Rotherham United Wednesday 25th October - Kick Off 7.45pm Distance from Coventry Building Society Arena to The Aesseal New York Stadium - 81 miles (130km). Travel time - 1 hour 54 minutes. 

Start spreading the news. We’re off to Rotherham to the New York Stadium. I have no idea why its called the New York Stadium, because you couldn’t get a more contrasting place to New York than Rotherham. And the main one is that Rotherham has been asleep for years. 

First things first. The beard has gone. I went from George Clooney to George Formby overnight. And it’s a cold Wednesday night in Rotherham so the face is feeling it. But I’m willing to put my body on the line for the greater good. So….Scarpa had an emergency hospital appointment today. Remember the scalding pie incident from Hull a few weeks back? Well, we thought we’d better check it out, so we arranged a pick-up time of 2.45 from school. He’s missing Geography, but they say travel is the best education. Anyway, don’t tell anyone. Alright! 

Rotherham is a quick jaunt up the M1, passing Leicester and Nottingham, and it’s just t’other side of Sheffield. It’s a night time game, the early nights are gathering in, and Scarpa sleeps. Blogit ponders his reflection, as the motorway runs smoothly below us. The chatter on the coach is whether City can bounce back after a disappointing result against Bristol on Saturday. Blogit can only think about the KFC that is 1.2 miles from the ground. It’s cold in Rotherham. Of course it is. We’re in the North. 

Rotherham is a classic Northern town. Built in a valley, alongside the River Rother, it was known for its mining, glass making, steel mills and flour milling. It was founded in the early Middle Ages and appears in the Domesday Book in 1086. The Domesday (pronounced ‘doomsday’) Book was a survey commissioned by King….hang on, I’ll do a blog about it….it’s pretty cool.

Wrapped up warm, we take a 20 minute stroll to the KFC. Clean restaurant, quick service, crisp chips. 2 thumbs up. It ain’t difficult. Stuffed, we order an Uber back to the ground. I know, but it was getting close to kick off. Honest. There’s a sell out crowd of 3000 Coventry fans in the away end. We’re in good voice. City have the upper hand in the first half, but the old problems of not being able to find the net comes back to haunt us in the second half as 2 goals from Rotherham seal the victory. Turns out it wasn’t the beard after all. We’re just crap. That’s 2 losses on the bounce. 

Don’t panic. We’ve got West Brom at home next Friday. We should win that. Scarpa sleeps on the way back. Not a care in the world. Blogit watches the motorway roll below his feet again. A storm is a-brewin. The rain lashes the windows of the coach. The chatter has died down. Blogit misses his beard. He’s going to grow it back and go live in the hills. I think he’s taking the loss hard. A banjo plays in the distance. Preston looms on the horizon……