The first City match I recall attending was the 1955 FA Cup Semi-Final against Sunderland(I might have been at earlier matches, but I don’t remember them). I was just 10 years old at the time; my dad got tickets from someone at work on the eve of the game and we travelled to Villa Park by coach. The weather was horrendous, it poured with rain all day and the pitch was a mudbath. I remember queuing to get in the ground and dad buying me a rosette in City colours. As every City fan knows, we won 1-0 with Nobby Clark scoring the goal. Sunderland were a good side; I think the great Len Shackleton played and a big centre forward called ‘Cannonball Fleming. In winning the match we prevented a Tyne-Tees derby in the final, as we were to find out that Newcastle won the other semi. They beat us 3-1 in the Final with ‘Wor Jackie’ Milburn scoring after just 54 seconds but thanks largely to the terrible injury to Jimmy Meadows’s after just 20 minutes or so. My dad died today (22 December 2008) aged 88 and this City memory is dedicated to his memory.