Football is rich in theatre and narrative but its sense of romance isn’t what it used to be.
Premier League players who make the grade have been honed for the top level through years of academy football. They live out the dreams they’ve worked hard to fulfil but they are, almost to a man, simply where they are supposed to be.
93 minutes into Coventry City’s Championship fixture against Portsmouth, a more old-fashioned tale came to glorious fruition.
Jamie Paterson calls it a batch
The Sky Blues had the door slammed in their faces time and again. A goalless draw would have left them outside the play-off places with five matches remaining but a last-gasp 1-0 win took them back into the top six.
Portsmouth manager John Mousinho called it right. He might very well have faced the press celebrating a textbook away performance at the Coventry Building Society Arena. Instead, their hosts were left puzzling over how to put the roof back on the place.
With less than 30 seconds of stoppage time remaining, Jack Rudoni settled the ball as he stepped into the penalty area and clipped a cross beyond the Portsmouth defenders.
Rudoni had spotted Jamie Paterson, screaming for the ball and arms wide open, just outside the six-yard box at the far post. Paterson rearranged his limbs to angle a brilliant volley past Pompey goalkeeper Nicolas Schmid.
Footing regained and shirt long since discarded, Paterson was swallowed into the elated, thunderous embrace of Singers’ Corner. It was the culmination of the unlikeliest of homecomings.
Paterson, like any other Coventrian, like every other Sky Blue behind that corner flag, calls it a batch.
The long way back to Coventry
Born in Coventry and Sky Blue to the core, Paterson signed for City in February at the age of 33.
He started 2025 without a club after briefly reuniting with Dean Smith, his manager at Walsall, at Major League Soccer club Charlotte FC.
After throwing himself into one-on-one training, Paterson got a call he must have imagined a thousand times. Coventry were ravaged by injury and manager Frank Lampard needed help.
“We were short of wingers and attacking options and you’ll always want options and you predict injuries can come in a long season,” Lampard told FourFourTwo.
“When the opportunity came, I looked at his records and spoke to a couple of people that have worked with him.
“I managed against Pato when he was at Bristol City and I was at Derby, and I remember going against them, analysing them, and being worried about the wingers on both sides. But Pato is sharp.”
Paterson’s signing coincided with Coventry’s climb up the table into serious play-off contention. As Lampard found his formula and key attacking players became available again, Paterson’s playing time was naturally limited.
He’s yet to start a game for his home-town club and his total minutes amounted to less than half a match, yet Lampard beams about his impact in the past two months.
“He’s just a good lad,” added Lampard. “He trains well, he shows dedication, and when players aren’t playing that’s a non-negotiable. But sometimes they can drop a little bit.”
“But you look at Pato or look at Jamie Allen earlier in the season, and he gives that kind of professionalism.
“He’s a great linker in the group. He sits on different dinner tables. He laughs, he jokes, he knows when to work and when to be supportive. He’s been a great signing for us.
“I would say that even before tonight he’s been really, really good in the dressing room and has given me another option.”
Lampard believes in Paterson’s ability and his emphatic volley against Pompey was a season-defining moment for Coventry as much as the emotional realisation of a dream for the man who made it happen.
“To score a last-minute winner for the team you support is incredible,” said Paterson to BBC Coventry & Warwickshire.
“I don’t think it will ever get better than that, unless it’s a play-off final win!”
Paterson’s goal was a big step towards that possible outcome and the morning-after sausage batch must have tasted sweet, but the Sky Blues aren’t in the play-offs yet.
Among their final five Championship fixtures lurk encounters with the two teams currently occupying the positions immediately below them. West Bromwich Albion and Middlesbrough visit Coventry in their two remaining home games.
If Lampard can find a way to win those, “Wembley again!” could well become a reality.
