Yes, I’ll get it out of
the way – I remember this historic match so-very well…
Video Part 1
Video Part 2
‘THAT’ game in
November 1987…
Usual bus into
Manchester and then it was either a bus from Piccadilly Gardens up Oxford Road
/ Wilmslow Road and then a ‘walk through’ OR a Finglands
bus from Manchester City Centre to Upper Lloyd Street and then a shorter walk
to the hallowed ground, Maine Road. I
can’t quite remember which one it was on that occasion…
It was an overcast,
chilly November afternoon and a little misty, I seem to recall – a perfect
Manchester day for a game of footy in mid-Autumn.
I’d have been 16-years
of age and, so, no pre-match ‘pub routine’ at that moment in time. I
probably got to the ground at least 1-½ hours ahead of kick-off with, perhaps,
some homemade sandwiches in a plastic bag to munch on as I sat on the concrete
steps of the Kippax Stand; reading the match-day programme whilst occasionally
glancing up to watch our goalkeeper being put through his paces, likely by
our coach at the time, Tony Book. I loved
that home, pre-match routine in those days – I couldn’t get to the ground
quickly nor early enough in order to make the time to soak up the vibes of our
old stadium and then watch as it slowly filled up with excited football fans both
home & away.
Our visitors came
out in a changed top that was later described as a beer mat or having the look
of a bruised banana. It was an unusual, striking top at the time but I recall
thinking around that same period that if you swapped the yellow for red, then
it was very similar to an away top that we had around that era also.
Huddersfield brought
a fair number of away fans with a few flags draped over some of the seating but
I remember them-looking a little lost in the large, old-looking Platt Lane end,
which still had wooden benches as opposed to plastic seats before its
redevelopment.
The official
attendance in the old second division / now Championship
was 19,583 but I remember the NOISE, at least, towards the end of the game - and
most-certainly around the stadium afterwards - making it feel like there
was a fair-few thousand more for sure.
Generally speaking, I
think I was stood fairly central in the Kippax Stand in those days but as we were
9-1 up, with former City player Andy May
having pulled one back from the penalty spot before-then acknowledging the home
fans in that very-same stand; I’d shuffled over to the right-hand-side in
readiness to exit via the most appropriate gate. What a position I was in,
therefore, to see goal-number 10 hit the back of the net!
David White, assisted by Paul Simpson, burst clear, quite likely offside
I have to add, and although at one stage it looked like he’d dragged his
shimmy around their keeper a little too wide; the pacy right-winger slotted
home to make footballing history. A hat trick each from 3 players in the same
side in one game. The stadium erupted!
There was a REAL
buzz outside the ground after the match too as I made my way behind the North
Stand and towards the Finglands buses that lined up ready to take jubilant
City fans back into Manchester’s centre. I recall constantly shaking my head in
utter disbelief as I made my way to where the buses were situated.
“10-1. TEN!”, I think I kept muttering to myself.
We went on a short run
of 3 wins and a draw after that match too but still only finished 9th
and ‘stayed down’ that season.
I was SO buoyed by
the 10-1 result that I just couldn’t resist adding Huddersfield Town away, in
the return league fixture, to my future plans. I went…and we lost 1-0. Typical
City…and quite-typical of most of my away trips in those days too. But, still,
I have fond memories of their old ground, Leeds Road, which had their own, Kippax-like stand down one side.
Now, I don’t know
whether back then my mum & dad had a regular Sunday newspaper on order for
delivery – I don’t recall either of them regularly nipping out to the local
shop every Sunday morning – OR whether I decided that I wanted to re-live
every moment of the match by reading, in detail, any & every report about
the game. However, what I DO recall was having a Sunday paper in my hands sat
in my mum & dad’s living room eager to see what had been written about my
side’s amazing, high-scoring league win the previous day.
Back page? No. Fair
enough – I suppose I had to accept that we were in the second tier of English
football and not in the ‘top flight’.
First, inside back
pages? NO?! What the…
Surely, then, the
next pages in. Nothing. Now my previous day’s glee was slowly starting to be
replaced by irritation.
No, it took a THIRD
turn of the back pages to find ANYTHING about our goal-filled, record-breaking
match. Clearly I’d have to wait for Monday night’s Manchester Evening News to get a proper report.
And some people wondered why we started to sing, “We’re not really here”.
For me, at least, this was just one example of why I sang it…
v Huddersfield Town
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct
from the starting line-up in the last game: 11/11).
A very fluid 4-2-3-1 / 4-5-1 (perhaps occasionally 3-6-1):
____________________Alvarez____________________
Grealish___________________________________Bobb
____________________Foden_____________________
____________Kovacic_________Lewis______________
Gvardiol__________________________________Walker
_____________Ake____________Akanji______________
____________________Ortega______________________
Subs: Ederson, Gomez, Alleyne,
Dias, Susoho, De Bruyne, Wright, Doku & Hamilton.
A change of keeper
for the F.A. Cup sees Stefan take the gloves for this one.
A back-4 of Josko,
Nathan, Manuel & Kyle, is my guess.
A fluid but largely
twin-defensive midfield I reckon, which consists of Mateo & Rico; with
Jack, Phil & Oscar ahead of those with more attacking duties.
Julian continues ‘up
front’.
Ederson retreats to
the bench, while Sergio, Max & Ruben provide defensive cover from the side.
Mahamadou, Kevin & Jacob could be our midfielders in ‘the 9’ waiting to get
the call, while a-possible returning Jeremy & Micah make up our reserve
wingers / forwards on the bench.
Notable absences:
- Scott Carson – Suffering with an illness that
appears to be sweeping through our squad at the moment, by all accounts.
- John Stones – Not yet training with the rest of
the squad following his recent ankle injury but getting better, we are told. An
unknown return date was also the message from our manager on Friday.
- Kalvin
Phillips – Out with
the same virus that’s going around the camp.
- Rodri – Back home in Spain following the
death of his grandma.
- Bernardo
Silva – Out also with
the same virus.
- Matheus
Nunes – Out with the
same illness too.
- Erling
Haaland – Erling returned
to training last Thursday but our manager informed us that there’s still some
doubt about a return for both this and our following league fixture on 13th
January.
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted)
line-up?
Well, for some reason when I look at
that predicted 11, I am reminded about what a torrid time Mateo Kovacic had
away at Wolves when asked to play a more defensive midfield position;
whilst at the same time clearly recall how lightweight and easily-knocked-off-the-ball
Rico Lewis was away at Villa.
But, all things considered, that’s a
good side against a struggling Championship outfit…as long as we don’t get
bullied and/or overrun in midfield we should be fine.
Result? Another
10-1’er? Well, at the risk of sounding arrogant there is every possibility. Our
visitors have played 26 Championship games, won only 5, drawn 10 and lost 11;
scoring just 26 in those-same 26 matches whilst conceding 44. Not good.
They currently sit 1 place and 3 points above the ‘drop
zone’ and their last 5 league games looks like this: D L W L L.
10-1? At home,
having had a week’s rest with top players returning from injury to give a
good-feel-boost to the camp? Huh…why not?
NB: Those were the words I prepared in
this longer-than-usual, pre-match blog-posting BEFORE ‘Part 1’ of Pep’s pre-match press conference; where he informed
us that we had at least seven players out either injured, ill or dealing with a
death in the family.
The picture has changed significantly - I can no longer envisage a 10-1 scoreline, if it was ever a possibility that is. Regardless, I just can’t see anything other than us-progressing
to the 4th round.
It’s a City win for me.
I understand that
the away team have been allocated 6,103 tickets and I expect The Terries will
bring a large following - should be a good cup atmosphere! ð
Last season’s, corresponding pre-match
prediction and result:
Prediction: N/A
Result: N/A
Expected weather conditions
during the game: Finally! A match without rain…or even wind! Winter as it should be, for me. Dry, sunny intervals and cold. 5C is the match temperature and there’s barely a breeze to speak of. Wrap up and enjoy!
 |
| Solidarity |
