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Overview
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.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780752494562 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | The History Press |
| Publication date: | 08/01/2011 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 144 |
| File size: | 389 KB |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
The Man City Miscellany
By David Clayton
The History Press
Copyright © 2013 David ClaytonAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-7524-9456-2
CHAPTER 1
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 his successor 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
CHAPTER 2DERBY 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.
CHAPTER 3I'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
CHAPTER 4THEY 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
CHAPTER 5ACADEMY
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 him after 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 gallows humour (1996)
CHAPTER 8UNLUCKY 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
CHAPTER 9TOP 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)
CHAPTER 10TOP 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)
CHAPTER 11FIRST 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.
CHAPTER 12MOST 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.
CHAPTER 13NON-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.
CHAPTER 14MARC-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.
In the following months he became an important member of the first team and opened his scoring account for the club against Sunderland in December. It was the beginning of a prolific run of goals with 6 strikes coming within the space of just 23 days. His presence had become a driving force in midfield with his contribution enormous but he always went about his job quietly and for a hard man on the pitch, there were no face-to-face incidents with players from opposing clubs. He fought hard but fairly and was respected by his fellow professionals.
His scoring continued but he never sought the limelight and when he was interviewed he was keen to thank his team-mates' contribution and the City fans' backing – supporters he felt were amazing in their unswerving loyalty. He found the net again when City played Sunderland on 21 April but few realised that it would be the last goal ever scored at Maine Road, especially with two more home games to come.
By the end of the season he had scored 9 goals and finished second top scorer after Nicolas Anelka – quite a feat for a defensive midfielder and one that had won him an army of new fans at Maine Road. His popularity was often aired with the chant of 'Come on feed the Foé' – a variation of a Shaun Goater song.
Most expected City to make the deal permanent once the season finished but his club in France, Lyon, were demanding a fee of around £7 million which Kevin Keegan felt was unrealistic in the transfer climate at that time. Eventually, Lyon indicated that Foé could leave on a free transfer and it seemed the move to Manchester would at last become permanent. Negotiations were ongoing and despite interest from several other Premiership clubs, Foé's most likely destination was the club he had just spent a year on loan to.
The Confederations Cup began in France in June and Foé, wearing the no. 17 shirt he always wore for his country was instrumental in the Indomitable Lions reaching the semi-final. Though feeling unwell, he played for Cameroon against Colombia and during the game, tragically collapsed and died shortly after. Investigations into his untimely death revealed it was natural causes that brought an end to his life, but for the world of football and City fans in particular, it was unbelievable that this fit, powerful 28-year-old man should suffer such a fate.
Tributes poured in from around the world and City's old ground Maine Road became a shrine of flowers, flags, scarves and shirts from all over Britain and beyond. Marc-Vivien Foé was a much-loved man and a highly respected footballer. City have since removed his no. 23 shirt as a permanent mark of respect and further tributes are planned. His presence both on and off the pitch will be sorely missed.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Man City Miscellany by David Clayton. Copyright © 2013 David Clayton. Excerpted by permission of The History Press.
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