My Father had very little interest in football,he was more of a boxing fan(being the landlord of a pub in the Ancoats/New Cross area he had to be !!)so my first baptism to Maine Road was down to my sister Mags and my future brother in law Joe.He had told me all about Mercer and Allison and the City ledgends of yesteryear,and they were going to take me to my first match which was our first home game of the 72-73 season.
I can remember going on the match bus and listening to some of the choice language and good banter!from the fans.Everyone seemed to be talking about this God like figure they called Rodney Marsh!
The admission for the North Stand was 80p and the match programme was 5p.
The first sight of the hallowed turf under floodlights is something i will never forget.
The game itself is a bit of a blur,although i remember we lost 1-0,and the man sat behind me giving the referee a tirade of abuse,and asking him why he had left his handbag at home!!
I was at that moment CTID.
My love for City has stayed with me ever since(probably stronger now than ever)and was a regular visitor to Maine Road in the 70s-80s until i moved to Ireland in 1990.
Saddly Joe is no longer with us,he passed away in November 2000 with cancer, at the very young age of 53.The last time i spoke to him on the phone was just after the 4-1 Blackburn promotion game and he said “typical,City going up,Me going down!”Very sad.
I still get over for 3 or 4 matches a season and often meet up with Joes lad Martin.So if your up there looking down on us from the great North stand in the sky Joe,ask God if he can put some silverware in our direction?