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Sometimes an anniversary slips by without so much as a nod or a wink, if you are a married man and you have forgotten your wife's special day, you'll know what I mean.

But I doubt if any City supporters privileged to be witnesses will ever forget one football anniversary, which will be 34 years this December, that took place at Maine Road on Boxing Day, December 26th 1977, when City played Newcastle United.

For two frustrating years Colin Bell had refused to bow down to the fact that he was out of the game for life. Bell had hardly played a senior match since he critically damaged his knee playing against Man.Utd on a November night in 1975. The pain and torment of his long and lonely battle for fitness would have put paid to lesser determined characters. Bell's demanding and tedious fight for fitness continued throughout two summers when most players were enjoying there holidays.
But on that Boxing Day 1977 his courage and dedication were rewarded, When City's physio Roy Bailey displayed the number 6 card to call off the injured Paul Power, on trotted City sub, Colin Bell, to a deafening roar from the 45,811 spectators. City were level pegging with Newcastle at 0-0 when, all of a sudden the Maine Road atmosphere was transformed by the appearance of the long-absent idol of all true blue fans at the time, a spontaneous demonstration of warmth and effection for a great player who had fired the imagination, there has rarely been anything quite so stirring as the ovation accorded to Bell that afternoon. Even the normally unemotional old hands in the press box got that pulse-tingling feeling of magic in the air - The King Was Back.

Everyone loves a fighter and it seemed that every supporter at the game was willing Bell to do well. His presence proved to be an inspiration to his team-mates and City coasted to a 4-0 victory. Bell went on to play 20 full games that season, 16 in the league, 2 FA Cup and 2 League Cup games. The following season he had a recurrence of the injury and only played 16 senior games plus one as a sub. Four appearances in his last season for City were in the UEFA Cup, he came on as sub against Dutch side FC Twente and scored in a 3-2 win at Maine Road to help City into the next round on a 4-3 aggregate. He played twice against Standard Liege in the next round, and again, against AC Milan.

On August 21st 1979, he reluctantly announced his retirement from the game after a stern warning that he could be crippled for life if he continued. Whenever football fans in general, and City fans in particular talk about great names who have graced the famous England and City shirt's, Colin Bell's name is spoken with reverence. The final fitting farewell for Bell came on Tuesday September 11th 1979, just three weeks after he had made his retirement known. A combined Manchester team met a similar eleven from merseyside in his testimonial match at Maine Road. On a dismal night, 23,936 admirers turned up to pay tribute to a player whose wide-ranging talent had played a big part in City's successful trophy triumphs of the 60's & 70's.

For the record Bell signed for City from Bury in March 1966 for £45,000, then a record fee for a teenager. Within 48 hours he had made a goalscoring debut in a 2-1 win at Derby County as City stormed towards the Second Division Championship. Bell was capped 48 times for England and with City he won First and Second Divsion championship medals, FA Cup and League Cup winners medals and European Cup Winners' Cup medal. He made 393 League appearances and scored 119 League goals.

Legend

So on December 26th 2010 raise your glasses and 'Drink a Drink a Drink To Colin The King '


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Cheers 'OnThePissAgainCity, Bluewatch.

blootoof wrote:Bell had hardly played a senior match since he critically damaged his knee playing against Man.Utd on a November night in 1975.

A great Maine Road occasion, that, beautifully remembered, except it wasn't Colin Bell who damaged his knee but Martin bastard Buchan who came across him with intent to cripple.

Typical City. Beat United 4-0 but lose Nijinsky. Makes yesterday's events seem trivial.

BobbyJ1956 wrote:

blootoof wrote:Bell had hardly played a senior match since he critically damaged his knee playing against Man.Utd on a November night in 1975.

A great Maine Road occasion, that, beautifully remembered, except it wasn't Colin Bell who damaged his knee but Martin bastard Buchan who came across him with intent to cripple.

Colin Bell in his autobiography says buchan has never apologised for that horrendous challenge. Complete Scumbag.

You know I never did know the situation surrounding the infamous tackle that ended Colin's career.
Was it considered malicious?

CitizenYank wrote:You know I never did know the situation surrounding the infamous tackle that ended Colin's career.
Was it considered malicious?

I did, it was the first time i cried at a football match when he returned. I was an emotional kid.

Too young to remember. Old enough to understand and respect. Had the pleasure of meeting Colin, top bloke!

Was ALWAYS Colin Bell when I played as a kid.

When you think of calling someone a city legend - this is the guy they will have to measure up to.

Will always be a hero of mine.

When the word legend is applied to so many inferior players there should be a new category for truly great players.....perhaps truly great legends?!

CB certainly fitted into this category with ease, he was one of the most complete footballers I've ever seen. It is no exaggeration to say that I modelled my game onThe King, unfortunately somewhere along my genetic thread I also had a little bit of Stephen Hawking in there as well :-(

I know it will not happen but perhaps another testimonial would be better attended than the 24,000 who watched in '79, I'm sure MR would have held 40,000+ in those days.

Long live The King and thanks for the memories.

I'm pretty sure this was my first ever game and although I don't remember too much about the game itself, I do remember/feel the atmosphere still.

Class player, Class individual - a True Legend.

Brilliant post blootoof, cheers for that!

Socrates wrote:Typical City. Beat United 4-0 but lose Nijinsky. Makes yesterday's events seem trivial.

After kicking Rodney Marsh out of the club earlier. So we lose Bell & Marsh from a squad & still come 2nd in the league the following season. Wonder what difference they could have made over 42 games?

The fact that after the Newcastle game, he then played regularly in a very good side ( with one leg shorter than the other) just shows how good he was previously & how much we lost in that game v the rags.

No one has answered my question about the how, what, when, where and why Colin got hurt?? Sorry for being so priggish.

Grown men & women had tears in their eyes that day when he trotted on after half time. I did too despite being 18 at the time- very memorable day. He inspired the team . but I think we all knew that he would never be the same again.

CitizenYank wrote:No one has answered my question about the how, what, when, where and why Colin got hurt?? Sorry for being so priggish.

Dirty filthy tackle by dirty filthy rag scum Martin Buchan during League Cup quarter final at Maine Road, 12th November 1975. City won 4-0 and went on to win the competition. Nijinsky did his right knee in. Was at the peak of his powers at age 29 and when he finally came back he was still a good player but the magic had gone.

Ted Hughes wrote:

Socrates wrote:Typical City. Beat United 4-0 but lose Nijinsky. Makes yesterday's events seem trivial.

After kicking Rodney Marsh out of the club earlier. So we lose Bell & Marsh from a squad & still come 2nd in the league the following season. Wonder what difference they could have made over 42 games?

The fact that after the Newcastle game, he then played regularly in a very good side ( with one leg shorter than the other) just shows how good he was previously & how much we lost in that game v the rags.

-6 points for Rodney +8 points for Nijinsky, so we'd have won the league!

Socrates wrote:

CitizenYank wrote:No one has answered my question about the how, what, when, where and why Colin got hurt?? Sorry for being so priggish.

Dirty filthy tackle by dirty filthy rag scum Martin Buchan during League Cup quarter final at Maine Road, 12th November 1975. City won 4-0 and went on to win the competition. Nijinsky did his right knee in. Was at the peak of his powers at age 29 and when he finally came back he was still a good player but the magic had gone.

Nobody murdered old Martin?? Pity. JK

Too young to remember the King unfortunately...but the memories of others paint a respectful picture of one of the TRUE City greats

Here's a good article which centres more on his England exploits but still worth a read....




There is no doubt that Colin Bell is recognised as the best player Manchester City have ever had by the vast majority of the teams' supporters and there seems little reason to question this consensus.

Bell was, after all, the top man in the clubs' greatest ever side and went on to establish himself as a fixture in the England team, eventually taking over as captain from the peerless Bobby Moore. Outside the blue half of Manchester, however, Bell is not widely considered as one of the absolute greats of English football, rarely, if ever, chosen in the all time XI's we all love to indulge in from time to time.

Where then does Colin Bell fit in the scheme of things among England's footballers?

Colin Bell began his league career with Bury, who had spotted his potential playing for Horden Colliery in his native north east. Bury were a second division side at the time and the rangy, teenage inside forward went straight into the first team and stayed there.

Bell spent the best part of three seasons at Gigg Lane in a constant battle against relegation and yet still managed a goal every three games, a contribution which undoubtedly kept the club in the second division.

There was inevitably widespread interest in the youngster who not only scored consistently but had an apparently limitless reserve of energy. Colin Bell was scarcely ever still on a football field and specialised in driving runs from midfield, either carrying the ball or getting up in support of his forwards.



One of the interested clubs was Manchester City, whose assistant manager Malcolm Allison was particularly keen on this raw, exciting talent. City were only a second division side themselves, however, and not exactly flush with money.

Allison would spend an anxious few months watching Colin Bell among all the other interested parties waiting for the money with which to buy him to materialize. According to the extrovert Allison, he spent this time tearing Bell's game to pieces within earshot of anyone he could get near to in the hope that they would not come in with a bid.

Whether truth or fiction, Colin Bell was still a Bury player in March 1966 when City, on the verge of promotion to the first division, stumped up their record fee of £45,000 to take the midfielder to Maine Road.

Four goals in eleven games helped City clinch the second division title and all at once the 20 year old was in the first division. Colin Bell's contribution the following season as City fought hard to establish themselves in the top flight was crucial, ending up the leading scorer with twelve goals as the team finished fifteenth.

Without these goals, not to mention the all round involvement which was such a natural aspect of his game, City might have struggled to survive this vital first season back in Division One.



His absence was certainly felt at his former club. £45,000 might have been a lot of money to Bury but there was no way it would enable them to replace Bell, not with one, two or even three players and they were relegated.

City now moved on apace. The signing of the robust forward Francis Lee to complement the clever Mike Summerbee and the driving force of Colin Bell transformed the team into a top class outfit. Suddenly the club found themselves in a head to head battle with their neighbours United for the league title, a battle which saw the Blues famously prevail on the final day of the season after a 4-3 win at Newcastle United.

League Champions only two years after climbing out of the second division. It was a tremendous achievement and Colin Bell's legendary status at Maine Road was already guaranteed.

Outside of Manchester the leggy dynamo was capturing attention as well. Within football Bell became widely nicknamed Nijinsky after the great racehorse, it was a fitting moniker. His performances brought him recognition from Alf Ramsey, who handed Bell his England debut against Sweden at Wembley in May 1968.



City's success continued, although they would not challenge for the league title again for another four years, despite the fact that Bell continued to plunder goals from midfield.

Bell managed to reach double figures in each of City's first six seasons back in the first division despite latterly being troubled by a series of niggling injuries which became an increasing irritation.

In 1969 Colin Bell picked up an FA Cup winners medal and followed that up a year later with both League Cup and Cup Winners Cup medals. In the double cup winning year Bell scored twelve cup goals to go with the eleven he managed in the league campaign. The League Cup run the club enjoyed became the stuff of Maine Road dreams. Liverpool, Everton and Manchester United, 4-3 in a two legged semi final, were all knocked out before West Bromwich Albion were seen off at Wembley.

City's midfield inspiration also looked set to be a vital player for England as they got ready to defend their Fifa World Cup crown in Mexico that summer. Bell had starred on England's tour of South America the previous summer, scoring the goal which threatened to bring a famous win in Brazil before two late goals condemned a very tired side to defeat.

He had also scored the goal in a fine 1-0 win in Holland during the run up to the finals. As much as anything it was felt that Bell's incredible stamina would be invaluable in what would be gruelling conditions in the heat and altitude of Mexico. As it transpired, however, Colin Bell's contribution would be limited to that of substitute, and a futile one at that, Alf Ramsey seemingly incapable or unwilling to grasp the concept of replacements.

With the retirement of Bobby Charlton from the international set up after these finals Bell finally made a place his own in the national side and his increasing importance and standing was clearly demonstrated when Ramsey handed him the captaincy when Bobby Moore was eventually left out.

City, however, were stalling in their progress although Bell himself kept on churning out performances, goals and clocking up the hard yards with a vengeance.

There was dreadful disappointment when England failed to qualify for the 1974 World Cup finals in West Germany. Colin Bell, at 28, would have been at his peak in that tournament and perhaps would have been able to become the legend at international level that he already was, and remains, with his club.

Another disappointment came with a 2-1 defeat by Wolves in the League Cup final, although Bell did have some consolation in scoring City's goal. It looked as though Bell might be able to put these setbacks behind him and go on to further glories as he hit perhaps the richest vein of form of his career.

In the 1974-75 season Bell was ever present in the league for City and plundered fifteen goals. He carried this form over onto the international stage as England, under new manager Don Revie, looked ready to embark on an exciting new era. There were three outstanding performances inside a year which seemed to mark England down as a world class side again.

Firstly Czechoslovakia were hammered 3-0 in a European Championship qualifier at Wembley in which Bell bestrode the pitch and scored twice.

Then the world champions, West Germany, were soundly beaten 2-0 and Scotland were put to the sword 5-1 in the Home Internationals, Bell scoring in both of these games also.

All this hope and expectation was to vanish on a muddy Maine Road pitch the following winter as City were handing out a comprehensive beating to neighbours United in the fourth round of the League Cup.

In the course of this 4-0 drubbing Bell, checking back inside after a typical burst through the middle, was caught by the flailing boot of Martin Buchan. The contact was compounded massively by the fact that Colin Bell's standing leg had lodged in the rutted turf and was not able to "give" as the player fell awkwardly.

The injury was severe with damage to artery and blood vessel. Worst of all, the extent of the damage was not initially diagnosed and when Bell attempted a comeback towards the end of that season clotted blood from the original injury caused a cartilage to splinter and the midfield master would be out for a further eighteen months.

His international career was over and England suffered badly, losing not only their strongest experienced player to injury but also their two brightest youngsters around the same time, Kevin Beattie and Gerry Francis.

Perhaps the significance of these losses is shown by the fact that Czechoslovakia, so comprehensively thumped at Wembley, went on to not only qualify at England's expense but to win the European Championships themselves in 1976.

Although Colin Bell made an emotional return as a half time substitute against Newcastle United on Boxing Day 1977, thereby allowing a host of young City fans a glimpse of the legend, and inspired the team to a 4-0 win, the real Colin Bell never truly returned and by the end of the 1979 season his career was over.

Which leaves the question, how good was he?

Bell's gifts were manifold, he was more than a good engine, more than someone who could pop up from midfield with a goal. Perpetual motion he may have been but there was always a purpose behind the running.

Always available, a good user of the ball who was capable of supplying the killer pass and a willing assistant to the defence Colin Bell had all the attributes required of the top midfield player.

In terms of his England career it was probably only timing that prevented him making an even bigger name for himself. Arriving on the scene a year or two after Martin Peters and Alan Ball, and with Bobby Charlton long established as a national institution, Bell was always going to struggle to win a place in a side generally doing well.

Given the similarities in his game to that of Steven Gerrard, however, it is possible that if Martin Peters was, as Alf Ramsey famously reckoned, ten years ahead of his time then maybe Bell was forty years ahead. Then when he did win a place, of course, he found himself in a side on the wane.

Another possible factor stopping Colin Bell from becoming a national icon was his acute shyness, which disappeared on a football pitch but accompanied him almost everywhere else.

A man of his ability who only wanted to be noticed every Saturday on the football field, it's no wonder the City fans loved him. Respected throughout football and revered by everyone connected with Manchester City, I think Colin Bell MBE, himself, will be more than happy with that.

Blue2 wrote:Grown men & women had tears in their eyes that day when he trotted on after half time. I did too despite being 18 at the time- very memorable day. He inspired the team . but I think we all knew that he would never be the same again.

A true bittersweet day. It was fantastic to see him back and he still had the footballing brain and was pinging the ball all over the pitch. But we new we would never see our "Nijinsky" again - clearing the ball off the goal line at one end and running the whole length of the pitch to nod it in at the other.