It is tough to be a football fan no matter which club you support but I think it is fair to say that as a Manchester City fan, growing up in the 1980’s and 90’s, we have had more than our fair share of the hair tearing, nail-biting, and the ‘what on Earth are we doing now?’ moments than most.
In recent years, those emotions have been fewer with the additions to our trophy cabinet more than helping out with getting us through the ‘bad times’. Certainly my mind cannot recall an incident in the last few seasons which would go down alongside the terrible time we had under Alan Ball, or the struggle in the third tier of English football in the late 1990’s.
Nothing even comes close to 1996 nor the image of David Pleat doing a dance down our touch-line as his Luton Town side secured top flight status as we were unceremoniously relegated.
For some reason though, I do find myself about to head into August with a tinge of sadness in my heart. No I do not dislike the many signings we have made so far but it was the Aleksandar Kolarov farewell video that brought clarity to the way I’ve been feeling.
This is the end of an era for many City fans at a similar age to myself, not quite 40 but certainly closer than we’d like! After years of dealing with the chairman disaster appointments, the relegations and being that ‘Typical City’ while seeing United win season after season, it was finally our turn.
In 2011, we beat United at Wembley before beating Stoke City to win our first major trophy since the League Cup back in 1976. The very next season we would again win silverware by winning the Premier League in the most City way ever imaginable. It set us off on the road we now find ourselves on and turned us from the ‘nearly contenders’ to the ‘real contenders’.
But with Kolarov leaving, Pablo Zabaleta moving on and Joe Hart pretty much not having a chance to come back, only David Silva, Yaya Toure and Vincent Kompany now remain from that FA Cup winning squad. We had six English players on the team sheet that day, all of whom have since moved on and other than Milner and Barry we do not hear much about any.
Fast forward a year and in the title-winning season we only have two extra names to add to the three remaining from the FA Cup triumph. One of course is Agueroooooo (who it now seems only spells his name with one ‘o’) and the other is Samir Nasri. Let’s face it though, the Frenchman is facing the door if he’s not already through it at this current time.
And so I can only imagine that what I am feeling now is similar to what my Father and fellow supporters of his age were thinking in the 1974-75 season. With Francis Lee moving on, that season would also see the departure of Mike ‘Buzzer’ Summerbee. With the deconstruction of the Mercer – Allison partnership and seven years on from their first title for almost 30 years, it was all different.
Colin Bell wouldn’t officially leave City until 1979, but in reality, his career ended with the tackle in 1975 while playing against Manchester United. Meanwhile, Neil Young had departed for Preston three years earlier than that, in 1972
So by the end of the 1974/75 season, Manchester City no longer had the players who scored the goals to secure our European trophy. We had said goodbye to three of the four players who, in our League winning season scored 63 goals between them. The fourth one was Colin Bell and essentially his City career was over.
Only Alan Oakes, Mike Doyle and Glyn Pardoe remained. All three tough defenders in the City back line with the latter two scoring the goals in our 1970 League Cup win.
Alan Oakes would depart the season after in 1976, winning that last trophy before Roberto Mancini arrived and set us on the path we are now on. His cousin, Glyn Pardoe also left that season also but wasn’t involved much after his leg break, again while playing against Manchester United.
Mike Doyle would be the last of the bunch to leave when in 1978 he joined Stoke City. So three remained, as they do now, seven years on from that first trophy lift and a spell which would see them lift four major trophies, and two Charity shields within that time. In this cycle we have won five major trophies and one Charity Shield, six trophies each.
This time is a bit different though.
Last time out, we sold or let go the majority of our attacking talent within a short period of time bringing in replacements who just couldn’t fill the shoes. This time we have kept our creativity with Silva, kept our goal scoring threat with Aguero and kept our captain and anchor at the back, Vincent Kompany.
Yes, some of the replacements for others have not worked out, Claudio Bravo is a prime example, but it seems all in all we are moving and improving in the right ways. Kevin De Bruyne, Leroy Sane and even Raheem Sterling are an improvement on Adam Johnson and James Milner.
It remains to be seen if defensively the new guys coming in will be an improvement to Micah Richards, Zab, Joleen Lescott and Kolarov but I suggest they might and our attacking prowess is certainly better than in 2011 and Gabriel Jesus, with Aguero, is more exciting and less frustrating than Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko leading the line.
I think we will have more success and more trophies in the seasons to come but no matter what the future holds, we should still remember those contributions made by those first players who raised both those trophies for some very hungry, excited and success starved fans.
