Lurgan's Roy Hollywood happy to see Coventry City in spotlight after decades of support

The 69-year-old from Lurgan first followed his beloved Sky Blues in the 1970s and has offered unwavering support from near and far, across the highs of 1987 FA Cup glory to the wilderness years as low as League Two.

Although Roy admits, with a chuckle, to often having to correct the curious that his replica top is Coventry City and not Manchester City, he’s always enjoyed a chat with fellow football fans from Northern Ireland interested in the connection.

And, with Coventry having wrapped up the Championship season over the weekend, Roy can reflect on the past few weeks of heightened chat around his club from people across all walks of life – thanks to the FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester United by second-tier City he is convinced will be “talked about for a long time”.

Coventry battled back from 3-0 down to force extra-time then have a dream winner dashed by VAR in the final seconds of play before suffering penalty shoot-out heartache.

United will contest this year’s final - but Coventry’s adventure captured the imagination of diehard fans and the proverbial man on the street.

And Roy is delighted with the increased attention in his club.

"After 3-0 I was just hoping for a consolation goal...then we got one, then another and it was unbelievable at 3-3, my heart was pounding,” said Roy. “I thought we'd won it in the last seconds.

“For me I felt robbed by technology as if it had been a Championship match it would've been a goal due to no VAR for our league games.

“That match will be talked about for a long time.

“I was devastated at the time...it's hard to accept as if that had goal had stood and we won it would have been viewed the best comeback ever - from 3-0 down against a team like Man United.

"But I’ve so much pride in the club and as much as a blow the FA Cup semi-final was I've seen bigger heartbreaks - the relegations or having the club play outside the city.

“It was already stacked against us against Man United so amazing to get so close but I've seen us in down in League Two (English football’s fourth tier).

"If we can keep most of the team and get another couple in I think we'll be challenging next season.

“The increased profile has been great and people have been saying they wouldn't normally take much interest in Coventry but it's different after that semi-final.

“When you think only five or six years ago we were in League Two.

“I remember in 2017 on a Tuesday night against Forest Green we had an attendance of 6,400 or something, with two stands closed."

Family connections kicked off Roy’s links to Coventry.

“My mother is from Birmingham, actually born beside Aston Villa's ground,” he said. “So she supports Villa and my father is from Northern Ireland but for some reason a West Bromwich Albion supporter.

“On family trips we would visit midlands teams like Birmingham City, Wolves, West Brom and Villa and once I asked to see Coventry City...for my first game at Highfield Road we beat WBA and I was hooked.

“In the Irish League I've always been a Glenavon fan and a fantastic connection has developed. There's now a group of Glenavon fans who travel over to visit Coventry City and they always get treated so well in England.

“I'd been going over the years and met a supporters' group called ‘The Mad Hatters’ formed by a guy called Alan Packer maybe 40 years or so ago….I used to see them in the 1980s and thought they were amazing and now it's great being accepted as an honorary member.

“They're known for dressing up at games in tam o' shanter hats and long scarves, I would stay with Alan at times and he's been over to Northern Ireland to watch Glenavon quite a few times.”

Roy’s latest trip was just three days after the Manchester United semi-final heartbreak – but it left him with a surge of pride and fresh hope for the future.

"The semi-final defeat was such a big talking point around the city, not just in the ground, with the owner of my B&B a rugby fan but chatting away about Coventry and when I went out to get something to eat I was asked about the game from someone who said they don’t normally follow football,” said Roy. "I met two fans at breakfast who had come over from Dublin.

“Inside the ground against Hull so many of the flags fans had at Wembley were out on show...the mood was very upbeat and we had 25,000 at the match, which I think was a positive reaction to Sunday.

"I was in the ground from about 6 o'clock and could see the big crowd building - it was like they'd just come back from Wembley and gone straight to another game.

“The crowd were singing at one stage "We won 4-3".

“It was marvellous to see so many children and parents at the match as well, it was a family affair and there's such a buzz around the club and city.

“It was so great to the fans and people around Coventry channel that disappointment into something so positive.”