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Who is the biggest star to have played for City?


Major Isewater

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2 hours ago, pongo88 said:

Selection for the England team in those days was a haphazard affair. The England manager was really a coach who had to use the players selected by a committee of FA officials. Another factor acting against Atyeo was he was a player from an unfashionable second division club. If he had player for a better club he would probably have gained more caps. 

Didn't he score the goal that got us through from the group stage to the 58 finals, only not to make the squad. Pathetic.

There's little doubt that he was black-balled by the selection comittee because of who he played for, and yes he would absolutely have gained more caps had he been playing in the first division.

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3 hours ago, Davefevs said:

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No wonder he went on to bury his bristol city association. I doubt many in the States, aside from his wife's family, have any idea that he was Kevin Mabbutt Superstar in a former life. That's even if they make a connection to him being England and Spurs, Gary Mabbutt's, older brother.

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When I did the stadium tour many, many moons ago, the guy talked about a day when Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley both played for City - he said it was in the days when the players travelled to away games by car and one car broke down and didn’t turn up at Southampton away - according to our tour guide the stadium announcer asked if anyone would like to turn out for City and Bill and Bob, who happened to be there, climbed over the advertising hoardings and said ‘yes’ - cracking story and I’d love it to be true, but if he made it up then he’s a bit sad ... ??

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20 minutes ago, Sleepy1968 said:

Didn't he score the goal that got us through from the group stage to the 58 finals, only not to make the squad. Pathetic.

There's little doubt that he was black-balled by the selection comittee because of who he played for, and yes he would absolutely have gained more caps had he been playing in the first division.

Didn’t John think that Johnny Haynes allegedly scuppered his international career because he just didn’t like him? I obviously have no evidence of this either way, but it is interesting given Mr Atyeo’s scoring record at international level ...

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11 minutes ago, BS4 on Tour... said:

Didn’t John think that Johnny Haynes allegedly scuppered his international career because he just didn’t like him? I obviously have no evidence of this either way, but it is interesting given Mr Atyeo’s scoring record at international level ...

Ah, interesting. Would this have made it into his biography? I had a copy at one time but I've no idea what happened to it.

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6 hours ago, Eddie Hitler said:

David Moyes for his subsequent managerial career would be probably the biggest football star to have played for us.

Along the same lines I would give a mention to Steve McLaren, a distinctly average player for us, but had a high profile managerial career. 

Overall though I would say David James is our best know player, obviously for his football career, but he also does a lot of punditry and pops up in quite a lot of football and other documentaries.  

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57 minutes ago, BS4 on Tour... said:

Didn’t John think that Johnny Haynes allegedly scuppered his international career because he just didn’t like him? I obviously have no evidence of this either way, but it is interesting given Mr Atyeo’s scoring record at international level ...

I'm sure I've read somewhere that his omission was also due to the fact that he played as an amateur and refused to sign as a professional due to his school teaching career.

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4 hours ago, GrahamC said:

People certainly like to build Dziekanowski up, don’t they?

Poland actually made their only World Cup semi final in 1974, whereas he made his Poland debut in 1981.

The only World Cup he played at (1986) Poland didn’t get past the group stage.

get yer facts right, Poland played in the 1982 semi finals as well.....although I've just checked and Jacki wasn't in the squad ?

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8 hours ago, BS4 on Tour... said:

When I did the stadium tour many, many moons ago, the guy talked about a day when Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley both played for City - he said it was in the days when the players travelled to away games by car and one car broke down and didn’t turn up at Southampton away - according to our tour guide the stadium announcer asked if anyone would like to turn out for City and Bill and Bob, who happened to be there, climbed over the advertising hoardings and said ‘yes’ - cracking story and I’d love it to be true, but if he made it up then he’s a bit sad ... ??

Hate to tell you this having helped research David Woods City history books but the City guide who relayed this story to you is conflating facts. Yes, it did occur that City went to Southampton in a wartime match and only about 7 players got there and the rest of the team was made up from spectators after an appeal was made but that didn't include Shankly and Paisley.

Lots of future and current footballing greats played at Ashton Gate during the war mainly for forces representative sides such as the RAF XI, including Shankly and Paisley as well as Matthews and Billy Wright (who as a young player was a winger). But 100% no, Shankly and Paisley were not amongst the spectators at The Dell that day who volunteered to play for City.

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8 hours ago, Sleepy1968 said:

Didn't he score the goal that got us through from the group stage to the 58 finals, only not to make the squad. Pathetic.

There's little doubt that he was black-balled by the selection comittee because of who he played for, and yes he would absolutely have gained more caps had he been playing in the first division.

Yes Atyeo scored England's goal in the 1-1 draw with the Republic of Ireland that qualified England for the 1958 World Cup. Ireland's goal was scored by another City player, Dermot Curtis.

Considering his goal scoring record for club and country plus the fact England lost a star striker, Tommy Taylor, in the Feb 58 Munich air crash, Atyeo would seem to have been a shoe in to make the squad for Sweden. Unfortunately, Walter Winterbottom brought his influence to bear on the selectors by insisting that all the squad were full time professional players. Atyeo was always a part time player on full time wages and could never be persuaded to be otherwise.

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8 hours ago, The Horse With No Name said:

Surprised nobody has mentioned Peter Cormack. A glittering Liverpool career, Scotland caps,  then a swansong at the Gate.

As good as Cormack was I don’t think many people consider him a ‘star’ player. 
 

He wasn’t a ‘ big player ‘ at Liverpool or well known for his exploits internationally or in the public eye.

Most British people will have never heard of him, unlike Norman ‘Bites yer legs’Hunter, Joe ‘Jaws’ Jordan or ‘ Calamity’ James.  

Still it’s just opinions.

35 minutes ago, harvey54 said:

If you ask him, Bobby Gould would say he was....

A legend in his own living room.

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10 hours ago, The Horse With No Name said:

Surprised nobody has mentioned Peter Cormack. A glittering Liverpool career, Scotland caps,  then a swansong at the Gate.

I think people have forgotten  Peter Cormack as, during his time at City, he was average to say the least 

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1 hour ago, One Team said:

At the time of joining us I would say David James.

When he started against Millwall on the first day of the season his previous game had been a few weeks prior in the World Cup in South Africa, playing Germany.

Turned out to be a joke, and the worse big name signing we ever made, remember when he punched the ball into his own net from the edge of the penalty area!

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19 hours ago, Offside said:

The likes of Norman Hunter and Joe Royle were before my time.

When we signed Joe Jordan I was aware of him but didn’t know much about him (I was only in my early teens) - although I do remember the mighty Roger Malone being (rightfully) gushing about him in the HTV highlights of Joe’s debut (5-0 win v Doncaster from what I recall). 

Jackie, as a Polish international, felt like a very glitzy signing at the time. 

Overall for me it would have to be David James, although I was very underwhelmed we’d signed him and he was quite poor for us IMO. 

Pretty sure it was against Middlesbrough that Royle scored his four goals.

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40 minutes ago, mossey said:

Pretty sure it was against Middlesbrough that Royle scored his four goals.

It was .

On his debut as well.

 I remember it well as , apart from his four goals, I was offered a seat in the Dolman for the very first time and actually had a great view of the game ,which normally being in the East End I didn’t. 

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8 hours ago, handsofclay said:

Hate to tell you this having helped research David Woods City history books but the City guide who relayed this story to you is conflating facts. Yes, it did occur that City went to Southampton in a wartime match and only about 7 players got there and the rest of the team was made up from spectators after an appeal was made but that didn't include Shankly and Paisley.

Lots of future and current footballing greats played at Ashton Gate during the war mainly for forces representative sides such as the RAF XI, including Shankly and Paisley as well as Matthews and Billy Wright (who as a young player was a winger). But 100% no, Shankly and Paisley were not amongst the spectators at The Dell that day who volunteered to play for City.

Cheers for confirming - how sad for a tour guide to make up guff like that 

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On 08/07/2021 at 10:29, handsofclay said:

George Best in the TV AM Robins v GFA Trotters game before the 1986 Freight Rover Trophy Final at Wembley.

My memory might have failed me but as I remember, although due to play, George went A.W.O.L. for that match.

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1 hour ago, MJP3 said:

My memory might have failed me but as I remember, although due to play, George went A.W.O.L. for that match.

I am pretty sure he played and was amazing.

( Although I have a memory like yours and it could have been another occasion that I witnessed this amazing footballer play live) 

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