by getdressedmctavish » Sat Nov 24, 2012 4:23 pm
Well having been called "a Rag" by two simpletons recently, I thought I better say something about myself.I'm 64 and have been going to City since I was 6 or 7, first to the reserves and, from about 9 years old, to first team games.My earliest memory is of me Dad hurling his polo mints to the floor in front of the tele, all 14 " of it, in 1955 when Jackie Milburn scored for Newcastle after 3 minutes of the cup final.Next year when we won it Nobby Clarke opened our fete in Crab Lane and there's a picture of me somewhere holding what I now assume is an FA cup replica.I was a pretty good player, Manchester schools level, and in those days, the late fifties to the mid sixties, though us lads were either City or United it was friendly rivalry, not the pathetic fascistic screaching of today.Indeed, it was common to go and see the reds when City were,nt playing because the need for club membership had not yet happened. Best was worth admission just to watch him in the kick in, Law was usually a blur, but Charlton was over rated, a rather naive footballer who blasted most shots over the bar.
City had hit the depths in 1964 but in 1965 Mercer and Allison arrived and started the rebuiding that lead to the championship in 1968.I remember quite well some of the action in the early days. Seeing Buzzer make his debut(I think) at Middlesborough where we slept in the park over night and Jimmy Murray got the equalise, David Connor roasting Jimmy Armfield in the league cup(no he wasn't gay), Mike Doyle switching with Glyne Pardoe, then a striker, to power home a few headers, Colin Bell's debut against Leeds I think, when he played centre forward.Getting murdered by the West Ham world cup winners at home was particularly painful, but it was all leading up to that game at old trafford when we ran United off their own pitch to win 3-1 and Busby offered Mal the job of United coach.He didn't take it and the rest is history, 6 easy points for quite a few years.
Yes I was at St James Park for that topsy turvy game and at Wembley for the Final the following year, which looked good on the tele but was a bit boring in the flesh.And then a few years of erratic success before madness and decline, briefly interrupted by the ill advised second coming when Mal spent several millions City didn't have whilst having his own checkbook conviscated by the bank, lol
Personally, my family moved to Leicester when I was 16, I went to Sheffield University, and then moved to London, first as an FE lecturer, then as a single parent caring for a child with learning difficulties and latterly as a legal consultant. During this period I mainly watched City away. Plenty of good victories at Spurs though rarely Arsenal.Some fun watching Mc Neil's crazy scottish misfits, the dubious pleasure of watching Kinlaze and ten others as Ball and the Notts bloke screwed up, and the short lived glimses of resurgence under Maichin, Kendall and Royle, all of which had their moments.Best memory of that lot? Coming up on the train to the 5-1, being stuck in the sidings at Crewe and then finding the game had been delayed and seeing all 5 goals, watching in amazement as Bambi turned into a Lion.
During all that a very nice lady helped me get my life sorted and bring up a couple of boys (along side their step sister) who weren't bothered about City though one did enjoy going to watch Leyton Orient . I did try. I took em to Wimbledon v City one freezing night. Surprisingly, no takers!And then in rode King Kev on his white charger and astonishingly my younger son and wife asked if I was getting 3 season tickets.Since then its been 15000 miles and £5000 a year watchin City. Not bad for a Rag!
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