How Sky Blues' drummer got a bang for his buck

A man who literally drums up support for Coventry City FC is set to get two bass drums - one for home games, one for away - after the skin of the original instrument was torn.

Cory Matthews, 22, provides the beat to Sky Blues fans' chants, but during a match against Swansea City, the banging came to a halt due to the puncture - the cause of which remains unknown.

He started a fundraising campaign to pay for repairs, aiming to raise about £100. But he hit that target in just 18 minutes of the project going live, and has accrued more than £1,000 since.

Matthews said it meant he could repair the first, buy a second - spreading the banging across the pair - and then let supporters decide on how to spend whatever is left.

Matthews said he was never going to be able to help the team as a player, but if his drumming in Singers Corner at Coventry Building Society Arena helped the side just one percent, "that's good enough for me".

He has been watching Coventry City since he was 10, becoming a season ticket holder and then taking over as the full-time fans' drummer.

Disaster struck when the club travelled to Swansea on 21 March, a game Coventry won 3-0.

Matthews was drumming to a Matty Grimes chant, set to the tune of Zombie by The Cranberries, when the Sky Blues got a penalty.

"We scored and I looked down at the drum and there was a hole," he said. "And I've still no idea how it happened."

The fans have had the original drum for some years and it is covered in stickers from its experiences in the stands. When not in use, it is kept in a storeroom at the home ground.

"It's really nice for people to come and put stickers on and stuff. it gives it that bit of personality that is more than the drum itself," Matthews said.

"It's something the fans have adopted."

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