Colin Bell: The Family Man | OneFootball

Today marks a bittersweet day for Manchester City as we both mark and honour what would have been the 80th birthday of the late, great Colin Bell.

Over the course of a stellar 13-year career at the Club between 1966 and 1979, Colin established himself not only as one of the greatest players in City history but also one of England’s finest post-war talents.

A midfield operator of the very highest class, Colin was that rare talent able to combine superb vision, craft, guile, supreme technique and skills of the very highest order alongside lung-bursting stamina.

All told Colin went on to make 501 appearances for the Club, scoring a remarkable 153 goals along the way.

During that time, he proved pivotal in helping an era-defining City side win the Division One title, FA Cup, League Cup, European Cup Winners’ Cup, Charity Shield and the Second Division title in what proved a truly golden age for every Blue.

Colin also became the heartbeat of the England national side across that unforgettable period, making 48 appearances in total and proudly representing the Three Lions at the 1970 World Cup finals.

Club Honours

Division One Title

1967/68

FA Cup

1968/69

League Cup

1969/70 & 1975/76

European Cup Winners’ Cup

1969/70

Charity Shield

1968 & 1972

Second Division title

1965/66

That remarkable tally, not to mention his stellar achievements with City, would have been even more profound but for a devastating knee injury he sustained in late 1975 during a League Cup tie with Manchester United.

In an era when the science of football medicine in helping treat and manage such serious injuries was still in its infancy, the lasting impact of the blow was to eventually prove insurmountable.

It says everything about the man and his iron-clad mindset that Colin made a number of brave and committed comebacks before eventually calling time on his glorious City career in 1979.

By then his impact and legacy were long assured.

Of course, ascribing who exactly is the greatest ever player in City history is an almost impossible exercise.

It’s a debate dictated as much by age, individual memory and the generation one grew up in.

What is without question, however, is that Colin – or the King of the Kippax, as he was affectionately known – stands tall and proud aloft City’s own Mount Rushmore of truly immortal giants.

The paradox, though, is that for such a towering figure in City’s history, Colin was always the most humble, quiet and reserved of individuals.

Though not modest about his own ability – he knew just how talented he was – Colin’s quiet, shy nature meant the very idea of seeking to amplify or project his own worth or fame far and wide was anathema to his soul.

This was the very essence of a footballer simply happy to let his boots do the talking and spend his precious time away from the pressures of the pitch with those who mattered most to him – his beloved family.

But what was he like as a person away from the bright lights of Maine Road and Wembley and the pressures of top-class football?

To help acknowledge what would have been a landmark birthday, we were privileged to spend time getting an insight into what Colin was like as a Dad and Grandad through the eyes of two people who knew him better than anyone - his beloved children Dawn and Jon.

To them, Colin’s identity wasn’t gleaned from his status as a world-class footballer.

Instead, it was hewn from being a proud husband, devoted father - and later grandfather – and above all a kind, unassuming man who always strove to put the needs of his family first above everything else.

“I think what was special about both Mum and Dad was that we were brought up without really realising who Dad was or what he did,” Dawn says today.

“I felt we were really protected from the outside world. For me, it felt like we were a very close family of four and that was the priority. And outside of that didn’t really feature.

“We were very protected, very, very close, with a very supportive, very loving Mum and Dad.”

“After Dad left City, I guess he never went to any games really,” Jon adds.

“And then when he went to run his restaurant there were pictures of him playing and so he spent a lot of time there.

“It was only really when he sold that and then he went back into football that he started going back to Maine Road.”

That said, as Dawn and Jon admit, a childhood spent growing up with a very famous father occasionally threw up its share of challenges and questions!

“I remember as a child when people would sometimes stop him and ask Dad for an autograph, but he didn't make a big deal of it, he’d just sign it and move on,” Dawn says looking back.

“As I got older and we sometimes went into Maine Road, I didn’t like coming out and people trying to get his time, so I’d hold on extra tight to him. I’d find that a bit intimidating, like: ‘That’s my Dad, what are you doing?’

“He’d always take the time to do it, but it was just done in a very understated way, so it didn’t really feel as if it was anything significant.

“The most important thing was having him there as a Dad. And for me, as a Dad, he was exceptional and my favourite person ever. He took me to all my sports matches, took me to school, picked me up, took me to parties, picked me up from parties.

“He was very adamant that we were safe and that he would be there waiting for us.

“Like any other parent he stood around the sports pitches [watching us take part]. The one thing that was a little bit different was he would not stand with anybody because he was shy to speak, so he would stand separately.

“I’m also really shy so I totally got that.

“But there was never any pressure on us. I don’t think he was different. He was just very quiet, very shy, and the same with everybody.

“I would say, now being a Mum myself, looking back he was so, so dedicated as a Dad because of his presence and was consistently there.”

For Jon, there was also no danger of being burdened with the pressure and expectation of seeking to emulate his famous father.

Instead, the emphasis was on the very enjoyment of participating in sport, albeit with a drive to win – allied to the importance of education.

“He didn't really want me to play football because I wasn’t particularly great at it, and then he wasn’t trying to channel me into the same direction as him,” says Jon reflecting back to his childhood.

“But I think I actually enjoyed rugby as well.

“When we were at home on the weekend it wouldn’t matter what sport was on the TV, golf or cricket, it would be on, so we took to every sport.

“There was a stubborn streak too! I suppose as a sportsman you have to be quite single-minded. Even during holiday tennis games, there was no such thing as playing sport to lose. It didn’t matter if you lost and played well.

“He always focused quite heavily on education because I feel he may have felt inferior sometimes in terms of not perhaps having the confidence that a good education helps to give you.

“So there was a lot of emphasis on getting a good job and the opportunities that go with that.”

In tandem with Mum Marie, Colin’s devoted wife, Jon and Dawn say they look back with nothing but the fondest memories of growing up.

Football, of course, was always there in the background, but family and fun trumped everything else.

“There are so many favourite memories of growing up with Dad! For me, I always remember, as a very little child, sitting with him and watching Match of the Day on a Saturday night,” Dawn reflects.

“So that theme tune is really synonymous for me. If they ever change that music it would be disastrous because it takes me right back to sitting there with Dad.

“I remember also I was useless at running so goodness knows why he was so patient, but I used to do hill sprints up the lane near where we lived which nearly killed me off and he’d drive around in the car from the start to make sure I was safe.

“I was always telling him how dodgy it looked with him driving in a car next to me!”

“For me it would be playing football in the garden I guess,” Jon recalls.

“There are so many favourite memories of growing up with Dad! For me I always remember as a very little child sitting with him and watching Match of the Day, on a Saturday, night” Dawn reflects.

“We had dogs as well and he always felt most comfortable taking them for a walk. That would be his time away from people.

“Going on holiday all together as a family was very special too. We’d go to the same place every year in the South of France.

“It was always nice, nice holidays, nice weather, playing tennis and just being together as a family.”

Dawn adds: “I remember he was more relaxed when we went on holiday. He always used to carry all the gear for us all and just loved being there with us.”

Born in 1946 and hailing from Hesleden in County Durham, Colin’s early years were marked by profound loss and the privations of life in post-war industrial Britain still recovering from the ravages of World War Two.

Tragically, Colin lost his mother at a very early age and, according to his children, that played a big part in shaping his character and subsequent approach to life.

“I think he probably carried so much pain from his upbringing,” Dawn reveals. “Losing his Mum at such an early age, it meant he had to become so resilient [so early on].

“The pain through that period meant that even with us Dad very, very rarely showed emotion.

“The only time I saw him emotional was when we had to put Sam, our dog, down. He was absolutely distraught. But generally, he showed no emotions.”

Jon adds: “I think he was maybe four when he lost his Mum.

“Even playing football, he never celebrated a goal did he? [I think for him it was a case of] The game of football is you’re meant to score goals; that’s part of the game and then you need to get back to the half-way line and go again.”

“A lot of it, I think, was suppressed because of a really harsh childhood and not being able to show emotion to a parent or a loved one,” Dawn points out today.

“He would always hug me obviously, but he only started telling me he loved me in words quite late on.

“It was something he just wasn’t comfortable with because he’d never done that all through his life.”

It speaks volumes for the devotion, security and support provided by Colin and wife Marie, as well as their own drive and work ethic, that both Jon and Dawn would go on to carve out hugely successful professions of their own.

Having embarked on a career in medicine after studying at both St Andrews and Manchester University, Jon currently works as Professor of Interventional Radiology at The University of Manchester and Clinical Director of Radiology and Consultant Interventional Radiologist at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust.

After graduating in maths from Oxford University, Dawn meanwhile has gone on to enjoy her own hugely successful career in risk management and currently works as Chief Risk Officer of British multinational energy and services company Centrica.

But with strong echoes of her Dad, family remains the central guiding principle in her life.

“I’ve done risk management for a large part of my career. Ultimately though, in our family, it’s the closeness and support and daily calls [that really matter],” Dawn points out.

“I spent a lot of time away from home, ever since university I was away. But I worked the first year in the Midlands in Coventry and I came home every weekend.

“Then I moved to London, but I spoke to Mum and Dad every single day of my whole life.

“Now I speak to Mum like three, four or five times a day. That connection is way more important than what we’re doing.

“Ultimately if someone phones you and says it’s a family matter; you drop everything you’re doing. I think it comes from Mum and Dad and the fact they dedicated so much to their children and that they come first and foremost.

“I made quite a big decision about eight years ago whether to take a really big global role for a ridiculous amount of money or take a smaller role and have more time with family and not have to travel.

“I remember having a discussion with our son Luke, holding his hand on the way to school when he was eight or nine. And I couldn't have taken the role because my values are just not aligned with that.”

The very epitome of a team player and one for whom the collective was far more important than the individual, it’s no coincidence that Colin and wife Marie made for the perfect partnership.

After their marriage in Cheshire in the summer of 1972, across a subsequent near half century, the Bells were utterly devoted to each other, navigating all the ups and downs that life inevitably throws up along the way.

It’s also quickly evident, speaking to Dawn and Jon, just how important their Mum was in helping provide such a loving, secure household both when they were growing up as children and more latterly as they piloted their own routes through adulthood.

“Mum is the strongest woman you will ever meet in your whole life,” Dawn declares. “Dad absolutely adored Mum and would have done anything for her.

“His commitment and reliance on Mum was absolutely enormous. Mum did everything in the background to support him, bringing us up. She’s so strong.

“When I go back to the only time I saw Dad so upset, when Sam our dog was put down, Mum was the only one able to comfort and reassure Dad and to be that calm presence for him in the background.

“The love between them was so close, so close. They did everything together and she was and still is so loving and so supportive.

“They went through so much more together than what Dad went through on the pitch, though that’s not to undermine what Dad experienced as a footballer.

“They really struggled to have children, and you have to weigh that in. Mum had to give him and herself injections, and I said I don’t think I can do that.

“She was like: ‘I’ve done this loads of times to your Dad, I’ll be fine.’ and I was like: ‘I’m glad you’re OK with that because I’m not!’”

Jon adds: “Even during his injury, Mum was always there nursing to him [and caring for him].”

One of Colin’s other proudest roles in later years, along with Marie, was of being proud grandparents.

Dawn is mum to teenage boys Luke and Mark, while Jon, meanwhile, is dad to Isla and Jack.

Speaking to them, one soon realizes how being a doting grandfather was a role Colin simply adored – with the feeling reciprocated by his adoring grandchildren.

“Dad was obsessed. I had a horrific birth with one of my children and I remember telling Jon that I needed Dad,” Dawn reveals.

“He phoned home. I don’t know what time it was, but it was not a time of night that was suitable and I remember being on the phone in tears and telling them: ‘I need you now.’

“They packed immediately and came down and drove overnight.

“There was me recovering and they got to us.

“Dad took Luke and he was there nursing him and he was like: ‘This is Pops, Pops, Pops, Pops, and Pops likes Blue and doesn’t like Red!’ I’m like Dad! You can’t do that!

“But he absolutely was obsessed and adored them. He was so good with children.

“When I told my eldest son that I was having this chat about my Dad, but it could be a bit difficult because I had a work meeting that same day, he said, ‘This is about Pops, it’s way more important!’

‘How are you not cancelling the meeting!’”

In the latter years of his life, aside from pleasure and pride from watching the way his children and grandchildren chartered their own successful paths through life, Colin also derived huge pleasure from witnessing his beloved City’s stunning success.

The universal love and affection felt for Colin by Blues of every generation had already been indelibly recognised in 2004 when the West Stand at the then City of Manchester Stadium (now the Etihad) was renamed the Colin Bell Stand after a vote by supporters overwhelmingly nominated the King as a fitting and worthy recipient.

“The fact that it was a vote by the fans that led to the stand being named in his honour meant to the world to Dad,” Jon proudly points out.

Meanwhile Colin’s tireless community work, amongst other roles he was a huge supporter of the vital, pioneering work at the Christie where Jon works, saw him awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005.

“For him, on the day he got the MBE, he loved it,” Jon reveals.

“The MBE was awarded for services to the community, so it wasn’t for football. It was more meaningful to Dad.

“Dad came in at times [at the Christie] and did a lot of fundraising. That happened every year and I invited him along. He came to open and Vincent Kompany came to open one of our rooms.”

“Dad loved going to Buckingham Palace!,” Dawn concurs.

“For us it felt like the four of us going up there like a family day out!

“It didn’t feel exceptional but for Dad it meant everything. He just wanted to see the Queen.

“Also, for Dad, when you think of where he’d come from, to be going to Buckingham Palace was a major deal.”

The 2008 takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group, of course ushered in a golden new era for Manchester City.

As well as totally transforming fortunes on the pitch, it also saw the Club look to both recognise and cherish the seismic contributions made by generations of former players, not least Colin and his colleagues from that timeless late 1960s side.

“Dad always referred to the Chairman as Mr Chairman like someone in a tux and white shirt, but Khaldoon [Al Mubarak] was incredible [with us as a family],” says Jon, with the Bell family still maintaining a close, special connection to the Club to this day.

“We respect so much that he was in the boardroom, but Dad would always feel inferior to people in suits.

“And I know he was very proud of having the stand named after him. It did mean a lot to him especially the fact it was voted for by the fans. After that he really enjoyed going there.

“The culture and environment at the Club also changed completely [after the takeover].

“He used to say when going to Maine Road: ‘Why shall we go to watch this?’ But then later seeing David Silva and the likes playing absolutely brilliant football was so good.

“The only time I saw a lot of emotion from him at a game was the 93:20 match, against QPR in May 2012. When Sergio Aguero scored, I was in the Chairman’s lounge and they were handing out wristbands to go on the pitch and gave one to Dad.

“I remember standing in the tunnel and speaking to Roberto Mancini. Dad was really excited to go down [onto the pitch], whereas normally he wouldn’t want to be anywhere near something like that. It was a special day.”

Dawn adds: “What I found quite strange, given how shy he was, was that when we would go in via the main entrance at the Etihad, we’d wait in the queue as that’s what Dad taught us - not to bypass anybody.

“But what surprised me about Dad is he just walked in like he was going to work. His comfort was in that environment.

“He would never normally do that because he was so quiet and shy. But he was always just so comfortable at the stadium.”

The depth of Colin’s importance and connection to City was also further illustrated in the immediate aftermath after his desperately sad passing in January 2021 at the age of 74.

The following day City played away at Manchester United in a one-off Carabao Cup semi-final played at an empty Old Trafford amidst the then ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

In a hugely symbolic moment, the City squad to a man all walked out wearing shirts emblazoned with the figure eight in a moving tribute to Colin and the iconic number he had adorned with such class and grace for so many years.

And after a 2-0 victory had sealed our place in the final, both manager Pep Guardiola and goal scorer John Stones made plain in their post-match interviews how the team had been desperate to honour and mark Colin’s memory with victory.

“I think seeing them wear the number eight shirt really touched me. Number eight means everything,” Dawn recalled.

“My youngest, if he gets a choice of his shirt he always goes for eight.”

“John Stones scored that night and spoke afterwards and sent a message to the kids and Phil [Foden] spoke [to us] as well. It really meant a lot to us as a family,” Jon adds.

More latterly, Colin’s place in the firmament of City folklore has been further recognized in two tangible, emotional ways.

First came the unveiling of the eye-catching design for our 2022/23 home kit which paid affectionate homage to that great City strip of the late 1960s – and in particular the contribution of The King.

The City club crest was placed at the centre of a light blue jersey with signature maroon trims on the sleeve cuffs further carrying echoes of the Sixties. Meanwhile inside the neckline, a crown logo honoured ‘Colin the King’.

Fittingly, Marie, Jon and Dawn - along with their families - were all invited to the Etihad to witness the strip in person ahead of its official launch – which, appropriately enough, Pep Guardiola’s side went on to wear en route to the historic Treble.

That was then followed in late 2023 by the unveiling of City Forever - the wonderful permanent statute adjacent to the main entrance near the Colin Bell Stand at the Etihad.

An eye-catching and moving piece of work, it both honours and celebrates the lives and careers of Colin alongside fellow City icons Mike Summerbee and Francis Lee – the three totems of that fabulous side that bestrode the English and European football landscape like a Colossus through the late 1960s and early 1970s.

“When you go in through the turnstile at the main entrance in the Colin Bell Stand there’s a picture of Dad there. That is so important to me, and I always say hi and hello to him,” Dawn reveals. “But it’s a picture and it could go away. The statue feels more permanent and forever. It really means such a lot!”

Though life, of course, and the passage of time marches on relentlessly for us all, for Jon and Dawn, alongside their Mum and own children, Colin’s memory, impact and influence will always be there.

But when asked to quantify his remarkable life and enduring legacy – it’s his tireless, lifelong devotion to family rather than titanic footballing exploits that Dawn points to as her Dad’s greatest and abiding achievement.

“It’s a difficult one to answer because I don’t think anybody apart from Mum and us really knew Dad,” Dawn points out.

“There are a few peripheral friends, but I don’t think anybody really understands or knows that.

“Dad is way more special than anybody will ever realize because his main success in life was being with Mum and bringing us up.

“I don’t mean that in an arrogant way at all but that is what he would have wanted.

“But I think you’ll find if you talk to people who met him, everybody was in awe or grateful of the fact of his generosity and kindness. But I think those relationships were on a one-to-one basis.

“I think those are more important because you have an impact on an individual rather than being on a screen or in a press room, that is more for yourself.

“Whereas actually, Dad would be happy to spend time with individuals one to one and that is probably more impactful.”

“When you say how you think people will remember him, generations change and memories are lost and evolve,” Jon points out.

“He didn't care to be a celebrity. There were so many opportunities presented to him but that just wasn’t him.

“A lot of players now in the world of social media can create a new career for themselves and go into other things. But for Dad, he finished playing and then it just stopped.”

“Dad didn't want that [fame]. Ultimately, I so respect his ability to just be true to himself,” says Dawn.

“I’m also proud of that resilience that meant he went on to achieve all that he achieved.

“And his loyalty generally was just exceptional both to Mum and to us. And he really had a closeness to the fans that was beyond anything.

“But above all, to us he was just Dad.”

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