After a 1-0 defeat at title-hopefuls Ipswich Manchester City faced Norwich on this day (30 October) in 1976. City’s lack of goals in previous games had caused a little concern to manager Tony Book, and he asked coach Bill Taylor to take target men Joe Royle and Brian Kidd, together with Dennis Tueart, for some special training. Book commented afterwards: ‘The causes for the lack of success were discussed very sensibly, and the main lesson learned was that both players had made life more difficult for themselves by attempting to do each other’s job.’
He added: ‘I had in mind that, if the week’s work did not provide signs of improvement, then the attack would be re-adjusted but not necessarily by the omission of both players from the side. As it happened, all came well at Norwich, I do not simply refer to the late goals they grabbed which gave us the 2-0 victory. The display was vastly improved, and even had they failed to get on the scoring sheet at Carrow Road I knew there was enough in their work and the way their talents were being harnessed that justified me having patience for a little longer.’
Kidd netted the opening goal in the 87th minute and Royle made it 2-0 a minute later. The 2-0 win placed City second, three points behind Liverpool, but more significantly the win was the first of an undefeated run of 17 League and Cup games.
Off the pitch the two games away in East Anglia were noteworthy for the appearance of a new chant on the terraces. After the film The Vikings, starring Tony Curtis and Kirk Douglas, had appeared on TV in London, a few days before the Ipswich game, and in Granadaland a few days before the Norwich match, several fans adapted the famous Viking Call used in the film to call out ‘CCC-IIII-TTT-YYY’. Over the months that followed the chant grew in popularity with the words ‘The best team in the land, and all the world’ eventually added. It remains a popular match day chant. More on this here:
You can also read more on this season if you subscribe to the website. Here’s a 2,100 word article on the entire 1976-77 season – a season which saw City come close to League success.
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