Mahrez targets more Blues silverware
We follow in tracks of the players from City’s legendary victory over United
ONE of Manchester City’s most famous victories came at Maine Road in September 1989 when old foes Manchester United were thumped 5-1.
Two goals from David Oldfield, plus one each for Trevor Morley, Ian Bishop and Andy Hinchcliffe was more than enough to cancel out Mark Hughes’s effort for United.
The game has since been dubbed the “Maine Road Massacre”, and we have tracked down the City players who put Sir Alex Ferguson’s side to the sword that memorable day.
■ PAUL COOPER
Less than a year after the United game, goalkeeper Cooper had left to join Stockport County in the fourth division.
The now-66-year-old was forced to call time on his career because of injury soon after, with his final appearance coming for Stockport in a 1-0 defeat to Carlisle United in February 1991. He moved to Tenerife with his wife in 1997 to set up an online golf booking agency.
■ GARY FLEMING
Right-back Fleming spent just a year at City before he was sent out on loan to Notts County midseason and then sold to Barnsley. The Northern Irishman spent seven years at Oakwell, making over 200 appearances for the Tykes and earning 31 caps for his country. Fleming retired from the game in 1996 aged just 30 and trained as a physiotherapist. He spent 10 years as the physio for former club Nottingham Forest and now runs a sports injury clinic.
■ ANDY HINCHCLIFFE
One of the scorers on that famous day, Hinchcliffe spent four years at City before joining Everton, where he made nearly 200 appearances. Hinchcliffe’s playing career ended at Sheffield Wednesday, where he made just shy of a century of appearances before retiring in 2002. Since hanging up his boots, Hinchcliffe has carved out a media career, working as a co-commentator for Sky Sports.
■ IAN BISHOP
Another scorer that day, the Liverpool-born midfielder was another to spend less than a year at Maine Road. He joined West Ham in December 1989 and spent nine years there before rejoining the Citizens in 1998. After another three years at City, Bishop spent time playing for Miami Fusion in the US, Barry Town, Rochdale and Radcliffe Borough before wrapping up a remarkable 21-year career at New Orleans Shell Shockers. Most recently, he has worked as a coach with the Virginia Hammers in the USL League Two.
■ BRIAN GAYLE
The City captain on the day, Gayle left the club after a twoyear spell the following January to join Ipswich Town. The defender then took in Sheffield United, Exeter City, Rotherham United, Bristol Rovers, Shrewsbury Town and Telford United before retiring in 2001. He appeared as a member of the guards’ team in the 2001 film Mean Machine with former team-mate Vinnie Jones, but has otherwise remained out of the public eye.
■ STEVE REDMOND
Defender Redmond spent eight years at City before joining Oldham Athletic in 1992. He then joined Bury, where he became assistant
The two-goal hero of that memorable day, David Oldfield called many places home during his 22-year career
manager as well as a player after a spell as a co-caretaker manager. Since retiring, Redmond has worked as a driver for various builders’ merchants and then in a customer service role. His son, Daniel, plays for Welsh side The New Saints.
■ DAVID WHITE
The scorer of City’s first ever Premier League goal, White joined Leeds in December 1993 as part of the swap deal that took David Rocastle to Maine Road. After two years at Leeds he made the switch to Sheffield United, where he saw out the remainder of his career. The former England international ran a recycling company, White Recycling, with his brother in Manchester and Liverpool after his retirement, but it went into liquidation in 2015. In 2016, White came forward as one of several former players to allege they had been sexually abused by Barry Bennell, a former City scout and coach. Bennell has since been found guilty of historical child sexual abuse and sentenced to 31 years in prison.
■ DAVID OLDFIELD
The two-goal hero of that memorable day, Oldfield called many places home during his 22-year playing career. He too spent less than a year at City, joining Leicester midway through the 1989/90 campaign. He went on to play for Luton
Town, Stoke City, Peterborough United, Oxford United, Stafford Rangers and Tamworth before finishing his playing career at Brackley Town in 2008. Oldfield soon took up coaching fulltime. After spells as a development coach at West Brom and the head of the MK Dons academy, he was named Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s assistant at Burton in 2014. He took over as manager of former club Oxford in March of this year.
■ TREVOR MORLEY
Another of City’s goalscorers on a glorious day, the 59-yearold also had spells at West Ham and Reading before retiring from football in 1998. Morley also had loan spells with a couple of Norwegian clubs during his time at Reading, prompting to Arsenal to make him their Norway scout. The Nottingham-born striker then took the manager’s role at SK Bergen Sparta, who were playing in the Norwegian fifth-tier. Nowadays, Morley is still living in Norway and working as a pundit for television station TV 2.
■ IAN BRIGHTWELL
One of four players in the team who beat United, along with White, Redmond and Paul Lake, who won the FA Youth Cup with City in 1986. Brightwell spent 12 years playing for the Citizens at a professional level. Following City’s relegation to the third tier, he joined Coventry City on a free transfer before finishing up his playing career with stints at Walsall, Stoke, Port Vale and Macclesfield Town. It was at Port Vale that he gained his first coaching experience, and he continued those duties when he made the switch to Macclesfield, eventually taking over as manager of the Silkmen in 2007. In 2010, he co-founded CourtCare, a company dedicated to the building and maintenance of squash courts.
■ PAUL LAKE
The Manchester-born midfielder was a one-club man. Now 51, Lake spent his entire career at City from 1986 to 1996. After injury forced him to retire at the age of 28, he trained as a physiotherapist, working with clubs including City, Burnley and Bolton.
In 2011, Lake released an autobiography entitled I’m Not Really Here, which received acclaim for its brutal honesty over the mental health challenges he faced during his career. It was nominated for Football Book of the Year at the 2011 British Sports Book Awards. Most recently, he has worked with the Premier League as a club support manager, helping youth and senior players learn how to manage their lives outside the game.