n this day (16th May) in 1999 our Scottish former player Gordon Strachan was in the managerial hot seat at Highfield Road with the Sky Blues form pretty patchy. They were relieved to have ensured Premier League safety in their previous outing at Derby County with a goal-less draw against the Rams. Today, in their last match of the season, the Sky Blues faced high flying Leeds United at Highfield Road. An excellent performance by CCFC and anticipated last day win was wrecked by a United goal by substitute David Hopkin with only 20 seconds left before the final whistle after stoppage time which made the score 2-2. City had lost 2-0 to United at Elland Road in December. There were 23,049 fans present to watch the game
There were chances galore at both ends and it was the away side that went in at half-time a goal to the good following a 41st minute effort from Clyde Wijnhard. The Sky Blues were dominant after the break but it took eighteen minutes of the second half for the Sky Blues Australian striker John Aloisi (now a CCFPA member) to head our equaliser and then, on 71 minutes, (another CCFPA member now) Paul Telfer with a wicked shot got what looked like the winner until that United equaliser in the dying seconds.
There were emotional farewell tributes to our popular departing player (but later Sky Blue gaffer and recent CCFPA recruit) Roland Nilsson after the final whistle.
Strachan’s multinational Sky Blues that day lined up (CCFPA members underlined):-
