Barry SILKMAN

Midfielder Barry Silkman was one of many players brought in by Malcolm Allison as replacements for the experienced internationals he had surprisingly released following his return to Maine Road in January 1979. Allison had worked with the afro-haired Silkman at Plymouth some twelve months earlier and offered the west country club £60, 000 for his services, making him one of Allison's cheaper purchases. He signed on January 29th and made his debut a month later in a 2-1 defeat at Ipswich. For a player standing around the 5 feet 6 inch mark, he surprisingly wore the number nine shirt on his debut and provided City's only consolation of the afternoon when he scored his first goal for the club. Silkman played in all of City's remaining eleven League games following his debut and scored twice more, against Wolves and Queens Park Rangers, both games played at Maine Road and finishing by the same 3-1 scoreline in City's favour. A goal ratio of one in four games was a useful return for a midfielder who started the first six games of the 1979/80 season.

However these were proving difficult times for the Blues who lost four of those games. The arrival of the million pound plus Steve Daley at the beginning of September did little to improve things for the team but it did seem to spell the end of Barry Silkman's time as a City player. He was to make just one more appearance (in a 2-0 defeat at Crystal Palace in November) before being transferred to Third Division Brentford in readiness for the 1980/81 season. He scored 3 goals in 21 League and Cup games for the Blues. After Brentford he played for a further four clubs, most notably for Leyton Orient, before finishing his career as a non-contract player with Crewe in 1986. (Ian Penney - author of The Legends of Manchester City)