 Although no football was played for the next few years City still had liabilities and in 1917 had to be rescued by David Cooke, who paid off the debts and began replenishing the club's staff.Seeking to make the step up to the Football League after the war, the club played regular friendly matches against local clubs such as Aston Villa during 1918 and then negotiated a place for itself in the 1918–19 Football League Midland Section, a temporary wartime division operating while the main league was suspended.The rules allowed guest players and City made use of two internationals based in Coventry during the war – England's Jesse Pennington and Scotland's George Chaplin.