I remember one part and one part only of my first city game, but I remember it vividly. It was my 7th birthday and we were playing Leicester in the old old division two. Paul Lake, the greatest talent to have pulled on a city shirt other than my name sake Mr Bell, was involved in a clash of heads and swallowed his tongue. The image that most stuck with me is one of his twitching leg as he lay on the ground and of Roy Bailey rushing to his rescue; I later heard Roy got a bitten finger for his trouble but his quick thinking that day saved the life of someone who I now realise was little more than a boy himself but at the time seemed to me to be this man of such awesome stature that it made his vulnerability all the more shocking. I’m sorry to say I don’t remember anything else about that game and had to check with my Dad (we won 4-2, Trevor Morley hat trick!)but his twitching leg will live with me forever.

Whilst he was lucky that day, there is no doubt in my mind that, if he had more luck with the later injuries that cost him his career,all my future City (and England) matches would have involved watching a team far more successful than the 90s proved to be. He was that special.