‘I was put on this Earth to be a footballer’
My tribute to the King of the Kippax, Colin Bell
When the news broke about Colin Bell, my first
reaction was disbelief. I think in grief, we go through different stages:
disbelief, denial, reluctant acceptance, then reflection, amongst many others.
As fans, we’re so used to footballers being our heroes. We put them on a
pedestal to worship, admire and respect. We don’t stop and think for a second
that one day they will be gone. It couldn’t be that day. It surely wasn’t time.
My instant thought was to my boyfriend’s Dad.
Stephen Porter is 70 years old – he’d often relay passionate stories to me
about the days of following Bury because of Colin Bell. He was such a fan, so enamored
that he followed Bell when he made the move to Maine Road and Manchester City –
and has remained a blue ever since.
It was the fondness, sincerity and warmth in
which he discussed Bell that struck such a chord with me. This player he spoke
so highly of left a huge imprint on his life – the days out he had following
City and the goals Bell scored during those days that lit up his life. Bell was
the one – nobody could ever come remotely close to him as a footballer and,
once he’d met him, a person. He wept when he met him, he wept when he heard of
his passing. His hero. The hero.
He named my boyfriend after him – Colin was a
popular name amongst Mancunians of a certain age who had been lucky enough to
witness Bell play. If you were one of those lucky ones – treasure those
memories. The outpouring of emotion from so many City fans after the tragic
news broke was remarkable, with hundreds of blues sharing their own personal
stories and tales of what Colin meant to them and the emotion they felt to hear
of his passing. It was the mark of the man to the reach and effect he had on so
many.
A generation of us in that sense were born in
the wrong era and only have the grainy YouTube videos and stories passed down
to us to go off. But every story shared, each tale told, helps to educate the
younger blues on why Colin is held in such a high regard by City fans, the club
and football as a whole. The videos of young City fans on away days in the
concourse, beer flying everywhere, arms flailing, singing ‘he’s the leader of
Man City’ to Colin’s song from the terraces is further proof to that – the
respect we all show to the former footballer who has left a legacy in sky blue
behind, transcending the ages, for all of us to cherish.
A legend in every sense of the word
A man who had a stand named after him by the
club he achieved so much at. A man who could never understand why people would
walk up to him outside the ground and ask to shake his hand, want a photograph
with him to treasure or an autograph to frame. A man so humble and so unaware
of the impression he had left on so many people’s lives – yet Colin Bell really
was a legend in every sense of the word.
After
starting his career at Bury, he made his name playing for City in the so-called
‘golden era’ of football during the 1970s. He was part of the ‘dream team’,
playing alongside Mike Summerbee and Francis Lee and won numerous accolades and
trophies for the Blues.
Colin went on to play for England, but his career was cut tragically short when he severely injured his knee during a match against City’s arch rivals, Manchester United. He was only 29 and at the peak of his career. After recovering, Colin went on to play in America at the San Jose Earthquakes, but eventually retired, leaving behind a career full of silverware and goals.
I was lucky
enough to interview Colin – I am still incredibly aware of just how fortunate I
am to have been able to do this, because he very rarely gave interviews. When I
asked him where was best to meet, he suggested in the Marks and Spencer café at
the Gemini Retail Park in Warrington. This was typical of Colin – beyond
normal, not an ounce of flash or awareness as to his distinction or fame in any
way. He even bought the teas. He was warm, passionate, genuine and a lovely,
decent human being. Above all – he absolutely loved football. Football and
Manchester City.
‘I don’t
know if anything made me want to become a footballer,’ Colin said.
I just thought that I was put on this Earth to
be a footballer. That’s the way it went through the early stages of my life in
school. I was always playing football. I always went everywhere with the ball
at my feet. I was playing football at school at an early age. I just thought,
at the back of my mind, even though I was going through school, I would become
a professional footballer.
‘It’s only
in hindsight, years down the line, you realize how lucky you are that it all happened
that way. There are a million kids that dream of becoming a footballer now and
it never happens for them. But fortunately enough for me, it happened.’
Modest,
unassuming yet astonishing
Happen it
did. He started his career at Bury and scored 25 goals in 82 appearances for
the Shakers. After three seasons and being club captain, in 1966 he moved to
City for £45,000 under manager Joe Mercer. During his 13 years at City, he
scored 152 goals in 492 games and endeared himself to the City fans forever,
who gave him the nickname ‘King of the Kippax.’ He was a box-to-box midfielder
who did everything: ran, chased, tackled, tracked back, passed and scored. He
was a complete footballer – he ticked every box. But he almost acquiesced in
just how brilliant a footballer he was. Modest, unassuming yet astonishing. Football
was all he ever knew.
‘I was
close to three players at City because they had a similar personality to me –
quiet and reserved. Alan Oakes, Glyn Pardoe and Mike Doyle. If we ever went
away on club trips, we would tend to run together and play golf together. We
did everything together when we were away with the club, basically because we
shared a similar personality and temperament.
‘I just
loved football. I just wanted to be a professional footballer. I just loved it.
To me, it was a hobby, but to become a professional footballer and get paid for
doing something that you love, there’s nothing better in life. I was getting
paid to do something I loved. It was fantastic. From being a young child, I
wanted to be a footballer and it worked out for me. I was very lucky.
‘I wouldn’t
have changed when I played. The only thing that I would probably change would
be the wages and probably the pitches. Other than that, the time I played, the
people that I played with and against, I personally feel that it was a better
era. A better time in life and a better standard of football, better everything
other than the two things I mentioned.’
The
influence of Bell alongside players like Francis Lee, Pardoe, Doyle, Oakes,
Neil Young, Mike Summerbee, Joe Corrigan amongst many others, helped City to
win the Second Division, First Division, the FA Cup, the European Cup Winners’
Cup and the Charity Shield and League Cup twice. He made 48 appearances for
England and played three games during the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.
‘The thing
that I am most proud about is when you come out on top after those 42 League
games,’ Colin mused. ‘So I would say winning the Championship was my favourite
achievement. Winning the League is so, so hard to do. It’s a huge achievement.
‘But for
glory, it would probably be the FA Cup in 1969. I was lucky enough to win that
as well. Both of those come very high in honours really. But the most important
thing for me was when I got injured and I came back from the bad injury to
really be able to finish my career.’
‘I had
this connection with City supporters from day one’
The knee
injury that Colin sustained in 1975 came as a huge blow. He was only 29 and at
the peak of his career. His determination to recover and play again for City
from the injury gave him his favourite memory as a footballer; the game that
marked his comeback after two years out, against Newcastle United on Boxing
Day, 1977.
‘My
favourite game has to be that day,’ Colin said. ‘There were 45,000 fans there
and I got a standing ovation from both sets of fans. I just had this connection
with the supporters from day one at City. They just took to me straight away
and the reception that I got on this particular day was absolutely fantastic.
Football is a team sport, but this day I came on as substitute at half time, it
was a standing ovation for me personally. I will always remember that game, it
was my number one game. I’ve played for England, I’ve won these trophies, but
that had to be my favourite game. It will stay with me forever.’
After 13
wonderful years at City, Bell made the move across the Atlantic to play for San
Jose Earthquakes, alongside another footballer who had made his mark in Manchester,
this time playing in red – George Best. Bell, so reluctant to recognize his own
brilliance, was quick to heap praise on others when and where he felt it was
deserved.
‘George was
very special,’ he said. ‘He will stand out in history as a great player and he
really was. But the number one thing about George Best, even though he was a
great player, he was a lovely person. I used to run with him when we played for
the Earthquakes. We played away somewhere and we would run together. He was a
genuinely lovely person. I hadn’t met him prior to that: all the times that I
played against him when he was at Manchester United and I was at City. I hadn’t
bumped into him or gone out with him. But for a few months at San Jose, I got
to know him and he was lovely. But, as everybody knows, he was a very special
player.’
Bell called
time on his career after only a few games for the Earthquakes but looks back
with nothing but the fondest of memories. He went on to open a restaurant in
Whitefield, alongside his former Bury team-mate Colin Waldron, called Bell
Waldron, before becoming a Club ambassador for City.
‘I opened a
business when I retired,’ Bell stated. ‘I had a restaurant in Whitefield, many
years ago. I knew that it was a short career. Nowadays they can retire on the
amount of money that make, but in those days you had to have something to fall
back on. So I opened a restaurant for when my career came to an end and I had
it probably for about 10-15 years. But now, if they play for three or four
years, players can be set for life.’
‘I’ve
always considered City as a big, big club’
Bell’s
first wage at Bury was £12 a week and he admitted how much football has
transformed since throughout the years, conceding that finances were key to
success in order to compete at the highest level. But it wasn’t always that
way.
‘Football
is moving with the times,’ Bell said. ‘The thing that I have always thought
about over the years, is why somebody with money hadn’t invested in City
sooner. I’ve always considered City as a big, big club. Why we hadn’t had
interest from people with money before, I’ll never know. I’ve had my fingers
crossed for a long time that somebody would finally come in with money and I’m
so glad that finally happened.’
‘The money
was needed without a doubt, you can’t go anywhere without money nowadays in
football. The Premier League had become very predictable, it was always the top
four clubs winning everything because they had money. That’s unfair to the
rest. In my time, everybody in the First Division always had a chance of
winning the Championship because it was the same wages for everybody. Everybody
could afford the top players so everybody had an equal chance. But now, it’s a
crying shame that the other clubs are just struggling and there’s talk of relegation
from day one. It’s a crying shame.
‘I do think
the money involved these days though is well and truly over the top. It’s a
short career and I do believe that footballers should be paid decent wages
because they are entertainers. They are classed as entertainers. I think it
should be a good wage, but the wages at the moment that you keep reading about
in newspapers are well and truly over the top.’
‘I can’t
blame the players for taking the money. It isn’t their fault. If somebody comes
along to you and says there’s X amount of money, I’m sure you would just say
thank you very much. It isn’t their fault. There should have been a ceiling
years ago on transfer fees and on wages. Somebody at the top should’ve done
that a while ago. It’s too late to change it now. A lot of footballers would
agree that they are very lucky to be picking up the kind of wages that they
are.’
‘Let’s
give some of our youngsters a try’
Bell was
lucky to play alongside so much homegrown talent in a City side that featured
many Mancunians – something that is increasingly rare nowadays in the sport. But
he also acknowledged that the game now has benefitted from an influx of foreign
talent, although he still wanted to see the youth prevail too.
‘There were
a lot of Manchester lads back then,’ he said. ‘Which was great because I was a
Manchester team. I would think that about 50% of the players were Manchester
lads. You talk about foreign players coming in now; I don’t mind the quality
players coming in, I didn’t like it a few years ago when they first started
coming in, but you’ve got to draw the line somewhere. Once the quality players
are coming in, I would rather give English players a chance after that. By all
means, bring quality in if it’s going to improve the team, but at some stage
you have got to draw the line and say, we have got the quality players now,
let’s give some of our youngsters a try or our own players. I think it should
be a happy medium really.’
Colin also
had some words of advice for the younger generation of footballers. Facing the
glare of the media spotlight and the scrutiny of a social media-driven world,
it’s a very different era for players these days to the one that Bell excelled
in.
‘Football
is a short career and you have got to knuckle down and be whiter than white,’
Bell stated. Especially nowadays with the amount of press and television coverage.
It only lasts perhaps 10-15 years, so it isn’t a great length of time, so you
have to put the brakes on everything and be whiter than white. That’s how
professional footballers should be. I get annoyed or frustrated when they get
caught out, whether drinking or doing things that they shouldn’t do. They know
what the press are like, they are looking for anything. They shouldn’t give
them an excuse – they should be squeaky clean.’
‘I was
blessed and so lucky to play football’
For such a
glittering career, his injury was his own regret. In 2004, he received an MBE
for his services to football. Yet despite all his achievements, he still felt
like he could’ve won more.
‘I picked
up an injury when I could’ve played for another five years with the way my career
looked at that moment in time,’ Bell said. ‘To add another five or so years
onto my career when I was at the top and had played 40-odd times for England, I
could’ve probably reached 100. I could’ve probably won more trophies. I
could’ve probably got another 200 or so appearances in, my goal-scoring chart
would’ve looked better…there’s so many things.
‘But that’s
my only regret. I was blessed and so lucky to play football.’
The
thousands that were fortunate enough to have witnessed his genius will agree.
They were all exceptionally lucky to have stood and watched his talent, his
skill, his dedication and his passion. Those who didn’t, have listened to the
tales with disbelief, in bewildered awe. He starred in the ‘ballet on ice’
game, featured during the match that condemned United to relegation from the
First Division and remains City’s 4th all-time top scorer.
For a
player to touch people so deeply with such longevity, tells you everything you
need to know. Colin Bell will be remembered not only by City fans, but by
football as a whole, for being one of the best midfielders the sport has ever
seen. He made the number eight shirt his own. He was the beating heart of the
Club.
King of the
Kippax. A legacy for a legend. So drink a drink a drink to Colin the King, the
King, the King. Forever the leader of Man City.
Emily
Brobyn
@kippaxgirlemily
