Newsletter #384

The main news involves two new signings: a deadline day acquisition of Shaun Goater (mentioned by Jeremy Poynton a few weeks ago), and the resigning of Ian Bishop, latterday Maine Road hero eight years down the line.

There’s also been another outbreak of that famous City disease which sees the manager making a star player train with the kids! Who could this be? None other than that little Georgian guy who apparently lacks the bottle for a Division 1 relegation scrap!

This issue also includes a ‘relegation prediction league’ by Steve Kay, designed to spice up the dreary run-in to the real thing!

Lastly, Steve informs me that there are now officially over 2,000 of us – amazing!

NEWS SUMMARY

Tuesday 24th March

It’s been another one of those days folks. Sod all going on really, other than the odd loan move away from Maine Road, and very little public information on the obvious frantic scramble that’s going on behind the scenes to bring, to quote Big Joe, ‘a few cheapies in.’ Just fills you with confidence that does doesn’t it? I should imagine tomorrow will probably allow me to use that classic cliché, you wait ages for a good news story and then three come along at once! Hopefully.

Anyway, what did happen was this. Neil Heaney scooted off down to Charlton until the end of the season on loan. No surprise there, for me at least, because I was quite looking forward to seeing him get another chance in the first team after he looked one of our only useful players in the second half against Port Vale. And my views seem to be the kiss of death these days. Soon as I start to fancy them (calm down, I mean in footballing terms!) they’re farmed out to some poxy little club or other. Hmmm. I wonder… You know, I really like that Ged Brannan. I think he should be brought back into the first team and have his contract extended immediately. For life! Let’s see if that works…

Michael Brown – subject of false rumours that he’d stormed out of Maine Road after hearing he hadn’t even made the bench on Saturday – has been talking of his disappointment, but more encouragingly of his desire to force his way back into the reckoning. “I have to confess I’m very disappointed not to be in the team at the moment but I am not going to sulk. I think Jamie is a great signing for us. He has experience and talent and I’m looking forward to playing alongside him, but first I need to win back my place in the team. I have to get my head down and work hard. I think I was playing well and the manager said I am still very much part of his plans. I am sure Jamie and I could form a great midfield partnership if given the chance. It is a challenge and I am ready to battle for a place in the team.” However, it seems as though Brown has ludicrously fallen behind Ged Brannan in the line up for places as well now, despite being one of the few players most City fans feel has been worth a place this season. Why? Who knows!

Disappointingly there’s been no news on the Claridge front today, but hopefully there’ll be some developments very soon indeed.

Wednesday 25th March

Typical isn’t it? You wait ages for a good news story, and then three come along at once! Actually, there’s more like five, but that doesn’t fit in quite so well so you’ll just have to indulge me on this occasion.

Ian Bishop, one of the heroes of the 5-1 back in ’89 (still feels like yesterday) is back at the club after being brought in on a free transfer. ‘Bish’ is now 32 but was still happily plying his trade in the Premiership for West Ham – indeed he turned out for the ‘Ammers at the weekend – and JR is urging fans not to look at his age, just consider what he could do for us. He’s one of those players guaranteed a place in the heart of any City fan after taking part in that momentous occasion despite the fact that he only made 19 appearances for the Blues in his first spell. Royle gave him this glowing tribute, “Ian was playing in the Premiership last week and that says something about his pedigree. He may be 32 but he is still a great passer of the ball and will give us one or two more varieties (one or two ‘more’? – Steve). We have not scored many goals recently and I don’t think that is entirely down to the front players. Ian gives us more options and will hopefully add some diversity to our play. West Ham have decided to give him a free transfer in view of his long service and that means it is a very good deal for us.” Bishop was less forthcoming, merely stating, “I really enjoyed my time at City and I am very excited by the prospect of returning.” Apparently there’s no truth in the rumour that immediately after that statement he turned to his agent, scratched his head and said, “So you’re sure I was there once before?” Bishop has signed on the dotted line for the rest of this season plus two more. So that’s avoiding relegation this year, promotion next and the domestic treble for the lad in his final year eh? Not a bad little swansong really…

We’ve had a six figure bid (no, not £1000.50!) rejected for Bristol City’s Bermudan international striker Shaun Goater rejected, but hopes are still high that we can land the player who’s scored a whopping 18 goals for his club this season (well, it’s whopping compared with anything we’ve got!). Goater is rated at £300,000 but, according to Bristol boss John Ward our offer fell just a little bit short of what he’s prepared to accept. JR is now desperately trying to raise the extra cash before tomorrow’s transfer deadline and is apparently planning to set up outside HMV on Market Street to see if he can shift a few copies of the Big Issue to make up the difference. Seems to pour cold water on our Claridge chances, but at least we can see if Shaun knows any secrets from the famed Bermuda Triangle. Perhaps he can shed some light on how to solve the mystery of our very own mystery – the Moss Side Rectangle – where talent disappears.

Bit of a close shave today! We almost had a Rag on loan! Taggart had apparently agreed to lend talented young England under-21 defender John Curtis to City until the end of the season but injury problems have meant that the deal has now been scrapped. An injury to Michael Clegg means that Curtis will now remain at the Old Trafford. Joe Royle commented, “It was a marvellous gesture by Alex in the first place and we very much appreciated it.” I can’t write anymore on this, I’m much too scared!

Cloughie is staying put. For the time being at least anyway, with Carlisle strenuously denying that they have made an approach to take him as a player manager. Apparently the story came from the fact that representatives from Carlisle have been spotted at all of City’s recent reserve matches but they claim that this is just ‘routine monitoring’ and nothing more. Eddie McGoldrick is now being linked with a move there but that might not be true either. As if we care anymore!

Scott Thomas has joined Brighton on loan. I can’t think of anything to say about that (what do you mean ‘Thank God for that!’?).

Finally, the reserves are in action again tonight, this time away at Port Vale’s super stadium. And Jeff Whitley looks like getting a place on the bench for Northern Ireland’s friendly against Slovakia if he’s fit tonight, and this is a full international side, not just the B team as it was last time. A deserved accolade for Jeff who’s impressed both with his attitude and adaptability this season I’m sure you’ll agree. Not to mention his talent! No place for Jim though sadly, who’s yet to make the breakthrough that his younger brother made earlier in the year.

Thursday 26th March

“He’s like thunder! Lightning! Shaunie Goater is frightening” will no longer be the battle cry of the Bristol City fans ‘cos he’s a City player now after being shrewdly snapped up by Joe ‘Nerves of Steel’ Royle for £400,000. A real cat and mouse game seemed to be taking place this morning with Bristol spouting off about how they weren’t letting him go and that showed their commitment to getting promotion. Yeah right! The Bermudan international goes straight into the side against Bradford on Saturday with Lee Bradbury the player most likely to drop to the bench. Can’t wait to see him personally, it’ll be nice to have a new, exciting striker working alongside Uwe! Steve Claridge has ended up at Wolves in the end but I’m not the slightest disappointed. The 28-year-old Goater sounds like a much better long term bet when you think about it.

Eddie McGoldrick has joined Stockport on loan until the end of the season, setting up an early opportunity for a return to the Academy when we entertain County a week on Saturday. Ironically Eddie – one of Steve Coppell’s few signings for the Blues – hasn’t made a first team appearance since Shameful Saturday at Edgeley at the back end of last year. Shows Gary Megson’s got a good eye for a player wouldn’t you say?

Ian Bishop has been talking about how Steve Lomas was instrumental in his decision to rejoin City. “Steve advised me to come here because he liked the club so much and like me was reluctant to move. It’s flown by since I left Maine Road. I never wanted to go in the first place but the manager wanted to sell me. I always remember my last game – it was a bit tearful with banners from the fans saying don’t go. Every time I have been back with West Ham I’ve had a great reception from the City fans. The move was forced on me more than anything and when I heard I was coming back my wife’s eyes lit up and so did mine. I could not sleep thinking about it. I’m fit enough and have played a lot of reserve team football this season. I’ve played three and a half games in the Premiership and have been on the bench 20 times without getting on the field which is not good. If I play at Bradford on Saturday I’ll be delighted, but the biggest thrill will be to run out at Maine Road again. The fans have been great to me and I’ve never forgotten that. The only player left from my previous time here is Ian Brightwell who said I can stay at his house. But he’s a bit of a prankster and I’m not sure he’s the full ticket!”

Carlisle, linked to both Steady Eddie and Nigel Clough over the last few days sprang a surprise on us all by taking defender John Foster off our hands for a nominal fee.

And finally the reserves managed to snatch a draw from the jaws of victory again, drawing 3-3 despite holding the lead on three occasions! City’s goals came from Ian Brightwell, Gerry Creaney and that man Clough again! Can’t seem to stop hitting the back of the net these days, and if memory serves he’s got 3 in 3 now. And I think I’ve just broken the world record for the amount of times the number 3 is used in a single story…

SHAUN GOATER – THE VIEW FROM BRISTOL

Well, as the news has just come in on the Bristol City list that Shaun Goater has been tempted away for a pittance. I guess I had better fill you folks in on Goater. He joined BCFC at the beginning of last season from Rotherham, where he had scored 25 goals in each of the previous seasons. Cost £175,000 – a snip really, as he scored another 25 goals last season, and – until today – 18 goals this season. He asked for a transfer some time back, as his contract was up at the end of this season, and he stated that he wanted to try playing at a higher level – he’s 27 now. Anyway, here’s a very brief bio from the BCFC home page.

Shaun Goater
Born: Bermuda, 25.2.70
A striker who is strong on the ball with lightning pace. This Bermudan international, who started his career as a trainee at Manchester United, joined Bristol City from Rotherham United during the summer of 1996. He has already shown what a bargain he is, and his goals have always seen him near the top of the goalscorer’s charts. In his time at Millmoor, he made 262 appearances, scoring an impressive 86 goals. Last season’s top scorer with 25 goals.

There’ some disagreement about how good he is amongst the ranks of Bristol City fans; he can appear lazy and disinterested,and then pop up with a superb goal. He is awkward for defenders to handle, being big and strong, with a reasonable touch, and a good ability at the 2nd division level, at least, to turn players. He has the instincts of a goalscorer, which I guess is what makes the difference between the average and the good striker. Whether he has time to settle in and start scoring goals for City I don’t know, but he can’t do worse that the current cardboard cutouts we have got up front. Hopefully us Bristol-based Blues will have the chance to check him out in this rôle next season – and at least he did sign off with a goal against the old enemy, the Rovers.

GIO TRAINS WITH THE ‘A’ TEAM!

I couldn’t believe my eyes today (Thursday) when I visited Platt Lane. I went over to watch the first team training in their normal “behind closed doors” far corner. Looking around I saw Bish, but Gio was nowhere to be seen. My first thought was that he had gone (today is transfer deadline day). After 10 minutes or so, I wandered over to the Platt Lane centre and noticed Asa Hartford training the “A” team. At the time they were playing 6-a-side. I looked around to see if their were any players I knew (no!), when I spotted Gio in the middle of the pitch! He looked really fed up, and was basically going through the motions. There were only half a dozen of us watching, but we couldn’t believe what we were seeing. How embarrassing! We wondered what had happened between him and Joe Royle, for him to be forced into training with the kids. As he came off, I asked him to autograph a photo I had taken with him last summer (I know I’m sad). I asked him to sign it “to Steve”, but Gio said he couldn’t write in English, so I wrote “To Steve” on a bit of paper, and he copied it onto the photo. We asked if he was leaving or not, to which he said he didn’t know.

There are rumours that he is off to Ajax, and these were compounded when he was approached by a Dutch football magazine journalist who said he had arranged an interview with Gio via the club. Gio looked puzzled and walked towards the front entrance saying words to the effect of “no press interviews”. With that he smiled at us, shrugged his shoulders and went inside followed by the journalist. He re-appeared a few minutes later and told the journalist he would return for the interview in 15 minutes after a shower, which he did. I asked the journalist about the rumours, to which he said that he had heard that Ajax had made enquiries about a 5 million pound summer move. The way I saw it was if Gio was moving to an English club today (deadline day), he wouldn’t be tossing around with the A team would he? And if he was going abroad at the end of the season (unless there is no deadline for players moving abroad this season), why is he not involved with the first team? It seems obvious that Joe has decided that Gio hasn’t got the bottle for the run-in, and wants him kept away from the squad, and buying Jamie Pollock and Ian Bishop would seem to back this up. If that is the case, Gio has played his last game for us. However, if we are to believe what Gio said, that he wants to help City avoid the drop, should he not be involved with the first team, even as a substitute, coming on during the second half of games where we are struggling and need a bit of creativity to turn the game? In my opinion, that is what should have happened against Sheffield United. The game was drab and dour, and needed somebody like Gio to give the team and crowd a boost. The fact that he agreed to train with the A team doesn’t suggest to me that he is desperate to get away (most prima donnas would walk out of the door when humbled as he has been). So get him involved! If not, another club legend is going to leave with a sour taste in the mouth. Incidentally, is Gio’s value going to hold, rise or fall, training with the A team? Let’s just hope the Dutch reporter didn’t realise who he was playing with!

STUDENTS’ BRANCH MCFC OFFICIAL SUPPORTERS’ CLUB

The next meeting of the students’ branch will take place at the Platt Lane complex on Tuesday 31st March. We’ll be in the Oasis Suite and it will be fun and games galore (just like going to Maine Road).

There’ll be plenty of beer (like that’s the only thing students are interested in?) and it’s going to be like Man City Anonymous: “Hi, I’m Nina, and I’m a Manchester City supporter” so if you’ve not been along before please come and meet all the other mad idiots who only chose Manchester’s Universities because they didn’t want to miss out on our glory years (!) by going to another city to study.

Also, vote for your player of the year – you’ll need all week to think up a good candidate for that one! – and I’ll try my best to get them to come along to the next meeting, the end of season “do”.

The meeting starts at 8pm, it’s only 50p, so please, please come.

MACC SUPPORTERS’ CLUB CLUB RACE NIGHT

The Macclesfield Branch of the Supporters’ Club are holding a testimonial “race night” in the company of Ian Brightwell, this Sunday at the Sportsman Club, Chestergate, Macc.

All proceeds to Ian’s fund. All welcome. Please ring Club Secretary Iain Bather on 01625 265436 or e-mail me for further info…

MCVITEE FC vs. STOCKPORT

Fellow McVitee players, here’s some details of the next upcoming MCVITee match, it’s against Stockport County on the the morning of the Shambles vs. County at Maine Road, April 4. So all those interested in playing please register their details with me, ASAP. Many thanks.

We have booked Aquinas college for a match on 4th April. It’s a grass pitch at we have it from 10:00-13:00. I think a 10:30 kick off would be about right. It’s on Nangreve Road near the Bamford Arms Heaviley. Halfway between Stockport town centre and Hazel Grove. Bamford Arms is the travellodge on the A6.

Also, does anyone fancy a game against the Internet Wolves on the morning of our match at Molineux? Let me know ASAP and I’ll see about getting the game on.

DIVISION ONE RELEGATION RUN-IN PREDICTION LEAGUE

(Entry deadline this Saturday 12 Noon GMT)

I am running the above “game” to add a bit of spice to the relegation dogfight. It is a bit of fun, costs nothing to enter, and you get nothing for winning. It’s the taking part that counts, as they say. At least once a week, I will publish ongoing updates of the best tipsters.

I have listed the 59 fixtures involving the 10 teams in the battle. They are, with their current points total in brackets, Norwich (45), QPR (43), Tranmere (43), Huddersfield (45), Reading (39), Stoke (40), Port Vale (42), Man City (40), Bury (45) and Portsmouth (41). The figure in brackets after each fixture is last season’s result. You can use this as a guide. All you need to do is go down the list adding your prediction (H, A, D) in the space to the right of the “>”. Then add up the points you predict each team will win, add it to the current totals above and add that figure at the bottom after the “>”. So nobody can say I cheat, I have listed my predictions after last season’s result, and my final points tallies at the bottom. See if you can beat me!

Each entrant will start with 50 points (believed by many to be the safety barrier). I will award 3 points for each correct match prediction. At the end of the season I will then deduct 1 point for each point your final points prediction for each team differs from their actual final total. For example if you predict Huddersfield will finish with 49 points, but they achieve 55 points, you will lose 6 points.

You may be interested to know that if the remaining fixtures end as last season, the final table would be as follows:

10th Norwich      63 points
16th QPR          56 points
17th Port Vale    54 points
18th Bury         53 points
19th Tranmere     52 points
20th Stoke        51 points
21st Man City     49 points
---------------------------
22nd Huddersfield 48 points
23rd Portsmouth   48 points
24th Reading      46 points

Good luck.

— Please only cut and e-mail the section below this line —

Name:
E-mail:
Team supported:

 1 28/03/98	Bradford - Man City	(2) D >
 2 28/03/98	Hudd'field - Q.P.R 	(2) H >
 3 28/03/98	Ipswich - Reading 	(1) H >
 4 28/03/98	Oxford	- Norwich	(2) H >
 5 28/03/98	Sheff Utd- Port Vale 	(1) H >
 6 28/03/98	Stoke - Tranmere	(1) D >
 7 28/03/98	Sund'land - Bury 	(1) H >
 8 28/03/98	Wolves	- Portsmth	(2) D >
 9 03/04/98	Tranmere- Sund'land 	(X) A >
10 04/04/98	Bury - Hudd'field	(X) D >
11 04/04/98	Man City - Stockport 	(1) H >
12 04/04/98	Norwich	- Bradford 	(1) H >
13 04/04/98	Port Vale - Oxford 	(1) D >
14 04/04/98	Portsmth - Birm City 	(X) D >
15 04/04/98	Q.P.R.	- Wolves	(X) D >
16 04/04/98	Reading - Stoke 	(X) D >
17 10/04/98	Sund'land - Q.P.R 	(1) H >
18 11/04/98	Birm City- Port Vale 	(2) H >
19 11/04/98	Charlton- Reading 	(1) H >
20 11/04/98	Hudd'field- Crewe 	(X) D >
21 11/04/98	Ipswich - Tranmere 	(2) H >
22 11/04/98	Midd'boro- Bury 	(2) H >
23 11/04/98	Sheff Utd- Norwich 	(2) H >
24 11/04/98	Stoke - Portsmth	(1) D >
25 11/04/98	Wolves- Man City 	(1) H >
26 13/04/98	Bury - Bradford		(X) D >
27 13/04/98	Crewe- Stoke 		(1) H >
28 13/04/98	Man City - Birm City 	(1) D >
29 13/04/98	Norwich	- Hudd'field 	(1) D >
30 13/04/98	Port Vale - Charlton 	(1) A >
31 13/04/98	Portsmth - Ipswich 	(2) D >
32 13/04/98	Reading - Midd'boro 	(2) A >
33 13/04/98	Tranmere- Stockport 	(X) H >
34 14/04/98	Q.P.R.- Oxford		(1) H >
35 17/04/98	Midd'boro - Man City 	(1) H >
36 18/04/98	Bradford - Q.P.R	(1) D >
37 18/04/98	Charlton - Portsmth 	(1) H >
38 18/04/98	Hudd'field - West Brom 	(X) D >
39 18/04/98	Ipswich - Port Vale 	(1) H >
40 18/04/98	Oxford	- Tranmere 	(1) H >
41 18/04/98	Sheff Utd - Bury 	(1) H >
42 18/04/98	Stoke - Norwich		(2) D >
43 18/04/98	Wolves - Reading 	(2) H >
44 TBC	        Tranmere - Portsmth 	(1) D >
45 24/04/98	Port Vale - Midd'boro 	(2) A >
46 25/04/98	Bury -Ipswich		(1) D >
47 25/04/98	Charlton - Tranmere 	(1) H >
48 25/04/98	Man City - Q.P.R	(2) H >
49 25/04/98	Norwich	- Swindon 	(1) D >
50 25/04/98	Portsmth - Hudd'field 	(1) D >
51 25/04/98	Sund'land - Stoke 	(X) H >
52 26/04/98	Nottm For - Reading 	(1) H >
53 28/04/98	Tranmere - Sheff Utd 	(X) D >
54 03/05/98	Bradford - Portsmth 	(1) D >
55 03/05/98	Hudd'field - Port Vale 	(2) H >
56 03/05/98	Q.P.R. - Bury 		(1) D >
57 03/05/98	Reading - Norwich 	(1) H >
58 03/05/98	Stoke 	- Man City	(1) D >
59 03/05/98	Tranmere- Wolves 	(2) D >

Final Points

Huddersfield 56 >
Norwich      51 >
Tranmere     50 >
QPR          49 >
Man City     49 >
Bury         49 >
Portsmouth   48 >
Stoke        45 >
Port Vale    43 >
Reading      43 >

OPINION – SATURDAY’S GAME

The thought of 2,000 subscribers was just enough to get me to make my first contribution to MCIVTA, so firstly a big thanks to Ashley et al for running this thing.

Secondly, a few thoughts about Saturday’s game (Sheff. Utd,). Living near Reading I only get to see a couple of games a year (fortunately I missed the Reading game), so imagine my delight at getting free tickets for a clash with FA cup semi-finalists. At last a chance to see a good team at Maine Road? No. If Ian Rush scored a goal every time someone shouted “big nose” at him, we’d have been in real trouble but he looked well and truly past it. As for City I have mixed feelings. The defence seemed pretty solid, and Symons looked OK to me despite the complete wasting he got from the fans – OK some (most) of his kicks don’t go straight, but he was first to every ball, looked good in the air, and the SU strikers never really had an opportunity.

The midfield were disappointing to me. They seemed OK at the tackling bit but not at the creative bit. I can honestly say that I don’t remember a single instance (for either team) when someone actually ran at a player with the ball, beat his man and made a good pass (in fact the South Manchester under 12 girls 6-a-side game at half time showed a bit more imagination and ball control). Plenty of commitment (especially from Pollock) but not much refinement.

And as for the strikers, what can I say? In their defence, they never really got good service from midfield but Rösler looked as slow as ever and Bradbury just didn’t seem in the game. For those of you with a match programme, look at the photo on page 7. It shows Rösler and Bradbury jumping for a corner (against Oxford I think). Rösler is making contact, but Bradbury is miles from the ball and looking in completely the wrong direction – looks like he’s trying to spot his mum in the crowd!

Finally, I’d just like to say we mustn’t give up hope. It’s easy to say we’re down, but there are plenty of other poor teams in danger too. Sheff. Utd. have shown that even mediocre teams can get in the play-off spots. I suspect the relegation spots won’t be decided until the last game.

OPINION – KINKLADZE

I’m writing to disagree with Steve McNally’s comments on Kinkladze in the last Newsletter.

The facts speak for themselves – would you consider Peter Reid or Steve McMahon or Gary Megson(?) to be more skilful than Kinkladze? Because these are the players that had us fifth in the top flight. It’s as simple as that. Kinkladze has had his chance and he has failed. Everyone says that the team needs to be built around him, and that’s what we’ve done – we’ve rearranged the formation, moved to wing backs – even brought in other Georgians at his request. And we are now in our lowest position ever. It isn’t just the managers’ faults, it is a simple fact of life. In order to build a team around Kinkladze, we need the sort of peripheral players that we simply can’t afford. An example is Juventus – Zidane can drift in and out of the game, but they still have Deschamps, Del Piero, Inzhagi, Di Livio etc. capable of creating things and dragging the ‘playmaker’ back into the game. The Rags have Sheringham, Giggs, Butt and Keane (the latter who are both skilful as well as hard, no matter how much you hate them) who can fill in when Beckham’s not creating. We simply don’t have that luxury, and Kinkladze isn’t capable of scoring enough goals to justify his position in a team built solely around him.

I agree with Joe, we don’t need this sort of player in this division, surrounded by dross. We need the money to buy the right sort of player. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had some of my best times ever at Maine Road watching Kinkladze, but just maybe theses times seemed so good because of the continual dross that we’ve all had to endure around his wildly infrequent goals and assists.

OPINION – BISHOP

Ian Bishop is back and I will always link him with 5-1! Granted he was signed on a free transfer and he might not be the Bishop of old but if he can bring back a fraction of the commitment he gave to the club in his 20-odd games previously, I have no doubt he will be an inspired signing. Hey, his signing is inspiring me at the moment!

Welcome back Ian. You were one who should never have left (along with Hendry, Quinn, Walsh etc.).

HELP NEEDED – TRAVELLER FROM OZ

I have a mate coming to England in April who would like to go to the Wolves game (11th – Away) and Birmingham (14th – Home).

Can anybody advise the best way to obtain tickets to the above matches?

Also, as he is a keen reader of McVittee and a mad Man City fan to boot he would love to catch up with some of you for a drink prior to and at the above games.

He is leaving on the 7th April so any information regards the above (i.e. Tickets & Pubs etc.) prior to this date would be greatly appreciated (note: he will be staying in Rugeley, near Stafford I believe – if there are any City fans in the area who would like to meet for a pint or two please let me know and I will pass onto Adrian).

C’mon you Blues! – If there is a god, surely we have suffered enough?

HELP – BRADFORD AWAY

Can anyone out there tell me how far Bradford City’s ground is from the train station? Can you walk or is it too far? Also, any Blues know of a pub that welcomes away fans? Thanks for your help.

WHY BLUE?

I suppose I’m really a natural Man. Utd. fan, my parents are Irish Catholics and I have always had trouble getting girlfriends. I was 8 when I heard there was another team in Manchester, seems a little old but I was brought up in an almost exclusively Irish environment and everyone supported Man U but no one actually discussed football or went to a match.

For the next year my allegiance changed almost weekly. I suppose it’s all a part of growing up, until my father took my brother and myself to see City. Stockport wasn’t that far away and I’m sure there was a bus at the end of our street that went to Bury but the man wasn’t to know and my brother had become City mad. It was 1966, we beat Blackpool 1-0 and during the match my brother shouted at Johnny Crossan asking if he’d recovered from his injury. Johnny Crossan winked at us, how can you support another team after that happens? 20 years later Justin Fashanu winked at me but it wasn’t the same.

Two years later we moved to live around the corner from Maine Road and I was there every week, we even used to sneak in to see them training. I bet a lot of kids in that era will remember wagging school to see us play Coventry in a League Cup match. It was mid-week and played during the day because of the miners’ strike. My brother ran onto the pitch and draped himself around Dennis Law after he had scored a goal. He ended up on the back page of the Daily Mirror; the next time he made the newspapers was last season when we lost to at home to Oxford and he went on the pitch to tell the players what he thought of them.

I haven’t been a regular since the late 70’s, I started playing on Saturday afternoons and then I left Manchester. When I left the country I really missed football and now I’m back in London I try to get to matches whenever they play down south.

WWW MANCHESTER CITY SUPPORTERS’ HOME PAGE:
http://www.uit.no/mancity/

MCIVTA ADDRESSES:
Contributions: Ashley – mcivta@tollbar.u-net.com
Subscriptions & Club Questions: Steve – sbolton@buxtonrd.u-net.com
Technical Problems: Paul – paul@city-fan.org

DISCLAIMER
The views expressed in MCIVTA are entirely those of the subscribersand there is no intention to represent these opinions as being thoseof Manchester City Football Club, nor of any of the companies anduniversities by whom the subscribers are employed. It is not inany way whatsoever connected to the club or any other relatedorganisation and is simply a group of supporters using this mediumas a means of disseminating news and exchanging opinions.

Ashley Birch, mcivta@tollbar.u-net.com

Editor: