by BobbyJ1956 » Tue Nov 23, 2010 1:47 am
When Malcolm Allison died someone asked me whether the modern City team know (or care) much about City's history. Then came the news about Neil Young, and I thought here's someone they should hear about. They should know Nelly's story. Great sports teams are built on traditions passed down through generations and absorbed by the latest set of players at the club. Look at the New York Yankees (unlikeable though they are) or Real Madrid and how they keep the memories alive and get the new recruits to understand what they have to live up to - even Spurs brought the survivors from the 1961-62 team onto the pitch before the game with City in August. So do the current City players know about Neil? Wouldn't it give them a better idea of what this wonderful old club is about as it stands on the brink of a new era if they heard about this local lad whose goals won the FA Cup & European Cup Winners' Cup for City forty years ago, and who fell on such hard times that he worked as a milkman? (Balotelli: "What's a milkman? "what's milk?") So I reckon this is a job for Mike Summerbee, MCFC ambassador. He's been all over Europe & the USA for the club, let him now do a bit of ambassadoring in Manchester to the current set of players and show them what City stands for. How it's Frank Swift & Bert Trautmann, Malcolm Allison & Joe Mercer. And Neil Young. Suppose Summerbee recruited some of the older supporters - Douglas, or John68, or the guy in the Reddish branch and Alex in Swinton who went to Sierra Leone - and had them share memories with the team. Maybe it would create that extra bit of team spirit to bind them together in a way that being millionaires or owning big houses in Cheshire doesn't. And maybe it'd make the difference in winning the title this season, which would be a fine thing in a year of such sad news.
