This is a spectator's-eye view of the inside workings of an FA Premier League football club - unfashionable Coventry City - in the 1997/98 season, during which the author had access to the personnel involved, from players to club directors. Only Arsenal, Liverpoool and Everton have been in the top flight of English club football longer than Coventry's 30 years. On no fewer than 11 occasions the club has escaped relegation on the final day of the season, although they won the FA Cup in 1987 (their only major honour) and enjoyed uncharacteristically comfortable mid-table status during the season under review.