The day things finally turned for ‘typical City’
CITY fans must have thought it was happening all over again.
After two seasons of hard work and graft following relegation to the third tier, all they needed to do was draw at Blackburn to seal their return to the Premier League for the 2000/01 season.
City had done the hard work the week before, with a tense win over Birmingham. That victory prompted a pitch invasion at Maine Road, and fans duly packed out Ewood Park on the final day – in all sections of the ground.
So when City fell behind at the break, all those thousands of Blues fans in Blackburn and back in Manchester must have felt like ‘Typical City’ was going to be taken to a whole new level. They had escaped from 2-0 down with three minutes to play in the play-off final the previous year, and now they were 30 minutes from another play-off campaign.
Knowing what was riding on the game, then-chairman David Bernstein made a rare intervention in the City dressing room before kick-off.
“I told the players they had an opportunity to make history, genuine sporting history,” he said.
“We had fallen so far. I said if we could get back quickly, they would have a permanent place in the affections of our supporters.
“I must admit I was sure we would
I told the players they had a chance to make history, genuine sporting history David Bernstein
win that day. We had been on such a long and exciting journey and I knew we wouldn’t fall at the final hurdle. There was a new confidence about the club, a good feeling which had got through to the fans.”
Bernstein is referring to the brilliant second-half turnaround at Ewood Park that saw City get the allimportant equaliser through topscorer, Shaun Goater, on 60 minutes, before running riot through Mark Kennedy, Paul Dickov and a Christian Dailly own goal.
The result arguably flattered City, but they had done it. Two years after the disastrous relegation to the third division, they had recorded back-toback promotions to return to the top flight. As Bernstein put it, they had made history, and defied the ‘Typical City’ ending that had threatened to ruin the day.
One of the enduring memories of that day at Blackburn was the sheer number of City fans at Ewood Park.
“There were more City fans than Blackburn!” Goater told ManCity. com.
“That’s typical of City, you know – die-hard Man City fans. When you have these occasions, they go to these games and they get the seats of the opposition if they’re not taking them.”
Manager Joe Royle, who masterminded the journey from Division Two to Premier League, remembers the game slightly differently, though.
“We went in 1-0 behind at halftime and we sat down. We didn’t have a big row – I just sat down with the players and said: ‘Listen, this isn’t us and the golden rule is – no matter how bad we play at times, we always score.’
“I think they hit the post again and it bounced back into Nicky Weaver’s arms and I turned around to our coach, Asa Hartford, and said: ‘There’s something strange going on here. It’s like someone decided these fans and the club has had enough.’”
‘Blackburn 2000’ may not have the same iconic moment as ‘Gillingham 1999’ or QPR 2012,’ but it played as important a role in City’s modern history as any other game.
It set the foundations for the City we know today.