Neil Young’s First Goal - were you there?

I can’t remember exactly when it was, probably 1969/70. I was at Northenden Golf Club hoping to score a caddying job. Neil Young was outside the Clubhouse having just come off the golf course. He threw me a coin, probably two bob, and asked to me get him a bottle of lemonade from the cafe. When I came back with the bottle and his sixpence change he told me to keep the sixpence. I was so excited getting a tanner from one of my heroes I wanted to keep it forever. I didn’t of course. Being a skint kid from Wythenshawe I probably went straight to Woolies and spent it on toffees.
 
johnevans said:
My Old Man said when Neil Young was breaking through into the team 'He tackles like a cream puff.. but he's got a shot on him'

He usually had a pretty good eye for a player to watch, especially those players to learn from when teams visited Maine Road (Alex 'The Golden Vision' Young of Everton and John 'The Ghost' White of Spurs were my particular favourites as a kid learning the game) He always said 'Nelly' would make it even though he couldn't tackle for toffee!

The Old Man got it spectacularly wrong with Glyn Pardoe, though! When he broke into the team around the same time as Neil Young, Glyn suffered from (a) being played in a variety of positions, as a winger, a centre-forward, as a midfielder and (b) being so young, with his 'puppy fat' making him look overweight. The Old Man used to call him 'a useless, big bake'! A couple of years later along come 'Uncle/Genial Joe Mercer' and Malcolm Allison who converted Glyn to left-back and off his career rocketed, arguably the best full-back around in the late 60s.

What would Neil Young and Glyn Pardoe be worth in today's transfer market?! They were outstanding players..
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When I was a kid, probably 8 or 9 my mates dad used to take us to the games. We sat in the Platt Lane end and I remember Glynn getting a load of stick from the fans including my mates dad who used to call him “a bloody cart horse”

Malcolm Allison loved him. Turns out Malcolm was right and the Platt Lane Enders weren’t.
 
OntarioBlue said:
I can’t remember exactly when it was, probably 1969/70. I was at Northenden Golf Club hoping to score a caddying job. Neil Young was outside the Clubhouse having just come off the golf course. He threw me a coin, probably two bob, and asked to me get him a bottle of lemonade from the cafe. When I came back with the bottle and his sixpence change he told me to keep the sixpence. I was so excited getting a tanner from one of my heroes I wanted to keep it forever. I didn’t of course. Being a skint kid from Wythenshawe I probably went straight to Woolies and spent it on toffees.
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Woolies easiest place for a few free toffees if I remember
 
Sheikh rattle and roll said:
Ended up a milkman in Hale
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I understand he fell on bad times, lost contact with his ex teammates until they found out where he was. Franny helped him get back on his feet again, along with the others. I remember when Franny was chairman he had a guest of honor at the games and Nelly was one and he was chuffed with the reception he got
 
Gordyola said:
I understand he fell on bad times, lost contact with his ex teammates until they found out where he was. Franny helped him get back on his feet again, along with the others. I remember when Franny was chairman he had a guest of honor at the games and Nelly was one and he was chuffed with the reception he got
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Yeah pretty much this - divorce etc
 
I was probably there tho dont remember past games like some.

I do remember the excitement at the prospect of Nelly linking up with David Wagstaffe, sold to Wolves where he became a legend.

You do have to question how clubs were run and many deals then and since, although Young finaly came good for City.
 
spiny said:
I was probably there tho dont remember past games like some.

I do remember the excitement at the prospect of Nelly linking up with David Wagstaffe, sold to Wolves where he became a legend.

You do have to question how clubs were run and many deals then and since, although Young finaly came good for City.
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Loved watching David Wagstaffe , exciting player, top winger he was.

1766588952036.jpeg
 
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johnevans said:
Johnny Crossan was my second ever City hero as a lad learning the game (Trautmann was the first, obvs..!)

His penalty for the second against our promotion rivals Huddersfield on New Year's Day in 1966 confirmed us as real promotion, even championship, contenders. I remember being in the Platt Lane end with the Old Man, part of a 47000+ crowd. In front of us, Crossan took his time over the penalty while the trainer 'attended to' (!!) Neil Young with his sponge and bucket of ice cold water (again,!!) who had been fouled in the box (I think). Crossan told the trainer to wait while he cleaned his left boot only in the water bucket to suggest to Huddersfield's 'keeper that was his favoured foot. He then placed the ball on the spot, changed his run at the last second and scored with his right foot! Brilliant 'psyching'!

And yes 'GaryJ', I was at the Ipswich game when 'Nelly' scored. We did the double over Ipswich that season, beating them 4-2 at their gaff early in the season. After a good start we were on a bit of a losing run and Ipswich (who'd come up to Division One after winning the Division Two title the year before, managed by Alf Ramsey) were on a really great run which took them to the top of the table. We all expected a thrashing but, typical City, we walloped them instead! Of course, Ipswich went on to win the title that season and having won the Division Two title the previous season, the first time that feat had been achieved, I believe? This was emulated years later by Nottingham Forest under Cloughie, of course.

Funnily enough, I remember going to The Swamp later that season with my mates who supported The Red Filth (we used to do that sort of thing in those days!) where that lot across town also walloped Ipswich, with (again, I think) Albert Quixall getting a hat-trick in a 5-0 win.
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Great post.
 
I can't remember if I was at that particular match or not.

Neil Young was a hugely underrated and undervalued footballer. My brother's favourite ever City player, mainly because he used to play against him as a lad!

I used to think Nelly was a right miserable bugger in the early / mid 60s as he 'frequently declined' to give autographs if a crowd of us kids surrounded him! Apparently, he used to get embarrassed as he was quite a shy lad.

Neil should have played for England. Sadly, he ended up being treated poorly by the club he loved.

No Neil Young, no 2nd division title in 1966, no 1st division title in 1968, possibly no FA Cup win in 1969, or Cup Winners Cup win in 1970.

Neil was just as important as Bell, Lee, and Summerbee in our late 1960s heydays. It's a crying shame that the club took so long to acknowledge his contribution to our success.
 
johnevans said:
Johnny Crossan was my second ever City hero as a lad learning the game (Trautmann was the first, obvs..!)

His penalty for the second against our promotion rivals Huddersfield on New Year's Day in 1966 confirmed us as real promotion, even championship, contenders. I remember being in the Platt Lane end with the Old Man, part of a 47000+ crowd. In front of us, Crossan took his time over the penalty while the trainer 'attended to' (!!) Neil Young with his sponge and bucket of ice cold water (again,!!) who had been fouled in the box (I think). Crossan told the trainer to wait while he cleaned his left boot only in the water bucket to suggest to Huddersfield's 'keeper that was his favoured foot. He then placed the ball on the spot, changed his run at the last second and scored with his right foot! Brilliant 'psyching'!

And yes 'GaryJ', I was at the Ipswich game when 'Nelly' scored. We did the double over Ipswich that season, beating them 4-2 at their gaff early in the season. After a good start we were on a bit of a losing run and Ipswich (who'd come up to Division One after winning the Division Two title the year before, managed by Alf Ramsey) were on a really great run which took them to the top of the table. We all expected a thrashing but, typical City, we walloped them instead! Of course, Ipswich went on to win the title that season and having won the Division Two title the previous season, the first time that feat had been achieved, I believe? This was emulated years later by Nottingham Forest under Cloughie, of course.

Funnily enough, I remember going to The Swamp later that season with my mates who supported The Red Filth (we used to do that sort of thing in those days!) where that lot across town also walloped Ipswich, with (again, I think) Albert Quixall getting a hat-trick in a 5-0 win.
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Great story that John, well until the last paragraph anyway :)
 
johnevans said:
Johnny Crossan was my second ever City hero as a lad learning the game (Trautmann was the first, obvs..!)

His penalty for the second against our promotion rivals Huddersfield on New Year's Day in 1966 confirmed us as real promotion, even championship, contenders. I remember being in the Platt Lane end with the Old Man, part of a 47000+ crowd. In front of us, Crossan took his time over the penalty while the trainer 'attended to' (!!) Neil Young with his sponge and bucket of ice cold water (again,!!) who had been fouled in the box (I think). Crossan told the trainer to wait while he cleaned his left boot only in the water bucket to suggest to Huddersfield's 'keeper that was his favoured foot. He then placed the ball on the spot, changed his run at the last second and scored with his right foot! Brilliant 'psyching'!

And yes 'GaryJ', I was at the Ipswich game when 'Nelly' scored. We did the double over Ipswich that season, beating them 4-2 at their gaff early in the season. After a good start we were on a bit of a losing run and Ipswich (who'd come up to Division One after winning the Division Two title the year before, managed by Alf Ramsey) were on a really great run which took them to the top of the table. We all expected a thrashing but, typical City, we walloped them instead! Of course, Ipswich went on to win the title that season and having won the Division Two title the previous season, the first time that feat had been achieved, I believe? This was emulated years later by Nottingham Forest under Cloughie, of course.

Funnily enough, I remember going to The Swamp later that season with my mates who supported The Red Filth (we used to do that sort of thing in those days!) where that lot across town also walloped Ipswich, with (again, I think) Albert Quixall getting a hat-trick in a 5-0 win.
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Brilliant!
I love all those stories from that rarely mentioned 58-66 period
Amazing that one minute we were a decaying sleeping giant and then suddenly BANG!
 
Neil was selling some raffle tickets for the supporters club late 90s so I went round to his flat on Spath Lane area in Handforth to pick up the money, he asked me in made me a brew and presented his medals !!!

It was surreal, told me about his cup winners cup medal his son used to wear it on a chain round his neck and lost it in the sea in Malta
Lovely fella sat chatting with him and Carmen for an hour or so and got to know him quite well after that
When he was ill my Mrs was one of the nurses looking after him. We hadn’t seen him for years so she said nothing, until he said to her “don’t I know you” !!! Then she explained the connection
“Oh yeah of course I do !”
 
Lavinda Past said:
I can't remember if I was at that particular match or not.

Neil Young was a hugely underrated and undervalued footballer. My brother's favourite ever City player, mainly because he used to play against him as a lad!

I used to think Nelly was a right miserable bugger in the early / mid 60s as he 'frequently declined' to give autographs if a crowd of us kids surrounded him! Apparently, he used to get embarrassed as he was quite a shy lad.

Neil should have played for England. Sadly, he ended up being treated poorly by the club he loved.

No Neil Young, no 2nd division title in 1966, no 1st division title in 1968, possibly no FA Cup win in 1969, or Cup Winners Cup win in 1970.

Neil was just as important as Bell, Lee, and Summerbee in our late 1960s heydays. It's a crying shame that the club took so long to acknowledge his contribution to our success.
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It must be one of the few times (only time) I’ve ever agreed with one of your posts….but totally agree.

Only saw him from about 67 onwards but he was the most talented of that fabulous team.
 
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