Staying up - R.A. Gekoski

Premiership football club 'Coventry City, like the poor, are always with us', once considered The Times. Only Arsenal and Everton have been in the top flight longer than Coventry's 30 years and on no less than 11 occasions the club have escaped relegation on the final day of the season. The FA Cup in 1987 is their sole major trophy. They are widely regarded as the barnacles on the ship of the Premiership: clinging to the bottom, abrasive and impossible to scrape off. Rick Gekoski gives a supporter's eye view, seen from the inside, of a football season in the Premier League. He has been allowed to look behind the scenes, to watch, to overhear, to ask questions. It is the first book that has allowed its author full access to a top club - from players to board members. In fact, the club's 1997-98 season has proved highly successful for Coventry: more of a case of staying up at the top rather than staying up!