Neil Leigh talks to the heroes who secured City’s last League Cup semi-final triumph over Manchester United – back in the 1969/70 season. The article was first published in January 2020.
“Even if you played United at Tiddlywinks you’d be desperate to win – but a League Cup semi-final meant everything back then and still does today. To you, your team-mates and the fans. It matters more than anything else.”
The speaker is Tommy Booth, one of the totems of the last City side to get one over on United in a League Cup semi-final.
That was more than 50 years ago, back in December 1969 when, over the course of two pulsating ties, the flamboyant, fabulously gifted City side carefully assembled by Joe Mercer and crafted by visionary coach Malcolm Allison secured the bragging rights over our Old Trafford rivals in quite thrilling fashion to book our ticket to Wembley.
And there’s a curious symbolism to today’s Manchester football landscape when looking back to those halcyon days and those two ties in particular.
By the time we locked horns with the Red half of Manchester, City had become a byword for success.
Having memorably secured the Division One title in thrilling fashion in 1968, a year later City secured more silverware as we overcame Leicester City to lift the FA Cup, thanks to Neil Young’s Wembley wonder strike.
It was a squad rich in natural talent whilst also possessing infinite depths of character. A veritable true-blue melting pot which blended guile and grit in equal measure with Mercer and Allison the master alchemists.
Our defence was marshalled by the rock of granite that was Mike Doyle with young titan Booth a formidable figure alongside him. That powerful central defensive duo was corralled by ever-dependable full-backs, skipper Tony Book and Glyn Pardoe, whose combined reading of the game and skill on the ball made their colleagues’ task all the easier.
The midfield shield was chief engine room stoker Allan Oakes. So formidable and forthright on the pitch, so quiet and unassuming off it, Allan’s tireless work in the trenches allowed the majestic Colin Bell to exert his shimmering midfield talent to the full, the sight of Nijinsky in full flight still unforgettable for all those lucky enough to bear witness to his creative yet effortless genius.
Equally significant was the contribution from City’s very own wing commander Mike Summerbee.
Now a much-loved club ambassador, Buzzer was blessed with a blistering turn of pace but could blend that silk with a touch of cold steel whenever required.
While Buzzer, Bell and Co provided the ammunition, Francis Lee and Neil Young served up a formidable firing mechanism – Lee a rumbustious, barnstorming presence in and out of the box with a laser-eye instinct for goal that saw him carve his name in the pantheon of City legends.
Young, meanwhile, was one of the great unsung heroes of the English game, blending graceful attacking elegance with his slaloming runs and foot-sure presence allied to a happy knack of scoring goals when it mattered most.
By the time we got down to business for an eagerly awaited first leg derby at Maine Road, two more names in the frame had emerged.
Goalkeeper Joe Corrigan was in the infancy of a stellar career that would see the then 21-year-old go on to endear himself to successive generations of City fans and rubber-stamp his name as one of our great post-war keepers.
The left-wing berth, meanwhile, was occupied by raw teenager Ian Bowyer.
These days the youngster from the Wirral is more famously remembered for his exploits with Brian Clough’s all-conquering Nottingham Forest side of the late 1970s, but back then Bowyer was to prove a crucial figure over those two titanic legs against United.
The ringmasters overseeing that gifted cast list were, of course, Messrs Mercer and Allison, a duo whose gifts and talents complemented one another to a tee.
While genial Joe helped mould all those disparate elements together into a winning whole, Malcolm was the visionary coach, light years ahead of his time both in his tactical approach and appliance of science to help embolden City's beautiful game.
City’s route to those last four denouements had seen us plot an impressive path past Southport, Liverpool, Everton and Queen’s Park Rangers.
By December ’69, our opponents were in a state of transition with Wilf McGuiness having replaced Sir Matt Busby at the United helm that summer.
But, having been crowned European champions just 18 months previously and with an arsenal of explosive talent such as George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton at their disposal, not to mention vibrant young talent in the shape of Brian Kidd and Willie Morgan, United were still a potent threat.
And to a man, the City players recognised that these would be no ordinary matches.
Not with a cup final at stake.
“Derby games were always knife-edge affairs. You wanted the result so badly for your fans as well as yourselves – especially a semi-final,” skipper Tony Book admits.
“It was always something special to play United back then. They still had Law, Best and Charlton. We had Bell, Lee and Summerbee but the beauty of our side was that we also had a lot of local lads.
“When you look at the team, there were five or six lads who had come through the system like Glyn Pardoe, Allan Oakes, Mike Doyle, Neil Young, Joe Corrigan and Tommy Booth and we all knew just how much it meant.”
The sight of United in the opposition half also ensured the competitive juices started flowing for Colin Bell.
The end of the decade truly saw Colin’s transformation from a modest,
unassuming uncut gem from the North East into one of the glittering diamonds of English football.
And Bell’s X factor was never more evident than in a pulsating first leg encounter played in front of almost 56,000 passionate fans with a muddy Maine Road transformed into a cauldron of noise.
In what was a full-blooded end-to-end affair, Bell took full advantage of a rebound in the United box after a barn-storming run by Lee to get City up and running only for Charlton to put United back on level terms midway through the second half.
As so often, Lee was then to have the decisive word.
Franny proved a veritable whirling dervish that night, capping a stellar individual display by both winning and then converting a decisive 88th minute penalty to secure a precious 2-1 first leg advantage for City.
“Their big central defender Ian Ure brought me down two minutes from the end,” Lee chuckles. “They all got on to Jack Taylor the referee, but he said it was a penalty. And I was very happy to score it too!”
Playing his part in getting City motoring along on the road to Wembley once more also provided an extra slice of professional pride and personal satisfaction to the man known as Nijinksy for his effortless endurance and stamina.
“Without a doubt, playing United was an extra special thrill, especially in a cup semi-final,” Colin Bell recalls.
“The chatter always cropped up about two weeks before we were due to play them, people would mention it wherever you were.
“It was so important. United had done so well in Europe, they were known throughout the world as a good team and a good club, so to turn them over in the way we did was a big highlight at that moment in time.
“I don't know what it was but just the challenge of playing United and knowing they were a good side with such quality players brought out the best in us all. They were a good side with three or four superstars that shone for them, I mean one of the best players of all time is Bobby Charlton.
“So, to beat them was huge.”
City’s slender 2-1 first leg advantage set the scene for a tumultuous deciding encounter played at Old Trafford just over a fortnight later which would be decided in the most dramatic of circumstances.
Fittingly, coming just eight days before Christmas Day, the derby duo served up a festive cracker of a tie with more than 63,000 fans shoe-horned into Old Trafford.
Sadly, injury meant that Bell was to miss the second leg at Old Trafford – his place taken by utility man David Connor who performed wonders in keeping the shackles on Bobby Charlton.
It was a game that epitomised why the derby is such a treasured institution with no quarter asked or given.
A teenage Bowyer belied his youth and inexperience by driving City into a 17th minute lead after Ure had denied Young’s goal-bound effort.
With the action see-sawing from end to end, United were level again within six minutes thanks to a thunderous strike by full-back Paul Edwards.
Then both the game – and tie – appeared to have sung the hosts way when Denis Law struck from close-range after Corrigan parried a powerful Best shot into the Scot's path just past the hour.
However, there was to be one more twist in the tale involving Lee, Summerbee and an uncharacteristic error by United goalkeeper Alex Stepney.
A pocket-sized human dynamo, legendary striker Lee never gave less than 100 per cent for the City cause but reflecting back, the iconic forward admits those two League Cup semis against United truly ignited the competitive animal in him.
And Lee it was who struck the powerful 82nd minute indirect free-kick in the Old Trafford that was spilled by Stepney, allowing Summerbee to fire home the rebound to seal the deal and book our ticket back down Wembley way with 2-2 draw on the night and 4-3 aggregate triumph.
“The more important the game, the more you got yourself into it. For me, the bigger the occasion, the better it was and they don’t get much bigger than a derby,” Franny recalls.
“Both sides were capable of playing very good football and all those derby matches were always fantastic games, both to play in and to watch.
“United had won the European Cup just 18 months earlier but we had a really good team.
“We had already won the Championship and the FA Cup in successive years and we went on to win the League Cup and European Cup Winners Cup that season which tells you everything about us.
“Going to Old Trafford was always special and that second leg was especially so.
“We got a free-kick for a bad foul by Willie Morgan on Neil Young and I knew there wasn’t that much time left.
“The ref signalled an indirect free-kick but there was still a wall there.
“In those days, sometimes the plan was I would smack the ball past the wall and let the goalkeeper see what he could do.
“And should there be any rebound or ricochet, if anyone was following up, they could score.
“I just put the ball down and said to the guys: ‘Just follow it in.’ I was always going to smash it at Alex and see what happened. Fortunately, Mike could smell what was happening!”
As for Summerbee himself, he admits it was especially sweet to strike such a decisive goal in front of a seething Stretford End that never needed any second persuasion in giving Buzzer the bird.
“Once we got the free-kick, I always anticipated that the ‘keeper might do something wrong,” Mike adds.
“It fell our way on that occasion. Francis shot and the ball came out to me from Alex Stepney and I tapped it in.
“And yes, it was especially nice to do in front of the Stretford End as I wasn’t their most popular person!
“They always gave me stick but I used to really enjoy playing at Old Trafford. They used to shout about how long my nose was, so I used to wipe my nose on the corner flag which went down very well!
“They were maybe individually better in terms of Best, Law and Charlton but we were collectively better as we played as a team. And we obviously had superb players like Colin, Francis and Neil Young who could turn any game.
“I remember the first derby after we came up from the Second Division in 1966. We got beat 1-0 away by United and it was a massive wake-up call.
“We knew after that that the only thing that mattered in a derby was to win it. That was our attitude.”
Despite his own joy at Summerbee’s seismic strike, looking on from the other end of the pitch, City keeper Joe Corrigan admits he could both sympathise and empathise with Stepney following the United keeper’s unintended but game-defining error.
And though Joe had made an incredible save to deny George Best an equaliser late in the first leg, he also remembers Buzzer’s second leg decider for helping spare his own blushes.
“Funnily enough, as a goalkeeper you always tend to remember your mistakes rather than saves,” Joe recalls.
“In that second leg at Old Trafford, Bestie cut in from the right and had a shot. I parried it down and Denis Law made it 2-1 for United. You just feel: ‘Oh no.’
“Fortunately, then Mike got our second goal after Alex made a save from Francis’s free-kick.
“I didn’t realise at the time that Alex had made the error. I was so engrossed with us trying to get the equaliser that you just see the saves.
“These days you don’t really see the ref putting his hand up for an indirect free-kick and I’m sure Alex must have thought it was indirect.
“But, from a goalkeeping point of view, it takes a very, very brave man to actually let a ball go in thinking it won’t count. Your natural instinct is to make the save but it proved to be the key turning point and we went to Wembley.
“It always is huge to get one over on United. They were a great team and our local rivals, so to beat them over two legs, and especially to get the result at Old Trafford, was brilliant.”
Talent and character aside, one of the other defining hallmarks of both semi-finals – and City’s eventual success in the Wembley showpiece – was the side’s persistent powers of endurance and stamina.
We scored in the final 10 minutes in both legs of the semi-final while Glyn Pardoe’s famous winner against West Brom in the final came in extra time on what was a strength-sapping mud-heap of a Wembley pitch.
And according to Mike Summerbee, the secret behind City’s marathon manoeuvrings lay in their very own fast track to glory, another of Allison’s inspired coaching devices.
“Our fitness level was something different to any other side in the division,” Buzzer recalls.
“We trained at Wythenshawe Park every Monday morning with former Olympic athlete and world mile record holder Derek Ibbotson and local sprinter Danny Herman.
“We did special sprint shuttle runs when we first started and all complained, saying: ‘We’re footballers not athletes.’
“But they took no notice and just carried on doing it. At first, we dreaded it, but then the longer it went on, the more we began to enjoy it and our fitness levels suddenly went through the roof.
“We could start off at the standard of the others and then take it to another level. Once the signal went around, we just lifted it to a higher gear. We could also play on the heaviest of pitches and not be out of breath. It was unbelievable.
“Malcolm demanded a lot from you but in that demand was the enjoyment of what a great coach he was.
“Just like Pep Guardiola, Malcolm had the highest standards and if you fell below them, you struggled.
“I see so many similarities today as Pep’s side are a real team too with amazing fitness levels as well.
“We also had that inner belief. People like Oakesy, Doyley, Glyn Pardoe had been written off when we were in the Second Division.
“Suddenly, Joe and Malcolm made them believe in themselves and brought out that ability.
“Malcolm and Joe helped us to become both better players and better people.”
However sweet the taste of victory over United was though, it would have all been rendered irrelevant had we not sealed the deal and gone to lift the League Cup itself for the first time in our history just two months later.
A City side minus the injured Neil Young and with George Heslop and Arthur Mann drafted in to bolster the back line and Pardoe deployed further forward, were pitted against a formidable West Bromwich Albion outfit in the showpiece.
FA Cup winners themselves in 1968, the Baggies boasted such formidable talents as Jeff Astle, a yeoman of the English forward game, as well as a precocious young Scottish midfielder by the name of Asa Hartford, who in subsequent years would endear himself to all at Maine Road.
However, arguably the biggest obstacle standing in our way was the treacherous state of the Wembley surface itself.
A combination of a harsh late English winter snow storm – and the cloying hoofs of a succession of thoroughbreds from the Royal Horse of the Year show, bizarrely held under the Twin Towers in the preceding week - had combined to transform Wembley’s lush playing surface into something resembling a ploughed farmer’s field, one that Mercer memorably labelled ‘a pig of a pitch.’
Joe Corrigan echoes the late, great boss’s pithy put down.
“The Wembley pitch was awful,” Big Joe concurs. “We had played Coimbra away on the Wednesday night in the European Cup Winners Cup quarter-final first leg and then had to fly from Portugal to London but the airport was closed due to fog.
“So, we instead had to fly to Birmingham and then get a coach down to London on the Thursday and didn’t arrive at our hotel until late that evening.
“We trained Friday and then went to the pitch where they had just held the Horse of the Year show and then it had snowed. It was a quagmire and it was fortunate the game went ahead.”
Corrigan meanwhile received his own special piece of psychological preparation for the rigours of what was to come, via some more inspired Allison mind games.
“As I got off the team bus at Wembley, Malcom took me aside and said: ‘Get up the tunnel and stand in the middle of the pitch.’ I asked him: ‘Why?’ as everyone else had gone in the dressing room.
“He said: ‘Just go up.’ As usual, he was right as it really prepared me for what was to come.
“You ask any former player - there was a curtain of emotion you had to go through when you walked up the old Wembley tunnel. It’s an uncanny sensation… it made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
“And after the game Malcolm, told me: ‘I wanted you to experience that on your own and get yourself psyched up.’
“That showed how he thought through every little detail.
“That said, I also remember I came out for a cross early on. George Heslop had backed into me and stood on my toes so I couldn’t jump off the floor. Jeff Astle got up and headed it in and we were 1-0 down after five minutes.
“The first person to come up to me was Booky and he simply said: ‘Come on now Joe, get on with it, it’s gone.’
“I thought: ‘Blimey, for a young kid, your first memory of Wembley is to let a goal in’ but the lads around me helped me so much.”
Corrigan and City proved true to the captain’s word as we rallied and deservedly drew level through Mike Doyle’s 60th minute effort.
And despite the exertions of 90 strength-sapping minutes, City’s durability and stamina saw us rewarded in extra time with Pardoe merging as the unlikely – but hugely popular – match winner, to seal the full English collection of trophies in consecutive seasons.
50 years down the line, both the game and occasion still retain a special place in Lee’s vast memory bank.
“The League Cup final was probably one of the best games I played for the club,” Franny reminisced. “It was a really good match. At one time we were struggling but we came through and won it thanks to Glyn in extra time.
“It was a special time as we then went on to win the European Cup Winners Cup later that season, having won the title and FA Cup in the previous two years.
“I remember Joe Mercer saying afterwards that we had won everything except the Grand National!
“They were just wonderful times for us all.”
The talent that saw City light the torch during those golden years was underpinned by a powerful bond forged both on the field of battle as well as away from the spotlight.
No surprise then, the players are unanimous as one in pointing to that unquenchable spirit and togetherness as the ultimate driving forces in a period which yielded so much success.
“We had a great group of lads and we are still very close today,” says Tommy Booth.
“We all got on so well. There were no little cliques or splits.
“We used to go for training to Southport or Blackpool for two or three days if we had no midweek game.
“We would all go out together – no-one split off in different directions – we all stuck together, and it forged a real spirit amongst the squad.”
Corrigan amplifies that point and admits it was one of the defining periods not just of his career but his life
“To be a part of that City team was just amazing,” Joe admits. “It gave you so much confidence too. You had Booky, the old head and respected captain, who if you made a mistake was always there to give you advice.
“The respect we all had for people like Tony, Mike, Colin, Francis and so on was enormous,
“But for me the unsung heroes of that team were the likes of Tommy Booth, Glyn Pardoe, Mike Doyle, Alan Oakes... you need the likes of those guys to help you.
“Everyone knew their jobs and were all good honest pros who just wanted to succeed.”
“Beating United in the way we did probably gave us more satisfaction than actually winning at Wembley against West Brom,” adds Booth.
“Yes, you have to get the trophy as it means you go down in history, but all derby games matter more than anything, especially a semi-final.”
Fittingly, the last word goes to the skipper, a man who to this day continues to personify all that is great about Manchester City
“It was a magic moment when we went on the lift the League Cup in 1970,” says Tony Book who, of course, would famously go on to manage City to League Cup glory just six years later.
“I didn’t come into the game until I was 30 years of age and I had done a couple of years down at Plymouth before I then came to City at the age of 32.
“And for everything to happen the way it did was very, very precious to me.
“But though it was so special to beat West Brom at Wembley, I still think beating United in the semi-final was the bigger achievement. It was two of best teams in England going toe to toe over two legs.
“It didn’t take me long after joining City to cotton on to the fact of just how important the derby was to everyone. It was privilege to play in those games – and all the more special to get the result against them.
“United had some amazing talent - but we had brilliant players too and everyone in our team wore that blue shirt with pride.
“It was a very special time and a very special team.”
League Cup semi-final first leg:
City 2 United 1 (December 3 1969) Att: 55,799
City: Corrigan, Book, Pardoe, Doyle, Booth, Oakes, Summerbee, Bell 13, Lee 88 pen, Young, Bowyer
League Cup semi-final second leg:
United 2 City 2 (December 17, 1969) Att: 63,418
City: Corrigan, Book, Pardoe, Doyle, Booth, Oakes, Summerbee 82, Connor, Lee, Young, Bowyer 17
League Cup final:
City 2 West Brom 1 (March 7, 1970) Att: 97,963
City: Corrigan, Book, Mann, Doyle 60, Booth, Oakes, Heslop, Bell, Summerbee (Bowyer), Lee, Pardoe 102
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