Sunderland made a complaint about the incident, and the Football League conducted an investigation, but both Coventry and Bristol City were eventually cleared of any wrongdoing.

[6] They lost the opening two games, but a victory against Leeds United, with Coventry's line-up featuring new signings Terry Yorath, Ian Wallace and Bobby McDonald, as well as a breakthrough performance by young striker Mick Ferguson, marked the start of a better run of form.

[11] Their manager Alan Dicks was unable to find a striker on the transfer market, but his signing of veteran Leeds United defender Norman Hunter briefly revived the club's fortunes.

They had been promoted from the Second Division as champions the previous season, but they performed poorly in the first half of the campaign and were bottom of the table in mid-January.

Bristol City had numerous chances to score throughout the game, but Coventry kept a clean sheet as a result of a string of saves by goalkeeper Jim Blyth.

[20] The league fixture at Coventry's Highfield Road ground was originally scheduled for New Year's Day, but was postponed until the end of the season due to a frozen pitch.

[22][23] Tottenham were already confirmed as relegated,[24] while Stoke's goal difference was so inferior to that of Coventry, Bristol City and Sunderland, that pundits regarded their chances of survival as nonexistent.

[30] This was to prove very significant as the evening progressed, although club historians are not certain whether it was initiated by Coventry City, by the West Midlands Police or by the referee, Ron Challis.

A free kick by Mick Coop was parried weakly by Bristol City goalkeeper John Shaw and fell to Tommy Hutchison, who scored his second goal of the season with a powerful shot.

[28][32][33] Bristol City had several chances to equalise just before half-time – first through a goal-line clearance by McDonald, then through Trevor Tainton, whose 20-yard shot was saved by Sealey.

[28] Bristol City's historian David Woods wrote that "it looked all up" for them at this point, with the club apparently heading for relegation, but he noted that "fortunately, the players did not give up the ghost".

[15] They pulled a goal back just a few minutes after Coventry's second, when Gerry Gow received the ball from Gillies and fired a shot past Sealey from 12 yards.

[33][34] Peter Cormack came on as a substitute to replace the injured Clive Whitehead, and Bristol City continued to seek the equaliser.

[33][34] With the match level, it was once again Coventry who needed to score again to be certain of survival, but their players were exhausted and it was Bristol City who continued to press, looking for a winner.

Coventry, managed at the time by Gordon Strachan, required a win against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane to survive, in addition to favourable results in games involving Sunderland and Middlesbrough.

David Lacey of The Guardian mentioned the 1977 events in advance of the game, commenting that "should Sunderland survive at Coventry's expense ... Wearside will feel that an ancient wrong ... has been put right".

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson later labelled this situation a "disgrace", but Strachan thought that the delay had hindered his players.

He told reporters that knowing the outcome was in their hands, and that conceding a goal would relegate them, caused them to lose control of a game they had been dominating.