The Full English By Neil Leigh

' Having to play Manchester United one day, then to play Chelsea in a Wembley cup final the next... ” Former City star Clive Wilson still chuckles at the audacious thought of it. “Life has changed, and you change with the times, so it definitely wouldn’t happen today, would it?

But looking back, it did - and it was bonkers! ” Madness or not, it did happen, and the passage of time has not dimmed the memory of those who were involved in what serves as one of the craziest and most eventful 24 hours in City’s rollercoaster post-war history. Fiction became fact as a largely youthful and homegrown City side first staged a stirring Old Trafford fightback to recover from 2-0 down to claim a 2-2 draw on the Saturday and so put a large spoke in United’s Division One title aspirations.

By Sunday afternoon, we were back in action again, this time at Wembley as we locked horns with Chelsea in the inaugural and most eventful Full Members Cup final in the tournament’s brief and bizarre history. From finding ourselves 5-1 down and staring at oblivion with 83 minutes gone, Billy McNeill’s young City side summoned up the most incredible of finales, scoring three goals in the final six minutes before being edged out 5-4. It’s a weekend unlikely to be ever repeated and, 39 years to the day, this is the full dramatic story through the eyes of the City players who lived through all the drama.

A trip to Old Trafford at any time always carries an extra frisson of anticipation and desire – and it was no different back in March 1986. While City were readjusting and acclimatising to life back in the top-flight under the direction of Scottish manager Billy McNeill after dramatically clinching promotion the previous May, United, under the stewardship of Ron Atkinson, were desperately seeking a first league title since 1967. Having started the season with 10 straight league wins, despite a slight fall off in fortunes, a star-studded United team featuring the likes of Mark Hughes, Paul McGrath, Norman Whiteside and Gordon Strachan were still flying high in the Division One table and just two points off top spot when the teams stepped out at Old Trafford.