interview. “It was a great advert for English football at its best – and at its best there was a little team, Coventry City, involved.”
In his later years, Sillett was made life president at the club and was often handed the microphone before games in an effort to gee up City’s supporters as the club fell down the league pyramid. He attended his final game this season, watching the revived Sky Blues beat Nottingham Forest in the Championship on the opening day.
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The chairman of the League Managers Association, Howard Wilkinson, said of Sillett: “He was a genuine, well-meaning gentleman, greatly admired throughout football for his honesty and professionalism. Football has lost a great servant.”
A statement from the Sillett family read: “Obviously the family are really saddened by Dad’s passing but we are all so proud of him and what he achieved. His ability to spot things tactically, change them during a game and enhance the abilities of players was top class, the respect he had from top people in the game and the kind words we have already received already underline the high regard in which he was held by the football world. Though he will be desperately missed, his spirit will stay with us forever.”
