Glyn PARDOE

When Glyn Pardoe made his senior debut for Manchester City on 11th April 1962 (a 4-1 home defeat at the hands of Birmingham City) he was just 15 years and 314 days old. Perhaps not too suprisingly this tender age made him the youngest player ever to appear in City's first team. The cousin of another City stalwart, Alan Oakes, Pardoe was born in the Cheshire town of Winsford on 1st June 1946 and played in variety of positions as a schoolboy footballer. He never let a particular position bother him; by his own admittance he was happy to play anywhere. Having worked his way through the ranks of both the Mid-Cheshire and England schoolboy sides, Pardoe originally signed for City as an apprentice on 26th July 1961. He was still officially an apprentice when he made it into City's first team. The early years of the 1960s were not particularly goods ones in the fortunes of Manchester City Football Club. The club was in a limbo period between the demise of the FA Cup winning team of 1956 and the arrival some nine years later of the rejuvenating managerial partnership of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison. Despite these lean times City had a number of young local players on the books who would prosper as the decade evolved. Along with the likes of Alan Oakes, Neil Young and Mike Doyle, Glyn Pardoe was a man who played in both the dark days and the glory ones that would follow.

He played four times in his debut season, 1961/62, on each occasion playing centre-forward, taking over from the injured Colin Barlow. Six appearances (five in the League and one in the FA Cup) followed in 1962/63 with Pardoe's versatility coming to the fore as he wore four different numbered jerseys in those six games. In June 1963 he turned professional and was rewarded for his newfound status with 21 starts in the 1963/64 campaign. That was also the season when Glyn opened his goalscoring account with City; his two goals coming right at the end of the season, against Huddersfield (a 2-0 win away) and in a 3-3 draw at Swansea. New manager George Poyser (like his predecessor Les McDowall) persevered with Pardoe as an attacker all season and despite no shortage of skill and passing ability, it would be as a defender that he would really make his mark with City. A record low attendance and a disappointing drop of five places (to 11th in Division Two) marked the end of Poyser's reign as manager at the end of the 1964/65 season. Pardoe continued to appear in the first team (again as a forward) and added a further three goals as well as 16 more games to his career statistics. The arrival of the aforementioned Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison in the summer of 1965 sparked off a remarkable chain of events in the club's fortunes.

By the end of 1965/66 - their first season in charge - they had taken City to the Second Division Championship and had been so impressed with the now 19 year-old Pardoe, that they played him in all bar two of the 42 League games that season. Starting out as a central attacking player, Glyn finished the season as right-half but his nine goals (including successive twos against Carlisle and Norwich in September) was by far his most productive to date and put him only behind Neil Young and Johnny Crossan in the club's goalscoring table. As City established themselves in the top flight in 1966/67 Pardoe was by now a regular first teamer. He started the season where he'd finished the previous one, played three times back in attack in September and October, but from match eleven (a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Tottenham on October 8th) he then played another 30 games as a left-back. Mercer and Allison had gradually transformed Pardoe into one of the most cultured full-backs in the country. Strong in the tackle, his years playing further forward could be easily seen in the way he distributed calmly and effortlessly from the back. Constantly on the verge of England recognition (ultimately he never did make it although he was desperately unlucky to miss out on the squad for the 1970 World Cup) Pardoe had, by August 1967, established himself in a City side that was on the verge of its greatest period ever. (Ian Penney - author of The Legends of Manchester City)

 No Manchester City supporter could imagine the glories that were to follow as their side began the 1967/68 season with a goalless home draw against the current Champions Liverpool. With Pardoe now firmly established as the first choice left-back for Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison he would miss just one (a 4-2 away win at Fulham in October) of the 42 League games all season. He also took part in each and every one of City's eight cup games (four each in both the FA and League tournaments) that term, one that resulted in the club's first Championship success in 30 years thanks to the see-saw events at Newcastle on the final day. City won a remarkable game 4-3 at St James' Park that day with all the goals coming in the second half. Their great rivals from across Manchester went down to a surpise 2-1 defeat at home to Sunderland, meaning that The Blues finished two points clear of United, although City would have took the title on goal difference had United won by anything other than a landslide scoreline. Pardoe had come along way since those dark days some five or so years previously. Having picked up his first winners' medal, he was still just a month short of his 22nd birthday; had played almost 200 times for the Blues as well as been capped by England at Under 23 level. His consistency continued into the 1968/69 season with an almost similar story in both appearances and silverware. Although now he missed three games in the League, he still clocked up a remarkable 51 first team appearances as City went all the way to Wembley and ultimate FA Cup success against the soon-to-be relegated Leicester. Four days after the Cup Final in May 1969, it was Pardoe's goal - his first since January 1967 - that earned a League point against West Ham United at Maine Road. European Cup football, a League Championship medal and now an FA Cup winner, Glyn Pardoe's career had risen to these lofty heights through dedication and hard work - not to mention ability and style and despite being a part of the famous '8, 000' game against Swindon - and yet was still not at its peak.

Only two other players (Tommy Booth with 59 and skipper Tony Book with 57) bettered Glyn's 56 League and Cup appearances in the 1969/70 season. Towards the end of the campaign Pardoe moved into midfield (wearing number 11) to accommodate the arrival of new record signing Arthur Mann, a left-back signed from Hearts in October. It was in this position that Glyn was to have perhaps his greatest moment in a City shirt. Having progressed all the way to Wembley and a dreadful pitch for the League Cup Final against West Bromwich Albion  it was Pardoe himself who decided the game when he hooked home Colin Bell's header twelve minutes into extra-time to seal a 2-1 victory. It was his one and only goal of that 1969/70 campaign. That success at Wembley came just three days after a difficult goalless draw away at the Portuguese side Acadamica Coimbra in the European Cup Winners' Cup. As City's mixed League form meant they finished tenth overall, it was in this cup competition also that they shone this term, going all the way to eventual success in a rain-soaked Prater Stadium in Vienna against the Polish Cup holders Gornik Zabrze. Pardoe was playing at the peak of his powers in a City side that had become the first English team to become the first to win both a domestic and European trophy in the same season. However, just eight months after the triumph in Austria, Glyn Pardoe would suffer a horrific injury that threatened not only his future playing career but also his life. (Ian Penney - author of The Legends of Manchester City)

Despite the arrival of Arthur Mann in October 1969, Glyn Pardoe was back in his number three jersey in readiness for the start of the 1970/71 season and missed just one of the first 20 League games of the campaign. In that 20th game, a resounding 4-1 win against Manchester United at Old Trafford on December 12th, Pardoe was badly tackled by George Best after just 23 minutes. The collision was so severe that both the tibia and fibula in Pardoe's right leg were shattered and the arteries became trapped. In his own words the City player said years later, 'It was a shocker. The leg was just hanging off; it was real mess. At one point it was touch and go whether or not the leg would have to be amputated.' The severity of his injury kept Glyn out of first team action until November 1972 when - as Willie Donachie had by now established himself as City's first choice left-back - he replaced Tony Book at right-back in a 4-0 home win against then Champions Derby County. He played a total of six times in 1972/73, slowing regaining match fitness and would eventually replace Book permanently at number two when the skipper retired to become assistant manager in November 1973. Pardoe made 38/1 appearances in 1973/74 and was again part of a City side that reached Wembley and the League Cup Final. Regrettably though this time he would be on the losing side as a strong City team lost 2-1 to Wolves.

He was 28 years old when the 1974/75 season started and his first team opportunities were restricted to seven all season as, by and large, his spot at right-back was taken by the new signing Geoff Hammond from Ipswich. Another injury - this time to his left knee - caused Glyn to play all of his football in 1975/76 in the reserve side. On the 30th April 1976 he finally retired from playing with a career record of 22 goals in 378/2 appearances for City as well as the club's youngest player record that seems as though it will never be broken. Unable to play as much towards the end of his career because of his knee injury, Pardoe began to take an interest in the coaching side of the game and later did some scouting for his former captain and now first team manager, Tony Book. These early steps led to him eventually successfully working full-time with City's youth and reserve sides until he became a victim of wholesale changes at the club when Peter Reid took over the manager's reigns in May 1992. Glyn's seemingly quick removal (after 31 years in one capacity or another at Maine Road) angered many and stunned the man himself so much that he took a year off from everything. He later got a job in the computer centre of Barclays Bank in Knustford and also became a summariser on City's games on BBC local radio. (Ian Penney - author of The Legends of Manchester City)