Non-League Paper

Sky Blues super six enjoy a journey to the very top

When Bobby Thomas powered home the header that ended Coventry City’s 25-year exile from the Premier League, nobody at Kendal Town was remotely surprised.

by
The Non-League Football Paper Team
7 June 2026

FROM NON-LEAGUE TO THE PREMIER LEAGUE WITH COV
By CHRIS DUNLAVY

When Bobby Thomas powered home the header that ended Coventry City’s 25-year exile from the Premier League, nobody at Kendal Town was remotely surprised.
So impressive were his performances that then-Whites boss Marcelo Bielsa even paid a personal visit to Wetherby Road for a National League game against Barrow in November 2018.
It wasn’t enough to earn him a crack at Elland Road, but moves to Forest Green, Barnsley and finally Coventry saw the 26-year-old develop into an accomplished Championship stopper.
Eight years earlie...

Continue reading...

Access all our premium content from as little as 14p per day!

Already a subscriber to our website? Login

Read our latest news on any of these social networks!

Tackle the News

- Sign Up for our weekly Non-League Newsletter

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.

Your subscription has been successful.

More in Non-League Paper

Grant Holt: Passion and work ethic is what made Harry Kane so able

These days, it’s part-timers at Dereham Town and boarders at the Langley School in Norfolk soaking in Grant Holt’s words of wisdom. Fourteen years ago, it was the future captain of England.
Malcolm Clarke: Andy Burnham has the game at heart!

At a time when the nation has been consumed by World Cup fever, fans’ chants for Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane might also appropriately be bellowed out by Parliamentary Labour colleagues as their new leader ascends unopposed to occupy the highest office.
AFC Fylde boss David Haythornthwaite raps ‘shambolic’ National League scheduling

AFC Fylde chief David Haythornthwaite has taken aim at the National League fixtures, insisting the scheduling does not put clubs and fans first.
Evans above all the rest!

When Crawley Town returned to training ahead of the 2010-11 campaign, Steve Evans’ men were 33-1 outsiders for the Conference title. Just eight weeks later, those odds had tumbled to 5-1 after a spending spree unprecedented in the annals of Non-League football.