As this current decade closes I find myself sitting down looking back at my life and what I have achieved during my 3 decades and 8 years on this planet. And it became apparently clear that one thing has mainly taken over my life, Gods Owns ™ Sky Blues of Manchester.
Personally the last decade as seen me lose my father, who was the main influence in my life in being a City fan and I believe it is thanks to him that I’m called Colin after the one and only “The King of Manchester” Colin Bell. But on a lighter side the naughty noughties as seen the birth of my wonderful niece, Lucy and in the new decade she will be joined by a wonderful little brother or sister. I’m sure by the time the twenty teens are coming to an end I will be visiting Eastland’s with them cheering on the Premiership and European Champions who play in the Sky Blue!!
Getting back to when it all started………
My earliest memories of my childhood heroes goes back to the late Seventies and early Eighties when players such as Corrigan, Ranson, Caton, Booth, Power, Gow, Tueart, Mackenzie and our first ever £1million signing Steve Daley (less said about the latter the better) graced the hollowed turf of Maine Road. Tony Book was manager and the extravagant Big Mal was Chief Scout back then, how things have changed since then. Managers have come and gone along with the players, chairmen. How many?????
According to my collection of match magazines my first visit to Maine Road was on Saturday 8th September 1979 when we entertained Lawrie McMenemy’s Southampton and lost 1-0. This left us rooted to the foot of table on 3 points while our neighbours were topping it with 10 points – things have definitely changed there or we are definitely in the process of catching them!! My second visit to Maine Road, which came a big part of my life during the eighties, came three days later to pay respect to my namesake, Colin “Nijinsky” Bell at his testimonial game against a selected team from Merseyside. As all of us City fans of a certain age know it was a tragedy that a young player with a fantastic talent career was cut short after a tackle in a Manchester Derby at Maine Road.
Reflecting back my first Derby game was a game to remember for me, as it was played on my 8th birthday 10th November 1979. I remember that my name was announced along with many other Junior Blues before the game and we WON that game 2-0 with goals from Tony Henry and Micheal Robinson. Later that day I was told that as my cousin and I was celebrating our win that there were hundreds of United fans behind us. That season we finished 6th from bottom with 37 points.
The 1980/81 season started my real love affair with the beloved blues, with an unexpected visit to Wembley in the One Hundredth FA Cup Final at the old Wembley Stadium against Spurs. But that season I was to become a regular ball boy at Maine Road covering both 1st team and reserve team home fixtures. In total I must have been a ball boy for 3 seasons on and off.
Anyone who has been a ball boy at Maine Road must remember that we had the smallest room in the building to get changed in but we really didn’t care about that. It was the honour to be asked by the club to be a ball boy what was special and the behind the scenes in the dressing room area at the end of tunnel. Many people thought you got paid for being a ball boy but you didn’t, like I’ve just said it was an honour to do it and see players such as Corrigan, Tueart, Caton, Mackenzie and the rest at such close quarters doing what every young boy wanted to do, play for City! But one thing you did get and was very much welcome especially during the winter was a hot cuppa at half time and a glass, yes glass, bottle of Coca Cola at full time along with a match programme. I started the season in front of the then wooden benched Platt Lane stand before halfway through the season moving in front of the daunting Kippax Stand. Does anyone remember that blue perimeter fence which stood in front of Kippax before the obstructive silver one which went round the ground? For me this would be the closest I would get to running out in front of a packed ecstatic Maine Road.
The atmosphere before and during a game was electric, to hear the roar of a capacity crowd as you step out of the tunnel and onto the hallowed turf followed by your heroes is just unbelievable. On more than one occasion I always wanted to give the crowd a wave but never did.
At the beginning of that season who would have dreamt that come May 9th we would travelling down the M6 & M1 towards the famous Twin Towers?
RRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s Saturday 9th May 1981, what’s so special about that day? City are at Wembley!! Its FA Cup Final day and the mighty sky blues of Manchester, now under the stewardship of John Bond.
It’s early morning and I’m dangling outside my bedroom window trying to put out my Wembley Flag, which had been signed by the late Tommy Caton, who was president of our local Junior Blues of which my late father had founded with the help of Jessie Ward down at Maine Road. Once it was secure it was off to Stockport Bus Station to catch the coach to Wembley.
I can only vaguely remember the journey, but it seemed that every radio station didn’t want us to win but that didn’t seem to damper the spirits onboard. I can remember playing with my cousin that game every youngest plays on their first visit to Wembley, “Who will spot the Twin Towers first?”
Like the game, it’s a draw!! We both spot them as the coach turns up Wembley Way and makes its way to the coach park. I can remember thinking, “How the hell are we going to find our coach after the game amongst all the coaches?” The next big task of the day is to get a programme, check (80p- those were the days!!), and then where’s our gate?
After a walk around the perimeter of the stadium we find it! Up some steps then tickets checked, remember turning round a seeing a wonderful sight, a sea of blue and white, into the stadium full of excitement of what lay ahead for the next 90 minutes. Also I can’t wait to see inside this wonderful historic stadium which I had heard about from my father and other family members who had been their previously for our League Cup Final in 1976.
2.50pm approaches quickly and all of a sudden there is a roar from the Spur’s fans gathered at the opposite end as they see the teams in the tunnel making their way to the pitch. We are stood just on top of the tunnel behind the TV cameras and there are 2 very excited boys cheering and screaming down the poor cameraman’s ear as we get our first glance of our heroes coming out of the tunnel.
I think those of the same age as I remember what happened next?
Tommy Hutchinson scores for us and then with minutes left with all of the blue half of Manchester starting to celebrate and thinking of where would be the spot to see the victorious Blues parading the FA Cup in streets of Manchester the following day a Spur’s free-kick takes a deflection off Hutchinson and wrong foots Big Joe. The rest is history.
Those are my early memories of being a Blue and the prevailing years just prove once you’re a City fan you’re a City fan for life! It’s like a marriage, for better and worse, and hopefully now it’s for the better?