Gary James
Well-Known Member
There's a bit of doom and gloom around the world at the moment so let's try and lighten things here (for a few moments at least). I saw the thread about the Chicken Man (see: https://forums.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk/threads/an-audience-with-the-frozen-chicken-man.322795/ ) and it got me thinking about other surreal moments at City. I'm thinking about odd things that have happened which have lightened the mood or been a bit of a distraction from negativity. Obviously, there's the banana craze and fancy dress games but what about other moments that maybe some of us remember and others think 'surely that didn't happen?'
I'll start with one: Norman Wisdom on the pitch in full City kit plus flat cap (and yes, those of us on the Kippax did genuinely think it was Peter Reid wearing a flat cap for some reason when he first came out!). Norman was promoting a golf competition and he basically larked around on the pitch for a bit. He took a penalty and of course fell over.
20 years ago when I was writing Farewell To Maine Road an elderly fan told me about a character she called Hoppy. The nickname is not very PC BUT the story is that 'Hoppy' had one leg and before many home games in the inter-war period he used to hop around the pitch. He'd do a full lap of the pitch and be cheered all the way around it. She thought that he'd lost his leg in WW1 and thinks he may have been doing it to raise money for a charity, but apart from her memory I've never managed to find any other evidence of Hoppy.
So, go on, what other surreal or odd moments can we think of?
I'll start with one: Norman Wisdom on the pitch in full City kit plus flat cap (and yes, those of us on the Kippax did genuinely think it was Peter Reid wearing a flat cap for some reason when he first came out!). Norman was promoting a golf competition and he basically larked around on the pitch for a bit. He took a penalty and of course fell over.
20 years ago when I was writing Farewell To Maine Road an elderly fan told me about a character she called Hoppy. The nickname is not very PC BUT the story is that 'Hoppy' had one leg and before many home games in the inter-war period he used to hop around the pitch. He'd do a full lap of the pitch and be cheered all the way around it. She thought that he'd lost his leg in WW1 and thinks he may have been doing it to raise money for a charity, but apart from her memory I've never managed to find any other evidence of Hoppy.
So, go on, what other surreal or odd moments can we think of?