Manchester City and Me: Dennis Tueart - It was something you couldn’t script! | OneFootball

City players past and present open up on precious moments and memories of their time with the Blues.

Men's Team

Joe Corrigan on the Class of 1976

In this edition of ‘Manchester City and Me’, we hear from the great Dennis Tueart as he recalls the 1976 League Cup final.

Some days in your life stay with you forever and for me and all the lads who were part of that special Manchester City team, February 28, 1976, will never, ever be forgotten.

To be able to feature as part of a City team playing at Wembley in a League Cup final was so special anyway. But for our opponents to be Newcastle United - my hometown side who had rejected me as a teenager due to my lack of height - and for us to win the game 2-1 with me scoring the winner… it was something you just couldn’t script!

I was lucky enough to have already enjoyed success at Wembley with Sunderland being part of the side that won the 1973 FA Cup final against Leeds United.

So that experience really helped me in terms of nerves and knowing what to expect from the occasion when it came to the ’76 final.

The build-up to the final was also very similar to what I had experienced with Sunderland three years earlier.

In the week leading up to the game, the entire City squad and staff all stayed at Champneys Health Farm in Hertfordshire.

It meant there was an opportunity to blend in and be together for each other and really further foster our team spirit without any outside distractions.

It’s worth remembering that it was a very talented Newcastle side we faced that day.

They had players of the calibre of Malcolm McDonald, Alan Gowling, Mickey Burns, Irving Nattrass, Tommy Craig and Tommy Cassidy so we knew it was a real challenge.

But I had every confidence in our team. We were packed with top talent and a host of internationals.

Our boss Tony Book was a really good man manager, and he had skilfully blended a squad that combined real youthful exuberance and vital experience.

Men's Team

Mike Doyle and Tony Book remembered

It meant you had terrific young lads like Peter Barnes and Ged Keegan at one end of the spectrum and then top pros such as Alan Oakes, Joe Royle and our skipper Mike Doyle at the other.

There was a lot of excitement and expectation building up to the match and as a spectacle I don’t think it disappointed anyone.

It was a classic game full of incident and drama.It was also nicknamed the People’s Final because of the huge passion and common camaraderie between both sets of supporters.

I heard this first hand from my brother, my dad and their friends who all went to the game.

Both sets of supporters were sort of chatting away to each other. There was no animosity at all, and it was such a magnificent day out for everyone.

When I look back on that final, I also reference the sense of unity we had. It wasn’t just my team against Newcastle; it was our city of Manchester against the city of Newcastle. It really was a fundamental unity of all parts.

What I mean by that is that we had almost two teams at Wembley that day. We had the 12 players in the matchday squad and the rest of the guys who had played such a major part in getting us there like Paul Power and obviously Colin Bell who was sadly injured and such a fantastic backroom staff.

Not only were we blessed with some seriously talented individuals, I think we also blessed with such a great team spirit and a sense of belonging and togetherness.

But equally importantly, we had amazing support off the field. The backing from the City fans was just magnificent. It really was.

So, there were a lot of similarities with what I experienced with Sunderland in 1973 because of that unity.

It meant we were a whole team on and off the field.And that’s what you need. You need a powerful force on the field, and you need a powerful force off the field and that’s what we had at Manchester City.

I call it the complete package.

Of course, for me personally, that day is crystalised with my overhead goal which fortunately proved to be the match winner.

It’s a moment that means just as much to me now as it did at the time and is also a source of enormous pride for all my family too.

I knew I had made a perfect connection as soon as I struck the ball - but I didn’t know how perfect until I got up off the floor and saw the ball nestling in the net.

And also strangely enough, again, talking about the People’s Final, I’ve seen some edits on the TV screen where I’m just running away to celebrate.

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Asa Hartford’s grabbing a hold of me to congratulate me and stop sprinting all the way round Wembley! We’re all just enjoying the moment.

The goal was at the end of the stadium where the Newcastle fans were but, if you look at the TV highlights in the background, in the stadium you can see even a few Newcastle supporters applauded the goal. That meant a lot too.

In terms of the goal itself, I always reference Denis Law, who was one of my schoolboy heroes when I was growing up.

A little while afterwards, I was talking to Denis about the game, and he said that when you score goals three elements are key.

First of all, you need to know where the goal is. Secondly, you’ve got to keep moving into space. And thirdly, you have to be brave.

I was quite athletic in those early days, so it meant I was able to hopefully meet those three requirements.

But moments such as that are what you endeavour to create as a professional football player.

To try to perform and deliver on the biggest stage of them all.

When your career is over, you want memories in your treasure box to look back upon.

And as a professional there is no bigger thrill and achievement than helping your team win a trophy on the biggest stage.

The goal went on to be voted the greatest League Cup final goal of all time.

So, it has stood the test of time and that is something I’m very pleased and proud of.

It was one of those rare occasions where you get the opportunity to win a final especially against your hometown team, who had rejected you at the age of 15.

In retrospect, I think that the only thing which was a slight disappointment for me about the weekend was that on the Sunday evening, down in London, it was the PFA Awards dinner.

I was lucky enough to be voted into the 1976 PFA First Division team of the year while Peter Barnes, who had scored our first goal at Wembley, was voted the PFA Young Player of the Year. So, it meant Peter and I actually stayed down in London for the dinner to receive our awards.

That meant we were unable to be with the lads for the homecoming reception and celebrations in Manchester. To miss out on that was tough.

I’ve seen video of the homecoming of the rest of the lads in Manchester, and it was absolutely fantastic. I would have loved to be there and to have been able to share that moment with not only my teammates and my club, but our supporters as well.

So that’s the only regret if you like – but otherwise I just look back on the whole experience with huge pride, affection and emotion.

And in terms of the bigger picture, if you think about your time in the game, your football career normally lasts probably eight to ten years at the top level.

So, you don’t get very many opportunities to achieve something truly special.

In those days, we had four chances to try and win and achieve something that really mattered.

You had the League Cup, the FA Cup, the league and then international appearances.

I was so lucky to play for my country, to win the FA Cup, then win the League Cup with City and help us finish runners-up in the league in 1976/77 and win a league with New York Cosmos in America.

So, to know you have been successful in all the elements – you can’t really ask for much more from your career than to know you achieved all the things to a degree that you would want to achieve.

But for me, when you win something with your teammates and when you win a special trophy for yourself, for your teammates, for your club and for your supporters, it means all the separate elements are there.

Moments don’t really get any better than that.

When you look back on your time, you’ve got to think to yourself, well, how did you do? Did you pass the test? I’d like to think that I did pass the test.

And it’s so gratifying that we are still able to celebrate it 50 years on and to know that what we did brought so much pleasure to so many people.