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Bell, Lee Summerbee Statue

It was great to be at the Etihad today for the unveiling of the statue celebrating the achievements of England internationals Colin Bell, Francis Lee and Mike Summerbee. The statue recognises the achievements of all those involved in winning the major trophies of 1968 to 1970, including City’s first European trophy of course and many of those former players were here for this wonderful day.

Members of the families of Colin Bell, Francis Lee and Mike Summerbee, together with Mike of course, were present to see the statue this morning. After they’d had their personal time with the statue a celebratory brunch occurred. It included a speech from Ferran Soriano and interviews with the sculptor, club archivist Steph Alder, photographer Kevin Cummins, journalist Chris Bailey and myself. We were asked about the significance of the players and that era.

For me one of the most important aspects is that it recognises all the players who appeared in City’s title success of 1968 and in the trophy successes that followed (FA Cup, League Cup and ECWC). That’s significant and fits with comments that all three men have said over the decades that the successes under Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison were the work of an entire team. Bell, Lee & Summerbee always praised the others.

I love the statue as it shows the men in movement. Often football statues are standing poses or similar, with no suggestion of movement, but this is a wonderful piece of three men moving forward. It’s a great work.

The statue is located in front of the main entrance in a specially paved area which allows fans who want to take a photo to stand with the three men in motion with the Etihad in the background.

There was inevitably some emotion today as Colin and Francis are no longer with us but I do know that Colin was aware that a statue was on its way and Francis did approve the style and saw representations of it. All families seem happy with this work of art.

For those who want to know more on the statues, there will be a film which will be on City’s channel and on YouTube I’m told soon. In the meantime, go and have a look yourself.

Here’s something the club issues a few days ago on the sculptor:

This installation will be located on the west side of the perimeter and will be unveiled on Tuesday morning ahead of a UEFA Champions League meeting with RB Leipzig later that day, where fans will be invited to visit the permanent tribute to an extraordinary era in the Club’s history.

Speaking of his appointment to the project David Williams-Ellis said:

“It is a great honour to create a work of art for Manchester City Football Club celebrating the diverse, talented players, Bell, Lee and Summerbee.

“It’s been an extraordinary last two years, working on this project that celebrates these players from a great era in Manchester City’s football history.

“I hope that the work will give a sense of history and place to the legions of fans and visitors that come to the football ground from around the world and become an enduring part of Manchester’s cultural landscape.”

David Williams-Ellis – Artist Biography

David Williams-Ellis’ sculptures, worked in clay directly from life, are inspired by the romanticism of Rodin and Bourdelle and are noted for their sense of movement and vitality.

David was classically trained in Florence under drawing teacher, Nerina Simi. From there he went on to be an apprentice wood carver and then joined a community of marble carvers beneath the Carrara Mountains in Pietresanta.

David’s reputation was cemented after his time in Italy. Today, his work is in private and public collections across the globe and can be seen in flagship buildings including Scone Palace in Perthshire, Aberdeen’s Maritime Museum, the IFC Building in Shanghai and Oxford House, Swires, Hong Kong.

Amongst his most notable work includes the D-Day Memorial Sculpture, unveiled on 6th June 2019 above Gold Beach in Normandy to commemorate the 22443 service men and women who fell on D-Day and in the Normandy campaign under British command.

Here’s the D Day Memorial:

Lee Jackson Man of the Match

Today (28 November) in 2021 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believed that City groundsman Lee Jackson and his team were the real stars as City defeated West Ham 2-1 in snowy conditions. Pep said: ‘I think the groundkeepers, the men who took care of the pitch, were the men of the match. They did an incredible job so we could play the game today.’

In the first half with heavy snow falling on a pitch already covered in it, there was a real fear the game might not reach its conclusion. Lee Jackson and his team got to work and, with the aid of a half-time interval extended by referee Michael Oliver by five minutes, the surface was clear enough to play on.

City won the game with goals from Gundogan (33rd minute) and Fernandinho (90). West Ham scored a consolation (Lanzini) in the 4th minute of added time.

Today’s the Day: Bell, Lee Summerbee Statue Unveiling

As well as tonight’s European game at the Etihad another major event is happening at the home of Manchester City. The statue celebrating the achievements of England internationals Colin Bell, Francis Lee and Mike Summerbee is being unveiled. I will be there and I know the statue recognises the achievements of all those involved in winning the major trophies of 1968 to 1970, including City’s first European trophy of course.

I’m sure it will be an excellent day. For those who want to know more on the statues, here’s something the club issues a few days ago on the sculptor:

This installation will be located on the west side of the perimeter and will be unveiled on Tuesday morning ahead of a UEFA Champions League meeting with RB Leipzig later that day, where fans will be invited to visit the permanent tribute to an extraordinary era in the Club’s history.

Speaking of his appointment to the project David Williams-Ellis said:

“It is a great honour to create a work of art for Manchester City Football Club celebrating the diverse, talented players, Bell, Lee and Summerbee.

“It’s been an extraordinary last two years, working on this project that celebrates these players from a great era in Manchester City’s football history.

“I hope that the work will give a sense of history and place to the legions of fans and visitors that come to the football ground from around the world and become an enduring part of Manchester’s cultural landscape.”

David Williams-Ellis – Artist Biography

David Williams-Ellis’ sculptures, worked in clay directly from life, are inspired by the romanticism of Rodin and Bourdelle and are noted for their sense of movement and vitality.

David was classically trained in Florence under drawing teacher, Nerina Simi. From there he went on to be an apprentice wood carver and then joined a community of marble carvers beneath the Carrara Mountains in Pietresanta.

David’s reputation was cemented after his time in Italy. Today, his work is in private and public collections across the globe and can be seen in flagship buildings including Scone Palace in Perthshire, Aberdeen’s Maritime Museum, the IFC Building in Shanghai and Oxford House, Swires, Hong Kong.

Amongst his most notable work includes the D-Day Memorial Sculpture, unveiled on 6th June 2019 above Gold Beach in Normandy to commemorate the 22443 service men and women who fell on D-Day and in the Normandy campaign under British command.

Here’s the D Day Memorial:

Olympique Lyonnais 2 Manchester City 2

Today (27 November) in 2018 Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City drew 2-2 at Lyon to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League. Pep said at the time that Lyon were ‘one of the toughest teams’ City had ever faced in the competition. You can watch highlights here:

https://www.mancity.com/citytv/match-highlights/2018/november/lyon-manchester-city-highlights-champions-league-video

Maxwel Cornet gave the home side an early second-half lead before City defender Aymeric Laporte levelled with a header. Cornet made it 2-1 after 81 minutes but then Sergio Aguero reacted quickest to flick in a header two minutes later.

In his post match interviews Pep commented: ‘We are so delighted and so happy. It is a big compliment for the team. We played one of toughest teams we’ve ever faced. They are physical, strong, they counter-attack incredible. We reacted after 1-0 and 2-1 and we are in the final stages. This was our target.’

He added: ‘Now we must try to get a point to finish first in the group stage, but it is so important to go through.’

City had qualified for the last 16 with one game to spare.

Happy Anniversary

Today (27 November) is the 35th anniversary of the first game played by Manchester City Ladies (now Women). This was against Oldham Athletic Ladies at Boundary Park. This photo is the earliest press team photo of the club. 

These are pioneering City players and many dedicated considerable time to the club for years. The first ever game ended in a 4-1 City victory with Donna Haynes scoring 2 (including the historic 1st goal). Heidi Ward also scored 2 that day. I was there watching this historic first game and I included some brief details in my first book, published in 1989. 

This match report was in an Oldham newspaper & was reproduced in my 2019 Manchester City Women An Oral History book (see https://gjfootballarchive.com/shop/ for details of it). 

The club was founded via City In The Community (CITC) with Neil Mather playing the lead role as manager of the club. His drive and the determination of the women involved ensured this club had a life. At the time the wider Manchester City club (in particular CITC) did something that few other clubs were doing. The achievements back then and the years of dedication by the women involved ensured this club lived for years.

When the club was relaunched as Manchester City Women some national newspapers and others in the media suggested this was a new club without a history. That was damaging and hurtful to all those involved back in 1988 and the years that followed. If anything the history of Manchester City Ladies before it became City Women was similar to the majority of women’s clubs. It had gone through the trials and tribulations most face and was kept going by a dedicated band of players and supporters. Unlike Everton and Liverpool (and many others) City did not take over an existing club, they created one back in 1988 when the others had zero interest. So today’s anniversary is important in recognising the wonderful work of these women (and of the men like Neil Mather, Godfrey Williams, Ian Lees and others who were involved over the decades) and of Manchester City itself. 

The club gets criticised often for a lack of history but this is all rubbish spouted by rivals. City have delivered in men’s football longer than many rivals and they’ve delivered in women’s football longer than. many rivals too.  

Later today I’ll be posting a detailed 2,200 word article on the club’s first game back in 1988.

Happy anniversary.

Manchester v Liverpool

This weekend marks the latest in the series of games between one of the Manchester clubs and a Liverpool team. Today (25 November 2023) treble winners City face second placed Liverpool at the Etihad. Tomorrow it’s 6th placed United v 19th placed Everton (who have been docked points for Financial Fair Play breach). Understandably, much will be made of the Manchester-Liverpool rivalry and it is true that the two cities have been rivals for over 150 years (it certainly predates the building of the Ship Canal!) BUT the football clubs have not always been rivals. In fact Utd and Liverpool have been close over the decades at times while the on-the-pitch rivalry between City and Liverpool was extremely strong in the late 60s and 70s.

The strength of the two conurbations’ footballing rivalries came during the late 1960s but intensified in the late 70s. Prior to this one-off seasons may have seen grudge matches or significant games between clubs from the cities but nothing more than that. In fact for many, many years Manchester United and Liverpool, for example, were extremely close. They once put forward a suggestion to the Football League that all home teams should wear red and away teams white – the rest of football soon got wise to the plan!

There was also the time when United and Liverpool ‘fixed’ a game of football. It’s a long story (amazingly United’s solicitor was part of the ‘neutral’ investigating committee!) and can be read here:

Match Fixing – Manchester United v Liverpool: A Long Read

The rivalry between the footballing clubs developed in the 60s and there were many significant games between all the clubs in the two cities with several prominent matches (there were significant grudge matches between Everton and City for example in the 60s and at one point Liverpool’s Bill Shankly told the media that City were Liverpool’s biggest rival!).

Back in 1995 I interviewed former Manchester City boss John Bond at his home. The interview lasted about two hours and here’s a brief snippet from that interview where Bond talks about beating Liverpool on Boxing Day 1981.

The Blues won 3-1 (Bond, Hartford & Reeves) then two days later (Bond says it’s the next day in this clip but it was 28th December) City defeated Wolves 2-1 at Maine Rd. John discusses a brilliant goal from Trevor Francis. City went top of the League after the Wolves victory.

Stick with the clip because it ends with Bond’s views on how Liverpool used to react to wins and defeats. I’d best not comment – have a listen:

I’ve covered one particularly bitter moment in the City-Liverpool rivalry from the 80s that concerns John Bond here:

40 Years Ago Today (Yes, 40!) – ‘Illegal Jumping’, Alf Grey and Manchester City (Sorry!)

I hope this weekend’s games between go well and it’d be great if one of Manchester’s Blues could score four goals as Fred Howard did on his debut against Liverpool – see:

https://gjfootballarchive.com/2021/01/18/imagine-scoring-four-goals-for-mcfc-against-liverpool-on-your-debut/

and Frank Roberts did:

https://gjfootballarchive.com/2021/01/17/the-flu-limits-mcfcs-selections-but-they-beat-liverpool-5-0-roberts-4-goals/

Whatever happens enjoy the weekend and remember these games are individual matches. No season is determined in one fixture.

Bell, Lee Summerbee Statue Latest

Looking forward to Tuesday…

WORLD-RENOWNED SCULPTOR REVEALED AS ARTIST BEHIND PERMANENT TRIBUTE TO CITY’S LEGENDARY TRIUMVIRATE

  • Unveiling confirmed for Tuesday 28 November
  • World-renowned sculptor David Williams-Ellis chosen following exhaustive selection process overseen by Club Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak
  • Tribute will celebrate the legacy of Manchester City’s trophy-laden era of the late 1960s and early 1970s Manchester City Football Club is delighted to reveal that world-renowned sculptor David Williams-Ellis is the artist behind a permanent tribute to legendary triumvirate Colin Bell, Francis Lee and Mike Summerbee. A student of eminent octogenarian drawing teacher, Nerina Simi, Williams-Ellis sought out classical training in Florence where his signature style was first established. His sculptures, worked in clay, from life, are inspired by the romanticism of French sculptors Auguste Rodin and Antoine Bourdelle and are noted for their sense of movement and vitality. With exhibitions proudly displayed at Perthshire’s Scone Palace, Aberdeen’s Maritime Museum and the IFC Building in Shanghai, Williams-Ellis is perhaps most famously known for his commission of the Normandy Memorial Trust’s D-Day Sculpture. That monument was unveiled by French President Emmanuel Macron and then-British Prime Minister Theresa May in 2019. Designed and created at his Oxfordshire home studio, Williams-Ellis’s work on this commission has focused on capturing the motion and characteristics of each player and embodying the spirit of their combined 30 years representing Manchester City. This initiative is the latest in a series of tributes to key figures forming the Club’s legacy project, first announced in 2019 and directed by Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak. Modern-day legends Vincent Kompany, Sergio Aguero and David Silva were celebrated upon their respective departures from the Club, with each of their sculptures located on the east side of the stadium, in addition to permanent mosaic artworks featured throughout the City Football Academy.

This installation will be located on the west side of the perimeter and will be unveiled on Tuesday morning ahead of a UEFA Champions League meeting with RB Leipzig later that day, where fans will be invited to visit the permanent tribute to an extraordinary era in the Club’s history.

Speaking of his appointment to the project David Williams-Ellis said:

“It is a great honour to create a work of art for Manchester City Football Club celebrating the diverse, talented players, Bell, Lee and Summerbee.

“It’s been an extraordinary last two years, working on this project that celebrates these players from a great era in Manchester City’s football history.

“I hope that the work will give a sense of history and place to the legions of fans and visitors that come to the football ground from around the world and become an enduring part of Manchester’s cultural landscape.”

David Williams-Ellis – Artist Biography

David Williams-Ellis’ sculptures, worked in clay directly from life, are inspired by the romanticism of Rodin and Bourdelle and are noted for their sense of movement and vitality.

David was classically trained in Florence under drawing teacher, Nerina Simi. From there he went on to be an apprentice wood carver and then joined a community of marble carvers beneath the Carrara Mountains in Pietresanta.

David’s reputation was cemented after his time in Italy. Today, his work is in private and public collections across the globe and can be seen in flagship buildings including Scone Palace in Perthshire, Aberdeen’s Maritime Museum, the IFC Building in Shanghai and Oxford House, Swires, Hong Kong.

Amongst his most notable work includes the D-Day Memorial Sculpture, unveiled on 6th June 2019 above Gold Beach in Normandy to commemorate the 22443 service men and women who fell on D-Day and in the Normandy campaign under British command.

Here’s the D Day Memorial:

Starting Tomorrow: The 1980s

A new series of articles for subscribers starts covering the 1980s. This will be a seasonal journey through a truly important decade in the history of Manchester City Football Club. There will be a different season each day. Re-live the highs and lows of that decade.

If you’d like to read this series then please subscribe. Details below:

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Flashback to 1993: Radio Interview About Joe Mercer

Late in 1993 Jimmy Wagg interviewed me on GMR about my new book on Joe Mercer. Next month it’ll be 30 years (I know!) since that book came out and so I thought I’d post the recording of the interview with Jimmy from that year. The quality is not great (neither are my answers at times!) but you can now hear the recording on my website.

If you want to hear why I did the book and the answers I gave back then have a listen now. Here goes (again apologies for the quality of the recording):

While you’re here why not have a look at all the other articles, interviews, videos and material on this site. Subscribers get access to everything and this includes PDFs of the entire Manchester A Football History book; From Maine Men To Banana Citizens (my first book) and Farewell To Maine Road. There are also audio recordings of my interviews with John Bond, Malcolm Allison, George Graham etc. It costs £3 per month or £20 per year. Details of how to subscribe below:

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King of the Kippax: End of an Era

The deadline for the last ever King of the Kippax fanzine has passed and I missed it. I meant to get something sent to Dave and Sue Wallace but circumstances meant I couldn’t and I really regret that. So instead I’m posting here a piece I wrote ten years ago in 2013 when there were a series of footballing anniversaries. It’s not quite what I intended but I hope it says enough of how I feel about fanzines and the role of King of the Kippax over the decades.

It’s a season of footballing anniversaries this year (2013).  The FA celebrates 150 years, the Football League 125 and King of the Kippax an amazing 25 years.  Of these three anniversaries KK is inevitably getting the least focus but in many ways its significance to football, or at least our team, has been greater during its first 25 years than the FA’s first 25. 

The FA did little to support football in Manchester for decades and it wasn’t until Manchester’s clubs started to take the FA Cup seriously that the organisation began to matter.  But even then the FA did its upmost to prevent our professional clubs from challenging properly.  In 1904 when City became Manchester’s first FA Cup winners how did the FA react?  They decided we must be doing something illegal and sent auditors to the club to determine if we had ‘bought’ success.  Okay, so they found a few irregularities with a transfer from Glossop, but for the following year or so they relentlessly pursued our club (and to be fair did something similar with Newton Heath, who became United, and with Glossop). Ultimately, we received a devastating punishment and the club could have died. I won’t go on about how unjust all of this was – City were no worse than most sides the difference being that the FA was determined to catch us out! – but if you do want to read an account of it dig out my latest book “Manchester The City Years”.

Despite all of this the FA Cup actually gave City our first success and we should ensure we celebrate 23 April 1904 (the date of the final) every year – make St George’s Day City’s day!

The Football League was more supportive of City during those early years, but prior to 1892 the League had no involvement from either Manchester side despite the League holding its first meeting in Manchester.  Our celebrations of the League should really come in 4 years’ time when it’ll be 125 years since City (as Ardwick) joined the League. Although it’s worth pointing out that Ardwick and Manchester City were two separate organisations – and stressed as such at the time – and even existed alongside each other for a short while (personally though, I see MCFC as a continuation of Ardwick in spirit if not in legal terms). From 1892 to 2002 (when City last competed in the Football League) the Football League was central to City’s life.  The competition became City’s lifeblood as far as competition was concerned.

What about KK?  Well, unlike the other two KK was significant to City and City fans from the start. It was born in an era when fans had much to say but little opportunity to be heard. Alongside the other fanzines born in the late 1980s KK gave us a voice and a shared understanding of what the issues at City and in football were.  Before the fanzines our only real outlet was the Piccadilly Radio phone-in on Saturdays which came in to its own during the time James H Reeve was at the helm.  We had no forums, blogs, tweets etc. We didn’t have phone-in shows on national radio or fan columns in newspapers. We didn’t have interaction with the club, other than via supporters clubs meetings which some fans saw as being too weak to challenge the club on key issues (I won’t get into all of that here, but it’s worth noting that some fans did feel the Supporters Club was too close to Peter Swales and, as he was often the cause of fan concerns, that caused some issues).

We did also have the Pink postbag in the Saturday sports paper, sadly no longer with us.  Unfortunately, journalists on the paper in the late 80s would contact the club to get their views before publishing a controversial or critical letter (this happened with one from me in 1987 which presented evidence about an issue that mattered to fans but was ultimately swept under the carpet). Censorship and club propaganda was an issue at a time when the game was dying and fans were being treated appallingly.

King of the Kippax helped to give us a voice and helped highlight the issues.  Staff at City would be sent out to buy the fanzine in its early days, while others would do all they could to limit the fanzine’s opportunity to question what was going on – proving the significance of the fanzine.  I don’t want to get too giddy about what KK and the other fanzines achieved but it is important that we all understand what has been achieved.  It’s a bit like the electoral system – people fought hard to get the vote in the face of adversity but today we take it all for granted.  We think it’s always been like this.  Now with social media it would be easy to forget what KK and the other fanzines have achieved.  Many fanzines have stopped being produced, which makes it all the more important to celebrate KK’s 25th anniversary and to congratulate Dave, Sue and all the contributors over the years for what they’ve achieved.  I still read KK from cover to cover and find all the regular contributors interesting.  I don’t always agree with everything I read but, I guess, that’s always been the point.  KK has promoted debate and encouraged fans to think about issues, and that’s how it should be.

I hope King Of The Kippax continues to provide a powerful outlet for fans for years to come.  It’s important that we remember that before the fanzines we didn’t have a voice. Thanks Dave & Sue, and the others, for all you’ve done and continue to do for us.

Twitter: @garyjameswriter

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My copy of the 1st King of the Kippax
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