The Man City Miscellany E-Book

David Clayton

• Herausgeber: The History Press
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 172

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

The ultimate book of Blues trivia, The Man City Miscellany is full of weird and wonderful facts. Including: - The only goalkeeper to have scored for City - The name of Clive Allen's dog - The identity of the City player who played with a toothpick in the corner of his mouth - Who is the 'Invisible Man' the City fans sing about? "I rang my secretary and said 'what time do we kick off tonight?' and she said 'every 10 minutes.'" - Alan Ball during his troubled reign of City, 1996 "Apparently, decapitation is no longer a capital offence." - Joe Royle reacts to an unpunished tackle on Kevin Horlock, 1998 Packed with random Man City facts, stats, lists, tables, anecdotes and quotes, from the club's record scorer to the bizarre name of the club cat, this is the ultimate trivia book for every City fan's bookshelf.

Leseprobe

For my cousin, Don Roberts, fearless custodian of AFC Ladybarn Villa, circa 1977–9, unbeaten(ish) in all four games played at the Croft Stadium, Ladybarn Lane.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks for buying this updated and revised edition of TheMan City Miscellany – it means the first version was well-received and probably sold fairly well, too! I’d just like to thank my wife Sarah and my beautiful children Harry, Jaime and Chrissie. I love you all and promise to make up the lost hours spent on projects like this. Thanks to Michelle Tilling, my editor at The History Press for all her patience over the years with my tardiness. Thanks to The Goat for the foreword – much appreciated Shaun! That’s pretty much it for this one as most of the hard work was done by Yours Truly – for facts and figures from elsewhere, thanks as well. You know who you are.

David Clayton, Manchester 2011

FOREWORD

There are a million and one things about Manchester City that could fill 10 volumes of miscellanies, but I think David Clayton has picked out the best for this book. Having enjoyed so many great years playing for the club, it was fascinating to flick through the pages and learn things I’d never known about City, but as a footballer, you’re paid to go out and try to become part of history rather than study what’s happened in the years before you arrived.

You know the tradition and general history, but if you asked me detailed questions about the past, I’d struggle, as I think most people would. Now I’ve read this, I’ve no excuse not to know everything from the name of the club cat to what Clive Allen’s dog was called and with the beautiful Bermudian sunshine to sit in, I think I’ll swot up on the more pertinent facts and figures so I’m well prepared for my next visit to Manchester. Feed the Goat – with facts!

See you soon,

Shaun Goater, Bermuda

CONTENTS

Title

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Foreword

The Miscellany

Derby Days

I’ve started … but I won’t finish

They said it…

Academy

Coming To America

They said it…

Unlucky Grounds

Top 5 Season Curtain-Raisers

Top 5 Opening Day Nightmares

First Day Fact

Most Played Opening Day Opponents

Non-League Openers

Marc-Vivien Foé – The Gentle Giant

Age concerns

Two-legged beasts

Welsh Rare Bit

Champers and Cigars

Bloody Amateurs!

Pasta Masters?

Great Scots!

Keeping Up Appearances:

Boxing Day Fact

Clocking Up Appearances

And On the Eighth Day …

The Maine Men

Football Kitty

Packed In Like Sardines, Apparently

Wizards Of Oz

We’re Really Not Here …

Road Trip

Hair Today …

Under Orders

Bogey Teams

Gone But Forgotten – Shortest Managerial Reigns and Records

Bermuda Shorts

Bananas!

Project Blue Book

The Boys in Blue

Caretaker Managers

Hey, bro!

Aye, Aye, Skipper

Top Players List

Celebrations

Badge of Hounour

Blue Moonies

Rhythm and Blues

Sporting Celebrity Blues

Celebrity Fans – TV and Film

Centenary

10 most dramatic last games of the season

Stiffs

Centurions

Men at the Top

Champions!

No Place Like Home

Blue Christmases

None Shall Pass

These Colours Don’t Run

Brief Encounter

We Don’t Like Cricket

Off to a Flyer

One Hell of a Beating

Best Defence

Derbies

Can You See Us On The Box?

Alan Attack!

Nil by (Goal) Mouth

The Poznan

The Second World War Years

Way Back When

Four-Legged Friends

Blue Is the Colour?

Legend: Neil Young

Quick on the Draw

Ill Eagle?

When Champions Were Champions

Pole Dancing

Ever Presents

Up For the Cup – Glory

Giant Killed

Write On Brigade

Domestically Worst Winners

Euro Currencies

The Shiny Show

League Cup Glory

Maine Men

Foreign Players

Full Members’ Cup

Don’t Mention the War

Bhoys Will Be Bhoys

Power Rangers

Net Busters

The Club Formerly Known As …

Golden Goal

On What Grounds?

Make Mine a Treble

Navy Blues

Home Is Where the Heart Is

Hyde and Seek

International Rescue

Get Them While They’re Young

We Are the Kippax!

Hot Seat Shenanigans

Do Go Near the Maine Road

Hel’s Bells

No-one Likes Them

Record-Breaker

Blue Movies

No Place Like Home – Literally

Which Division Are You In?

Droll With It

One-Match Wonders

Oh S***!

Howdy, Partner

Paying the Penalty

Fixed Penalty

Plastic Oh No (Banned)

Rags to Riches

Player of the Year

Points Make Prizes, Sometimes

Premier League

Going Up!

Quickest Goal

Don’t Mention the ‘R’ Word

The Master Plan

Early Bath

Sequences

Er, We’re Not Really Here

Chant No.1

Name Game

Where the Streets Have Blue Names

Substitutes

Sunday, Sunday

TV Times

Testimonials

Texaco Cup

Uefa Cup

The Europa League

A Lot of Weather We’ve Been Having Lately

War Games

West Gorton

We’re the Famous Man City and We’re Going To Wembley 200

Taking it to the Max

Can We Start Again?

The Kids Are All Right

Firsts

Zenith Data Systems Cup

Who Gives A Toss?

Not in our league …

They thought it was all over …

Pub Scores

Champions!

A Man of His Position

International Blues

City’s Shortest Season

Jeepers Keepers

From Out Of Nowhere

Only City

Boo boys

Alias Smith and Jones

Niall Quinn’s Disco Pants

Nicknames

One for the Neutrals

Charity Begins Somewhere Else

Boxing

First Eleven

Undefeated

Cancel the Jollies

That’ll Be Relegation Form, Then

Swinging Sixties

Blues Abroad

Marathon Men

Blue Moon Lyrics

Boys in Blue Lyrics

One Flu Over The Owls’ Nest

Get With the Programme

Dark City – The Maine Road Nightmares

Honours

For the record

They said it …

The Greatest Derby Games

They said it …

City’s Complete League Record 1892–2011

They said it …

Complete Record of City Managers

They said it …

Copyright

THE MISCELLANY

THEY SAID IT…

‘John Bond has blackened my name with his insinuations about the private lives of football managers. Both my wives are upset.’

Malcolm Allison responds to press criticism from hissuccessor at Maine Road (1980)

‘The fans of Manchester City made me feel welcome from day one – everybody at the club did. Obviously I was thinking very carefully about the move – was it worth it to just go from one club to the other? But I’m delighted that I made the decision to join City. The biggest motivation is that City have put a lot of trust in myself – and for that I am very grateful.’

Carlos Tevez on the move from United to City

‘No, no, no. We can’t have him. Isn’t he the lad who threw a bed out of the window at Lilleshall?’

Joe Mercer expresses doubt to Allison regarding ‘bad-boy’ Tony Coleman joining the Blues (1967)

‘Richard Dunne has always been in the frame for me. When he has been out of the frame it was because he took himself out of it for one reason or another.’

Kevin Keegan, explaining something in a manner only Kevin Keegan could (circa 2002)

‘I’m not trying to make excuses but I think the lights may have been a problem.’

Kevin Keegan tries to exonerate David Seaman error, unsuccessfully (2003)

‘If anybody’s offended by seeing a backside, get real. Maybe they’re just jealous that he’s got a real nice tight one, with no cellulite or anything. I thought his bum cheeks looked very pert.’

Ian Holloway lends his view of Joey Barton’s decision to bare his backside to Everton fans (2006)

‘It looks like the Lazio badge with that eagle on it. The last badge had a little ship on it going down the Manchester Ship Canal and the rose of Lancashire. When was the last time you saw an eagle in Manchester?’

Noel Gallagher, less than impressed by City’s newly designed badge (1998)

‘I think he’s an absolutely fantastic bloke, top geezer, and if he wants to carry a little horse on the side of the pitch, I don’t care!’

Ian Holloway on Stuart Pearce’s lucky mascot ‘Beanie’

‘My biggest ambition is to win something in the shirt of City – not just for me but for all the players – we all want to win something. We want to break the years of nothing – to win and giving that happiness and ambition to the supporters. It’s important not just to win one trophy, but to win several trophies and obviously – I don’t just want to win one championship I want to win all the championships!’

Carlos Tevez

DERBY DAYS

The first Manchester derby, such as it was, took place on 3 October 1891 when Newton Heath beat Ardwick 5–1 in an FA Cup first round qualifier. The first competitive fixture the teams played as Manchester City v Manchester United was on Christmas Day 1902, when a record derby crowd of 40,000 witnessed a 1–1 draw at Old Trafford. United had the bragging rights in the return fixture at Hyde Road, winning 2–0. Owing to the Blues’ promotion that season, City had to wait until 1 December 1906 to record a first league win over Manchester United, with a 3–0 win delighting the 30,000 Hyde Road crowd – well, most of them. In 2008 City ended a 34-year wait for a win at Old Trafford when goals from Darius Vassell and Benjani secured a rare 2–1 win.

The complete record is:

League

Pld

W

D

L

F

A

City

144

39

49

56

190

212

United

144

56

49

39

212

190

FA Cup

City

7

2

0

5

5

9

United

7

5

0

2

9

5

League Cup

City

5

3

1

1

12

6

United

5

1

1

3

6

12

Charity Shield

City

1

0

0

1

0

1

United

1

1

0

0

1

0

Totals

Pld

W

D

L

F

A

City

157

42

50

62

207

228

United

157

62

50

42

228

207

I’VE STARTED … BUT I WON’T FINISH

A total of 19 matches have failed to reach a natural end over the years, abandoned by the official for one reason or another. Incredibly, City were losing in only one of those games. There have been several particularly galling halts to proceedings, but none more so than the time Denis Law, a raw but deadly young striker fresh from Huddersfield Town, scored a double hat-trick – yes, six goals – as City ran riot away to Luton Town. Leading 6–2 with only 69 minutes on the clock, the muddy conditions became unplayable and referee Ken Tuck decided to end Luton’s misery by abandoning the game. The home players and fans went home breathing a huge sigh of relief – when they had dried out – but how young Law must have rued his misfortune after such an awesome display of finishing! The replay saw City lose 3–1, with Law scoring again but watching the team he’d bagged seven against progress into the next round.

Only two games since 1969 have been abandoned and have both been against the same club – Ipswich Town. Excess surface water was the reason each match ended before the 90 minutes were up. The first occasion, in 1994, saw City leading 2–0 in a crucial Premiership game and the decision understandably infuriated the home fans. Fortunately, the Blues won the replayed match 2–1. Then, in December 2000, Paul Dickov clawed City level in a Worthington Cup tie with the same opponents. Referee Graham Poll had seen enough and, with the water almost ankle-deep, took the players off. This time, Ipswich were the victors when the tie was rearranged, winning the game 2–1 in extra time.

The total record for how the abandoned games stood is:

Winning: 5

Drawing: 13

Losing: 1

For: 23

Against: 12

The record for the rearranged fixtures is:

Won: 10

Drawn: 3

Lost: 6

For: 25

Against: 23

THEY SAID IT…

‘I felt like I had a mountain to climb to prove myself. But I didn’t mind that – I was up for the challenge and I like turning up for training every day really hungry. The gaffer had a big squad and he was just finding everybody out. There were a lot of people in the same category as me. But I knew from the way I was training and the way I performed in friendlies that it was just a matter of time.’

2008/09 Player of the Year Stephen Ireland

‘We are at a point in time where there are four very strong clubs in English football. But we had a point in time when they thought the four-minute mile could not be broken. What we have to do is develop an investment plan and a strategy to change that.’

MCFC Chief Executive, Garry Cook

ACADEMY

In 1998, the Blues launched the Manchester City Academy, based close to the club’s former Maine Road stadium at Platt Lane. A more professional set-up with strict criteria set by various organisations, the main focus was to coach as many young hopefuls through to the first team as possible.

In 2010, Ryan McGivern became the 36th youngster in 12 years to graduate from the Academy to play first-team football – an incredible achievement by Academy Director Jim Cassell and his coaches. Five of the graduates have gone on to win full caps for their country, too, with Shaun Wright-Phillips – the first player to go from the Academy into the senior side – Micah Richards and Joey Barton all playing for England, and Stephen Ireland and Stephen Elliot playing for Ireland. The full list of graduates who’ve played for the first team as of April 2010 is:

Barton, Joey

Boyata, Dedryck

Chantler, Chris

Croft, Lee

Cunningham, Greg

D’Laryea, Jon

Dunfield, Terry

Elliott, Stephen

Etuhu, Dickson

Etuhu, Kelvin

Evans, Ched

Flood, Willo

Guidetti, John

Ireland, Stephen

Johnson, Michael

Jordan, Stephen

Killen, Chris

Logan, Shaleum

McGivern, Ryan

Mears, Tyrone

Mee, Ben

Mike, Leon

Miller, Ishmael

Nimely-Tchuimeni, Alex

Onuoha, Nedum

Richards, Micah

Razak, Abdul

Schmeichel, Kasper

Shuker, Chris

Sturridge, Danny

Vidal, Javan

Weiss, Vladimir

Whelan, Glenn

Williamson, Sam

Wright-Phillips, Bradley

Wright-Phillips, Shaun

COMING TO AMERICA

The first players to quit City to play in the USA date back as far as 1894 when no less than four of the Blues’ 1894/95 squad headed Stateside to play for Baltimore Orioles. M. Calvey played 7 games and scored 5 goals before he left; full-back A. Ferguson played just a couple of games; winger T. Little made 7 starts and scored 3 times and A. Wallace made 6 starts and scored once. They all left the club on 13 October to join English coach A.W. Stewart. Drawing over 8,000 to their opening home game, the Orioles seemed intent on duplicating the success of the Baltimore baseball club, who were the 1894 National League champions.

Baltimore established themselves as the league leaders but the other clubs were not amused at Baltimore’s methods and after being thrashed by the Orioles 10–1, Washington Nationals coach Art Schmelz complained of the Baltimore club’s use of British professionals. The press picked up on the story, and a full-blown controversy ensued. Baltimore, for its part, rather unconvincingly alleged that most of its players were from Detroit! Presumably the Mancunian accents suggested otherwise because the US Government announced its intention to investigate the Orioles’ importation of British professionals. The league owners decided that the time had come to pull the plug on the venture. Thus, on 20 October, a mere 6 games into the season, the ALPF (American League of Professional Football) folded. It is not known whether the four former Blues remained in the States or returned home.

In 1924, M. Hamill quit Manchester for Boston’s Fall River Marksmen, and, just like the quartet before them, he was part of a successful side as Fall River went on to win the American Soccer League. It was 44 years before the next Atlantic crossing – here is the full list of American dreamers:

Roy Cheetham

Detroit Cougars

1968

Rodney Marsh

Tampa Bay Rowdies

1975

Dennis Tueart

New York Cosmos

1978

Jimmy Conway

Portland Timbers

1978

Ron Futcher

Minnesota Kicks

1976

Willie Donachie

Portland Timbers

1980

Colin Bell

San Jose Earthquakes

1980

Steve Daley

Seattle Sounders

1981

Keith MacRae

Portland Timbers

1981

Nicky Reid

Seattle Sounders

1982

Joe Corrigan

Seattle Sounders

1983

Kaziu Deyna

San Diego Sockers

1981

Asa Hartford

Fort Lauderdale

1984

David Cross

Vancouver Whitecaps

1983

David Johnson

Tulsa Roughnecks

1984

Steve Kinsey

Minnesota Kicks

1986

Ian Bishop

Miami Fusion

2003

THEY SAID IT…

‘Suddenly, I win the derby and people are talking about England again. It is absolutely pathetic.’

Stuart Pearce responds to the adulation poured on himafter beating Man United 3–1 (2006)

‘Sometimes we’re good and sometimes we’re bad but when we’re good, at least we’re much better than we used to be and when we are bad we’re just as bad as we always used to be, so that’s got to be good hasn’t it?’

Mark Radcliffe, Radio 2 DJ & City fan (November 2001)

‘Are you watching,

Are you watching,

Are you watching Macclesfield?’

City fans react to the Blues’ relegation to Division Two with typical humour (May 1998)

‘The fans are absolutely unbelievable at this club and I owe them so much.’

Gio Kinkladze (1997)

‘The problem? I can’t get the old boots on anymore and get out on the park and play. It would be a lot easier if I could.’

Francis Lee starts his tenure as City chairman with some trepidation (1994)

‘I rang my secretary and asked “What time do we kick-off tonight?” and she said “Every ten minutes”.’

Alan Ball finds even his staff have developed a gallowshumour (1996)

UNLUCKY GROUNDS

You’ll all no doubt know most of these off by heart – but here are the least fruitful venues for the Blues (to April 2007) since the Second World War:

1  Highbury & Emirates

51 games, 32 defeats, 4 wins + 22 failures to score

2  Anfield

46 games, 6 wins + 19 failures to score

3  Portman Road

33 games, 21 defeats + 7 2–1 losses

4  St James’ Park

50 games, 29 defeats + 19 failures to score

5  Ewood Park

28 games, 19 defeats + 11 losses in first 13 post-war visits

TOP 5 SEASON CURTAIN-RAISERS

There’s nothing like getting off to a flyer – here’s City’s best opening-day victories to date:

1 v Bootle 7–0 (3 September 1892)

2 v Grimsby Town 7–2 (3 September 1898)

3 v Swansea Town 5–0 (27 August 1938)

4 v Bury 5–1 (1 September 1910)

5 v West Ham 4–0 (17 August 1974)

TOP 5 OPENING DAY NIGHTMARES

On the flipside, here are five opening fixtures to forget …

1 v Wolves 1–8 (18 August 1962)

2 v Preston 0–5 (21 August 1954)

3 v Wolves 1–5 (18 August 1956)

4 v Woolwich Arsenal 1–4 (1 September 1906)

5 v Charlton Athletic 0–4 (19 August 2000)

FIRST DAY FACT

Of the 61 opening matches City have played away from home, more than half have ended in either a victory or a draw.

MOST PLAYED OPENING DAY OPPONENTS

There are plenty of teams City have never met on the first day of the season having played just 51 different clubs. The Blues have, most notably, never met Bolton, Newcastle or Wigan and only played Manchester United once. Wolves, with seven meetings, and Liverpool, Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland (all five apiece) are the most often-played opening day opponents. As for matches against teams from particular areas, the Midlands win with games against various clubs from the area.

NON-LEAGUE OPENERS

The only competitive game the Blues kicked off a season with, not including Charity Shield games, was against Total Network Solutions in August 2003. City won the UEFA Cup qualifying round match 5–0 and it was also the first competitive fixture held at the City of Manchester Stadium.

MARC-VIVIEN FOÉ – THE GENTLE GIANT

Marc-Vivien Foé signed for City following the 2002 World Cup in Japan and Korea. The Cameroon midfielder had been in impressive form for the Indomitable Lions and his addition to the Blues’ engine room was a welcome boost to the club’s return to the Premiership. The Blues paid £500,000 for his services and it would prove to be money extremely well spent. The tall, tough-tackling ball-winner chose the no. 23 shirt as his squad number and made his debut in the 3–0 opening-day defeat to Leeds United.