50 years of Joe Royle and City
50 years of Joe Royle and City Joe Royle has a special place in the hearts of City fans and today on his birthday we look back at his magical association with the Club in a feature first published to celebrate his 50 year association with the Blues. As the country got ready for Christmas Day in 1974 by watching the Dick Emery Christmas Show and Songs Of Praise from Hale, ‘Big Joe’ was making the monumental decision of leaving his boyhood club Everton. He remains a favourite son of the Toffees, returning later in his career as a manager and remains the last man to bring a major trophy back to Goodison Park.
But he also had a remarkable time at City, first as a player and then leading us back to glory as a brilliant coach. Liverpool-born Royle turned down Manchester United to sign for Everton as a youngster and, after making his debut as a 16-year-old, went on to help them to lift the First Division title. But after 119 goals in 232 appearances, he was frozen out at the Toffees and Tony Book moved to bring him to Maine Road after he turned down Birmingham City.
It brought him a new lease of life, although initially it was a tough start with just one goal between Boxing Day and the end of the season. He met his new team-mates on the day of his Boxing Day debut and headed back to Merseyside where we faced champions Liverpool and we found ourselves 4-0 down by half-time. By his own admission, Royle had lost some of his sharpness and fitness playing in the Central League for Everton’s reserves but worked hard to get it back.
Training was far less sophisticated than it is now and involved punishing runs around Wythenshawe Park – made worse for the rest of the squad by the ease with which it was completed by the supreme athlete Colin Bell. It was a period of transition for the Blues with many of the legendary team of the late 1960s and early 1970s coming towards the end of their careers and Malcolm Allison then Book bringing in new faces. But the following year, City really began to click and Royle was back to his very best.
In his first full season, Royle scored 19 goals from 51 appearances including a goal in each round on the way to League Cup final. He found the net in the final at Wembley against Newcastle United too, but his effort was ruled out for offside. Thankfully, Peter Barnes and Dennis Tueart’s sublime overhead kick saw us triumph 2-1 and Royle collect a winner’s medal.
Continue to the original source for the full article.