Colin Bell is seen here in action for Manchester City at Maine Road on 12th. April 1974.
Colin died on Tuesday 5th. January 2021 aged 74, after a short illness.
So desperate was Malcolm Allison in the spring of 1966 in wanting to sign Colin Bell that he would sit
in the directors' box watching Bury's matches and vociferously criticise their shy 20 year-old inside forward.
Allison hoped his comments would dissuade the other watching managers and scouts, many of whom were
also casting their eyes over Bell. Fortunately it worked. Bell was eventually offered contracts by both City
and Blackpool but thankfully decided his chances of a better career stood in Moss Side. It proved to be
one of the (if not the) best signings in the club's history. From his first appearance and goal at Derby,
City fans knew Allison had unearthed a proverbial gem. And all it cost was a remarkable £45,000.
Ten games after his debut, he'd collected a Second Division Championship medal, his header at
Rotherham proving to be the goal that secured promotion with three games still to play.
Not only was Bell perhaps the most complete footballer, he also showed an amazingly high level of fitness
and stamina. His first taste of top-flight football came in 1966/67 where not only did he top score (14, and from midfield),
he also played in every single one of City's 50 League and Cup games. A hat-trick against Stoke in April proved to be his
one and only League treble for the club who finished in 15th spot. By the start of the 1967/68 season, City were on the
verge of once again being a major force in English football. The arrival of Francis Lee in October proved the catalyst
that powered the Blues to their first Championship since 1937. At the heart of this team was Colin Bell,and although
both Summerbee and Young scored more than his 17 goals (a figure equalled by Lee) the presence and
contribution of Bell was immeasurable.
On a memorable Wednesday night in March at Old Trafford, he dominated the Red opposition and scored the
equaliser before being carried off injured as the Blues won 3-1. Bell's form had not gone unnoticed by Sir Alf Ramsey
who gave him his first England cap in a friendly against Sweden at Wembley just eleven days after City's Championship
success at Newcastle. Following a disappointing failure in the European Cup, City's League form suffered in 1968/69:
they finished 13th. In the FA Cup though, things were different. Once again Bell played in exactly 50 games (scoring 15 times)
in all competitions and collected another medal thanks to Neil Young's goal in the 1-0 defeat of Leicester
in the FA Cup Final. (Ian Penney - author of The Legends of Manchester City)
The Blues began the 1969/70 campaign with a 2-1 Charity Shield defeat at Elland Road and a convincing 4-1 home
start in the League against Sheffield Wednesday. Bell scored in both those games, the first two of a final season's
haul of 22 (equalling Francis Lee's), a figure that proved his best return in 13 seasons at Maine Road. City finished
0th in the League, an improvement of three positions on the previous year, but it was in both the League and European
Cup Winners' Cups that they really shone. Colin played in each one of City's six League Cup ties, scoring three times,
against Southport, Everton and Manchester United.
He was also an ever-present in the nine Cup Winners' Cup games. With strikes against Athletico Bilbao,
S.K.Lierse (3 in two legs) and F.C.Schalke 04, Bell contributed five of City's impressive 22 European goals. Final successes
against West Bromwich Albion (the photo above shows Colin glancing down at the straw covered Wembley surface during the game)
and Gornik Zabrze meant City had become the first team to win both a domestic and European trophy in the same season
and Bell had two more medals to add to his already notable collection. After being a part of Sir Alf Ramsey's England squad
in the Mexico World Cup of 1970 (where he came on as a substitute - his 14th cap - for Bobby Charlton in the ill-fated
quarter-final clash with West Germany) Bell returned to League action with yet another goal on the opening day of a new season.
This time the Blues could only manage a 1-1 draw at Southampton; the first of 17 draws in what turned out to be a
troublesome season, both on and off the pitch. On a personal note Colin continued his remarkable goalscoring ratio
for a midfield player with a further 19 goals from 47 appearances. He scored four in the Blues' three FA Cup games
and two more in the European Cup Winners games as an injury-ravaged side lost out to Chelsea in the semi-finals.
City's League form improved dramatically throughout the 1971/72 season. Since winning the title three years earlier
they'd languished regularly in mid-table with Cups proving to be the only way of achieving success. This time out they
finished fourth behind Champions Derby, although it was so close at the top that only one point separated both clubs.
Still troubled by a cartilage injury from the previous season, Colin Bell missed the first four games of the new campaign.
Thanks largely to Francis Lee's 35 (including 13 penalties), City's 77 goals in the League was the highest in the division.
Bell's contribution was twelve, with doubles against Coventry and West Bromwich Albion, and a further pair in the
4-0 League Cup defeat of Wolves.
In his first game back (against Tottenham and still only 80% fit) it took him just six minutes to open his season's account.
When he played for England in their 5-0 win against Scotland at Hampden Park on Valentine's Day 1973, Bell collected
his 24th cap, exactly half of his eventual total - one that would make him City's most-capped international of all time.
Next time out, 1972/73, saw the Blues return to their mixed fortunes in the League and a final position of 11th. Not even
Colin's continuing excellent form in midfield could make much difference and his total of ten goals (from 48 games) was
his poorest return since his eleven-game debut season six years earlier, a statistic which in itself showed his tremendous
ability for goalscoring from midfield. Arguably the highlight of the season was his double strike against rivals United in
November, his hat-trick cruelly taken away from him by the Reds' Martin Buchan who deflected Bell's late shot into his
own net to end the scoring at 3-0. Colin also scored two in the FA Cup (against Stoke and Liverpool) before appearing
on the losing side to Second Division (and eventual winners) Sunderland in a 5th round replay at Roker Park.
Colin Bell missed just one of the 42 League games (at home to Everton in April) of the 1973/74 season. Once again
he showed his apparent likeness for the opening day, adding his contribution to the two scored by new 'old' boy
Denis Law in the 3-1 win over Birmingham. It was the beginning of a season in which he played 55 times
(a figure bettered only by Willie Donachie with one more) as City progressed once again to Wembley and a League Cup Final
with Wolves. With a forward line of Summerbee, Bell, Lee, Law and Marsh it seems incredible that Colin would only collect
a losers' medal despite his goal in the final. With Wolves' keeper Gary Pierce having the game of his life, City lost the game
by a 2-1 scoreline. On the goalscoring front, Bell would surely have been disappointed with his return of ten goals from
those 55 games. Added to his seven in the League were three in that League Cup run, against Walsall and Plymouth
and the aforementioned volley at Wembley.
Having been managed recently by strict disciplinarian Ron Saunders, the players' mood at Maine Road changed alarmingly
when former captain Tony Book took over for the start of the 1974/75 season. Almost from the outset they responded to
their team-mate of a few years earlier and began to play some of the best football seen at Maine Road for a long time.
They won five of the first seven games, with Bell on target in the League against Tottenham and Leeds and scoring a hat-trick
in the 6-0 destruction of Scunthorpe in the League Cup. By the end of the season he was top of the scoring table, his 18 goals
giving him a four goal lead over second-placed Dennis Tueart. Thanks to the heroics of yet another goalkeeper - this time the
Polish 'clown' Tomaszsewski - Bell missed out on the chance to take part in the German World Cup in the summer of 1974.
He was now at the height of his game, held 37 caps and, at 28, would have surely been one of the stars of the tournament.
(Ian Penney - author of The Legends of Manchester City)