Manchester City Cult Heroes

David Clayton

Description

Manchester City Cult Heroes is devoted to those players who, over the years, have won a special place in the hearts of the Blues faithful - not necessarily the greatest footballers, but a unique brotherhood of entertainers and loyal stalwarts, local lads and exotic imports. The cast list alone is enough to tug at the heartstrings of any City fan - Trautmann, Lee and Goater, Rosler, Swift and Tueart - recalling how these charismatic personalities used to ignite passion on the terraces. Find out which Victorian icon used to play with a toothpick nonchalantly dangling from his lips. Whose initial signing sparked mass protests. Which striker was taken to City fans' hearts because his manager didn't play him, and who set a record for being sent off the most times in Manchester derbies! Discover and delight in the magical qualities of these 20 mere mortals elevated to cult status in the blue half of Manchester.

Sujets

• Lancashire
• Lancastre

Informations

• Publié par: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 01 octobre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781909178304
• Langue: English

Extrait

This edition first published by Pitch Publishing 2012
Pitch Publishing A2 Yeoman Gate Yeoman Way Durrington BN13 3QZ www.pitchpublishing.co.uk
© David Clayton 2012
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ISBN 978-1-909178-30-4
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Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword by Shaun Wright-Phillips
Introduction
1. Billy Meredith
2. Frank Swift
3. Bert Trautmann
4. Roy Paul
5. Mike Doyle
6. Joe Corrigan
7. Rodney Marsh
8. Dennis Tueart
9. Gerry Gow
10. Trevor Francis
11. Paul Lake
12. Ian Bishop
13. Clive Allen
14. Uwe Rosler
15. Georgi Kinkladze
16. Andy Morrison
17. Ali Benarbia
18. Shaun Goater
19. Shaun Wright-Phillips
20. Sergio Aguero
Acknowledgements
This, I believe is the hardest project I’ve ever undertaken and the research involved has taken up endless evenings and nights. To that end, I’d like to thank my wife Sarah and my children Harry, Jaimé and Chrissie for allowing me to get on with my work and limiting my precious time with them.
Thanks to all the City fans that aired their opinions on who they believed was a Cult Hero and who wasn’t – I soaked up all the various arguments for and against in shortlisting the final 20.
I’d also like to thank all the unaccredited reporters whose clippings I sifted through over the past years. Many were so old they crumbled on touch – the clippings, not the reporters – and Eric Todd and Eric Thornton, in particular, recorded moments, recounted in the following pages which might have otherwise been forgotten forever.
I would like to thank the publisher, of the original hardback edition, Simon Lowe, for his patience and encouragement and Paul Camillin for republishing it in paperback.
Lastly, thanks to Shaun Wright-Phillips for writing the foreword. Much appreciated!
David Clayton
For Chrissie, my baby daughter.
Daddy’s home
xxx
Foreword
by Shaun Wright-Phillips
When David Clayton approached me to write the foreword to ‘Manchester City’s Cult Heroes’ I was happy for a number of reasons.
The fact that I am one of the 20 players he’d selected is one of them and if other City fans feel the same way, I’ll feel even happier. Another reason is that this introduction is a chance for me to say thanks to the City fans for all the support they gave me during my time at Maine Road and the City of Manchester Stadium. I enjoyed every day I played for the club and if the fans remember me fondly I can assure you it is reciprocated.
If I am a kind of Cult Hero, it’s down to hard work, belief and the backing I had from the supporters, who were with me from day one and right up to the day I joined Chelsea – that’s something I won’t ever forget. I think to be a hero at City, you need to play with your heart each time you go out and if the paying customers see you giving your all, they’ll back you all the way.
Looking at some of the other players in the book, a lot of them were before my time, but I have at least heard of most of them. I was lucky enough to play alongside the likes of Shaun Goater, Andy Morrison and Ali Benarbia, who are all included in this book and it’s not hard to understand why their popularity will continue for years to come.
As for me, I’d be hard pressed to pick out just one happy memory from my time with City because there are so many. My first goal at Millwall was special, and I loved scoring my goals against Manchester United, particularly the one I struck in the 4-1 at the City of Manchester Stadium, which I think I’m safe in saying, went down well with the supporters, too…
I learned my trade at City and I’ll be forever grateful for the belief and encouragement the club showed in me during my time there. I became an England player with City and I’ll always have a special place for the club and the supporters in my heart.
If I’m still thought of as a Cult Hero in another 10 years, you won’t find me complaining.
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Introduction
How can you possibly decipher who is a Cult Hero and who is a Club Legend and have everyone agree with the 20 selections permitted? The answer is simple, you can’t. What can be put forward, however, is an argument to what makes one player a terrace idol and another some kind of untouchable deity.
In truth, the latter are few and far between and the only three I believe quality without question, I have therefore omitted, namely Mike Summerbee, Colin Bell and Francis Lee – the Holy Trinity. I thought long and hard about their inclusion in this book but ultimately decided against it. Their legendary status is without question and they will be immortal heroes as long as Manchester City FC exists.
Would their inclusion have added a few extra sales? Maybe, but Buzzer, The King and Franny have already had reams of pages written about them elsewhere and I wasn’t sure what I could add that would be of interest or would be original. I’m not prepared to regurgitate old material, and besides, I had to draw the line of what qualified as a Cult Hero and what didn’t.
It’s my opinion that there has to be some element of controversy involved in their time at the club and if they began with the crowd not initially taking to them, so much the better. That they won a legion of admirers by the time their days in sky blue and white had finished is justification enough.
I think Bert Trautmann, Shaun Goater, Rodney Marsh, Billy Meredith, Joe Corrigan, Mike Doyle, Uwe Rosler, Andy Morrison, Clive Allen, Andy Morrison and even Roy Paul all fit into that category, or have done at least at some point in their career.
Gerry Gow is included because he hit them hard and we loved it and for all the Blues’ reputation for having purveyors of the Beautiful Game among their ranks, the truth is, they are few and far between and the sight of a bone-crunching tackler fighting the cause evokes just as much emotion as a mazy dribble or defence-splitting pass. Think about some of the club’s most popular players of the past 30 years, for instance, and it’s safe to say a fair proportion of them will be tough-tackling leaders on the pitch.
Frank Swift, Dennis Tueart could effortlessly slip into the Club Legend section –so why didn’t they? Swifty’s era clinched his place and the stories about how he was with the supporters and what he meant to them at the time make up my favourite chapter in this book. Tueart’s place in the club’s history is assured, but I sometimes feel he isn’t quite given the credit he deserves. He was a major player for the Blues in the 1970s and a huge favourite of the excited kids who watched him from the white Kippax perimeter walls – yours truly included.
Ian Bishop, Trevor Francis, Georgi Kinkladze and Ali Benarbia were all Tuesday’s children – full of grace – and were conductors of an orchestra that often played out of tune. When the music was good, though, it was the sweetest, most angelic sound you could ever hear. I think their inclusion was mandatory and while I don’t think too many would consider them as legends, few would argue they weren’t Cult Heroes.
Paul Lake and Shaun Wright-Phillips make up the 20 – Lake tagged as the next Colin Bell and with a career-ending injury that matched the great man, is not only revered for the games he did play, but the thought of those he should have played and where that might taken him and City.
Wrighty was a breath of fresh air who made Saturday afternoons exciting, expectant occasions. He overcame his own hurdles to become adored by the City faithful for his attitude and endeavour.
But what of those who aren’t included? Arguments could be presented for the entire 1968 championship side, but would that make fascinating, varied reading? That’s for the reader to decide. Tony Coleman came the closest to being included from Joe Mercer’s all-conquering team, but Doyle and Corrigan were ultimately the only representatives, and then mainly because they spanned two successful eras. From the stars of the seventies, Asa Hartford, Peter Barnes and the magnificent Dave Watson weren’t far off either, and Brian Kidd, Joe Royle and Gary Owen had strong cases.
In later years, David White, Niall Quinn, Peter Beagrie, David Rocastle, Marc Vivien Foe and Paul Walsh went under the microscope and may well be certainties to fill other City fans’ lists.
Tony Coton, Neil McNab, Clive Wilson, and Alex Williams all served the club with great distinction and again, all merited inclusion. Sometimes it was a straight fight with another player of their era – Goater v Paul Dickov, for instance, Benarbia v Eyal Berkovic... the list goes on – trust me. In truth, it’s virtually impossible to select just 20 players from 125 years of football at City and the more than 1,000 players who’ve worn the jersey with varying degrees of success.
Johnny Crossan, Dave Wagstaffe, Kaziu Deyna, Dave Ewing, Sam Cowan, Eric Brook, Tom Johnson, Derek Kevan. Even Maurizio Gaudino and Trevor Morley almost made the final cut. The problem really wasn’t who to include, but who to leave out.
In the following chapters, I’ve hopefully put up a decent argument as to why the 20 players I’ve chosen are there, but no doubt everyone will have their own opinions. What is important is that you enjoy the book and reliving certain moments that these players have been involved in and, in some cases, learning something new about them in the process. If you have half as much fun reading Cult Heroes as I’ve had writing it, I’ll be satisfie