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Favourite Pre-Season Game


Silvio Dante

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It’s a bit quiet here at the mo while the team are in the states and deals unlikely, if not impossible. So I was thinking of what we haven’t covered - and the above came to me.

Pre season games by nature are dull, sedate and forgettable but are there any that stand out?

For me, there are a few:

Chelsea (c1996). Ruud Gullit had just signed for Chelsea, before megastars were common in English football. IIRC, we drew 1-1 despite Gullit being majestic, in the back of my mind Phil Barber scored?

Ajax (c2010). Suarez. Emmanulson. Sno. Ripped us apart. And when we signed Sno I genuinely thought that was us promoted!

Liverpool (c1997). Mickie Owen, pre injuries, pre fame. 1-1 again IIRC?

Antwerp (c2009). Micky Naynard. Hat trick. 5-2. Shame how that ended.

R*vers (c2012). Louis testimonial. First game since the auto windscreens upset. Smashed them, 3-0. Could have been more.

Any more candidates?

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20 minutes ago, pride of the west said:

Seeing Samuel Eto for real mallorca was a pleasure for a pre season game

That's the one for me. They were 5-0 up at half time then made 11 changes. Think 2nd half was 1-1?

Etoos movement was brilliant. 

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37 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

It’s a bit quiet here at the mo while the team are in the states and deals unlikely, if not impossible. So I was thinking of what we haven’t covered - and the above came to me.

Pre season games by nature are dull, sedate and forgettable but are there any that stand out?

For me, there are a few:

Chelsea (c1996). Ruud Gullit had just signed for Chelsea, before megastars were common in English football. IIRC, we drew 1-1 despite Gullit being majestic, in the back of my mind Phil Barber scored?

Ajax (c2010). Suarez. Emmanulson. Sno. Ripped us apart. And when we signed Sno I genuinely thought that was us promoted!

Liverpool (c1997). Mickie Owen, pre injuries, pre fame. 1-1 again IIRC?

Antwerp (c2009). Micky Naynard. Hat trick. 5-2. Shame how that ended.

R*vers (c2012). Louis testimonial. First game since the auto windscreens upset. Smashed them, 3-0. Could have been more.

Any more candidates?

The Ruud Gullit one was hilarious, think there was a streaker on the pitch as well? 

Some good Gloucester Cups as well over the years as well. 

My favourite mind, more of a post-season friendly (and the concept is still bizarre) when we had the 3-3 against United. 

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One that stuck in my mind was against Borussia Monchengladbach - think it was 1998 after the John Ward promotion season.  We were torn apart by them. First and only time I’ve seen an old school German sweeper system - the sweeper controlled the match totally - he was total class. Think we lost 5-1.

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The Ajax friendly was impressive. It's the only time I've enjoyed a game where City got smashed comprehensively, having seen the strikes of Suarez tear the defence a new one. Albert Luque also scored from near the halfway line.

The gulf between the two teams was phenomenal and it wasn't helped by the fact we had to find a goalkeeper who could be in the area at the time of the game.  Johnson asked his brother at 2pm on the matchday if he could get someone into play by 6pm that evening. Slovakian Peter Brezovan came in from Swindon to play half of the game.

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9 minutes ago, Coppello said:

The Ajax friendly was impressive. It's the only time I've enjoyed a game where City got smashed comprehensively, having seen the strikes of Suarez tear the defence a new one. Albert Luque also scored from near the halfway line.

The gulf between the two teams was phenomenal and it wasn't helped by the fact we had to find a goalkeeper who could be in the area at the time of the game.  Johnson asked his brother at 2pm on the matchday if he could get someone into play by 6pm that evening. Slovakian Peter Brezovan came in from Swindon to play half of the game.

We signed Evander Sno after that ??

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1 hour ago, poland_exile said:

The Ruud Gullit one was hilarious, think there was a streaker on the pitch as well? 

Some good Gloucester Cups as well over the years as well. 

My favourite mind, more of a post-season friendly (and the concept is still bizarre) when we had the 3-3 against United. 

The 3-3 against Man Utd (just after they’d won their 1st Premier league title) was a testimonial for Chris Garland. 

Great game and occasion. 24k attendance, iirc. 

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7 hours ago, Oops said:

3-3 draw with Liverpool @1984?

Stevie Neville got 2, but I remember the day so clearly. Me, my dad and my grandad..that’s when I got hooked.

just after the heysal disaster that was oops so 85 remember walking from town when a car of mickys pulled up asking where ground is so I said give us a lift and ill show you the way …...also pretty sure we played man utd same sort of time lost 1 nil?......

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6 hours ago, Bar BS3 said:

The 3-3 against Man Utd (just after they’d won their 1st Premier league title) was a testimonial for Chris Garland. 

Great game and occasion. 24k attendance, iirc. 

That match was in 1993, I think.  We were 3-0 down at half time, but Russell Osman brought on the kids at half time (Matt Hewlett, Jason Fowler, Mike Bryant) and it finished 3-3.  Hewlett and Bryant started the first match of the next season, away to Wolves.

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18 minutes ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

That match was in 1993, I think.  We were 3-0 down at half time, but Russell Osman brought on the kids at half time (Matt Hewlett, Jason Fowler, Mike Bryant) and it finished 3-3.  Hewlett and Bryant started the first match of the next season, away to Wolves.

IIRC didn’t Man U bring on their kids in the second half as well. Which if I time it right may well have included some of the class of 92?

And I think you mean Mike Wyatt? Sure he scored, as did Ian Brown - third scorer escapes me

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47 minutes ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

That match was in 1993, I think.  We were 3-0 down at half time, but Russell Osman brought on the kids at half time (Matt Hewlett, Jason Fowler, Mike Bryant) and it finished 3-3.  Hewlett and Bryant started the first match of the next season, away to Wolves.

Yes that’s right. We also had a player called Ian Brown, who looked like a world beater - didn’t really turn out that way..! Scored about 1 or 2 goals the following season.

 

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9 hours ago, poland_exile said:

My favourite mind, more of a post-season friendly (and the concept is still bizarre) when we had the 3-3 against United. 

 

7 hours ago, Bar BS3 said:

The 3-3 against Man Utd (just after they’d won their 1st Premier league title) was a testimonial for Chris Garland. 

Great game and occasion. 24k attendance, iirc. 

 

1 hour ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

That match was in 1993, I think.  We were 3-0 down at half time, but Russell Osman brought on the kids at half time (Matt Hewlett, Jason Fowler, Mike Bryant) and it finished 3-3.  Hewlett and Bryant started the first match of the next season, away to Wolves.

That was my first ever game. I probably would have been a Man Utd fan more than anything at the time (I was young and impressionable and they were by far the best team in the country :fear:), but that comeback sowed the seeds for my love of City (I didn't know that it was probably staged as it was a testimonial :laugh:), and from that moment on I was asking my dad to take me whenever he could afford to, and I had a season ticket by the end of the decade! 

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9 hours ago, Oops said:

3-3 draw with Liverpool @1984?

Stevie Neville got 2, but I remember the day so clearly. Me, my dad and my grandad..that’s when I got hooked.

Didn't we go 3 down in very short order? Vague recollections of that one.

Another one was the false dawn of hammering Exeter away with Bridges and Stewart in the team.

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30 minutes ago, elhombrecito said:

 

 

That was my first ever game. I probably would have been a Man Utd fan more than anything at the time (I was young and impressionable and they were by far the best team in the country :fear:), but that comeback sowed the seeds for my love of City (I didn't know that it was probably staged as it was a testimonial :laugh:), and from that moment on I was asking my dad to take me whenever he could afford to, and I had a season ticket by the end of the decade! 

I’ve heard a few people in the past say that it was a staged comeback. I disagree! Ok, sure, United probably took their foot off the pedal a bit at 3-0 up, but I also remember Peter Schmeical making a couple of brilliant saves - he certainly wasn’t handing us the comeback on a plate. 

 

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Beating Ipswich 4-1 circa '75/76 always sticks in my mind.

Also I  thought the Man Utd game (Chris Garlands testimonial) mentioned was at the end of the season rather than a pre season 'friendly'....may be wrong

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11 hours ago, Silvio Dante said:

Chelsea (c1996). Ruud Gullit had just signed for Chelsea, before megastars were common in English football. IIRC, we drew 1-1 despite Gullit being majestic, in the back of my mind Phil Barber scored?

Liverpool (c1997). Mickie Owen, pre injuries, pre fame. 1-1 again IIRC?

R*vers (c2012). Louis testimonial. First game since the auto windscreens upset. Smashed them, 3-0. Could have been more.

These for me

Was in awe of that Chelsea side, little did we know when a certain Michael Owen made his debut that night what he would go to achieve, and of course beating the sags is always a highlight

One more to add when we won 1-0 away at the Gas, can't think of the guy who scored for us, we'd just signed him from Swindon. Remember they stopped for us to put the ball out following an injury and we whipped it into the net from near the touchline

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16 hours ago, LilRascal said:

One that stuck in my mind was against Borussia Monchengladbach - think it was 1998 after the John Ward promotion season.  We were torn apart by them. First and only time I’ve seen an old school German sweeper system - the sweeper controlled the match totally - he was total class. Think we lost 5-1.

Remember that one. They looked very good. Got a feeling it was 5-0 even. Remember looking out for them in the Bundesliga that season to see how they did...I think they went down (as did we)

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