Bell Summerbee and Lee, with the 1970s team around

Bluesince1979 said:
But macrae was there 7 years! Presuming he signed a new contract to stay longer at some point ?
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MacRae was bought for a British record fee of £100,000 from Motherwell in October 1973 to replace Corrigan, who at the time had become regarded as a bit of a liability. That was a couple of years before I started watching the first team as a kid so I don't recall his performances when he arrived, but the posters on here who remember MacRae as the number one 'keeper generally seem to think of him as a disappointment given what we paid for him.

Although MacRae had been bought during the brief managerial reign of Johnny Hart, he did retain the number one spot when Ron Saunders and then Tony Book became manager. However, he suffered an injury in a game at Leicester in March 1975 which put him out of action for the rest of the season. The local media suggested that Book would buy a new reserve goalkeeper before that month's transfer deadline, but he didn't and Corrigan played for the remainder of the campaign, apparently looking much improved. He did well enough to keep the shirt when the following season began in August.

MacRae, as you say, remained at the club until the beginning of 1981, by which time Alex Williams had emerged as a capable back-up to Corrigan. The Scot was then signed by Seattle Sounders in the NASL, with Williams making his debut at Maine Road in March 1981 in a won over WBA. MacRae played 56 league games and made 16 other senior appearances for City, but only 5 league appearances and one League Cup tie came in the near six-year spell after that March 1975 injury.

My old man took me to watch the reserves starting from the 1974/75 season and we went most weeks until I left for university, so I recall pretty much all of MacRae's stint as Corrigan's deputy. Even if the first-team spectators regarded him as not living up to his record-breaking billing, he definitely stood out at Central League level. He did have chances to move on - I recall teams such as Bolton and Palace being in for him, for instance - but he always stayed.

I suspect he was on good money and settled at City so simply didn't fancy a move until it became clear that the club were keen to cash in given that a new youth 'keeper was emerging. It is a bit of an odd story, though, that he should have arrived as such a major signing, did almost 18 months in the senior side and was then almost never seen again.

Another oddity about MacRae is that, when he emerged from Motherwell's junior set-up, he played both in goal and outfield. He actually notched a couple of goals for them in games where he didn't feature in goal.
 
petrusha said:
MacRae was bought for a British record fee of £100,000 from Motherwell in October 1973 to replace Corrigan, who at the time had become regarded as a bit of a liability. That was a couple of years before I started watching the first team as a kid so I don't recall his performances when he arrived, but the posters on here who remember MacRae as the number one 'keeper generally seem to think of him as a disappointment given what we paid for him.

Although MacRae had been bought during the brief managerial reign of Johnny Hart, he did retain the number one spot when Ron Saunders and then Tony Book became manager. However, he suffered an injury in a game at Leicester in March 1975 which put him out of action for the rest of the season. The local media suggested that Book would buy a new reserve goalkeeper before that month's transfer deadline, but he didn't and Corrigan played for the remainder of the campaign, apparently looking much improved. He did well enough to keep the shirt when the following season began in August.

MacRae, as you say, remained at the club until the beginning of 1981, by which time Alex Williams had emerged as a capable back-up to Corrigan. The Scot was then signed by Seattle Sounders in the NASL, with Williams making his debut at Maine Road in March 1981 in a won over WBA. MacRae played 56 league games and made 16 other senior appearances for City, but only 5 league appearances and one League Cup tie came in the near six-year spell after that March 1975 injury.

My old man took me to watch the reserves starting from the 1974/75 season and we went most weeks until I left for university, so I recall pretty much all of MacRae's stint as Corrigan's deputy. Even if the first-team spectators regarded him as not living up to his record-breaking billing, he definitely stood out at Central League level. He did have chances to move on - I recall teams such as Bolton and Palace being in for him, for instance - but he always stayed.

I suspect he was on good money and settled at City so simply didn't fancy a move until it became clear that the club were keen to cash in given that a new youth 'keeper was emerging. It is a bit of an odd story, though, that he should have arrived as such a major signing, did almost 18 months in the senior side and was then almost never seen again.

Another oddity about MacRae is that, when he emerged from Motherwell's junior set-up, he played both in goal and outfield. He actually notched a couple of goals for them in games where he didn't feature in goal.
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Ginger as I recall.
 
Lovebitesandeveryfing said:
Just about.… It seems to me that Dowd was already sort of on his way out by the end of the championship season? I'm not actually sure that I saw any matches with him. You couldn't miss him, because the name Harry already marked him down as belonging to a certain era (although of course it's come back in in recent times).

Edit: just been through all the teams for the championship season (I have student papers to mark by the end of the weekend, and any deflecting excuse is good…).
In effect, Harry played the first eight games or so, then drops out — injured, I suppose. Then it's Ken who clearly holds down the position right the way through to St. James's Park. Although I note that a young big Joe Corrigan gets a look in for a couple of games.
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I just remember him from the cup final and that he was a plumber by trade.

This is his entry in wiki;

At the start of his career Dowd combined amateur football playing for ICI Blackley with a job as a plumber. On 10 January 1958 he signed for Manchester City as an amateur, and turned professional two years later. In December 1961 he made his debut in a 4–1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers, deputising for the injured Bert Trautmann. In the 1961–62 season he established himself as first choice goalkeeper, making 34 appearances. In February 1964, Dowd broke his finger in a game against Bury. Unable to continue playing in goal, he moved to centre-forward, where he scored the equalising goal.

During Manchester City's championship winning 1967–68 season, Dowd lost his first team place through injury to Ken Mulhearn, and made only seven first team appearances therefore missing out on a League Championship Medal under the rules then in place. He regained his place the following season, and played on the winning side in the 1969 FA Cup final, where Manchester City beat Leicester City 1–0.

In the 1969–70 season, Dowd lost his first team place again, this time to Joe Corrigan and so the spent two months on loan at Stoke City being used as cover for Gordon Banks, making three appearances for the "Potters". His final Manchester City appearance was against Sheffield Wednesday in the final match of 1969–70, and in December 1970 he was transferred to Oldham Athletic, where he played 111 times. Dowd died on 7 April 2015 at the age of 76.
 
Lovebitesandeveryfing said:
There are some interesting things about that team, to me as someone who became a supporter during the ’67-68 season. Frankly, there are names in the squad that mean almost nothing to me. What is striking is that although teams played 42 games, as opposed to 38 today, the same team was played over and over again. And not just City. Whether they were playing through injuries or not, I don't know, but essentially the same guys were out there on bad cabbage-patch pitches, and taking heavy tackles (the tackle from behind was still accepted). I suspect that a greater degree of general athleticism is demanded today. I'm sure there were attacking players who simply never tracked back, even if they were told to by the manager.
Glennon, Horne, Mundy? Means nothing to me. Now I wasn't in a position to see every home game, far from it, from ’68 to ’70, but I'm sure I never saw those players play.
The other thing is I had forgotten how late Mulhearn was still playing in nets. All I remember from that era, really, is Corrigan. Yet Joe must have sharing the position, at least sometimes. Same for George Heslop. I can remember him from the first season, and then barely after that. Looking back, it's Tommy Booth who just seemed to establish himself early and then hold down that role effortlessly for years (Tommy must presumably be on the other side of that plinth, along with people like Tony Coleman — unjustly forgotten).
Memory plays tricks…
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Same year I became a city fan,great team that
 
Saddleworth2 said:
I just remember him from the cup final and that he was a plumber by trade.

This is his entry in wiki;

At the start of his career Dowd combined amateur football playing for ICI Blackley with a job as a plumber. On 10 January 1958 he signed for Manchester City as an amateur, and turned professional two years later. In December 1961 he made his debut in a 4–1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers, deputising for the injured Bert Trautmann. In the 1961–62 season he established himself as first choice goalkeeper, making 34 appearances. In February 1964, Dowd broke his finger in a game against Bury. Unable to continue playing in goal, he moved to centre-forward, where he scored the equalising goal.

During Manchester City's championship winning 1967–68 season, Dowd lost his first team place through injury to Ken Mulhearn, and made only seven first team appearances therefore missing out on a League Championship Medal under the rules then in place. He regained his place the following season, and played on the winning side in the 1969 FA Cup final, where Manchester City beat Leicester City 1–0.

In the 1969–70 season, Dowd lost his first team place again, this time to Joe Corrigan and so the spent two months on loan at Stoke City being used as cover for Gordon Banks, making three appearances for the "Potters". His final Manchester City appearance was against Sheffield Wednesday in the final match of 1969–70, and in December 1970 he was transferred to Oldham Athletic, where he played 111 times. Dowd died on 7 April 2015 at the age of 76.
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I played in goal at school and gave myself the name Harry Dowd. Good run down on him, thanks.
 
BLS said:
Same year I became a city fan,great team that
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We're such glory hunters, aren't we?
Actually, it was for me the year the family moved up to Manchester from the south. It happened to coincide very happily with possibly the best attacking team in the country. I don't necessarily say the best team, there were maybe teams that were better in defence, but when that City machine was well oiled and working it was a sight to behold going forward.
 
I remember Harry Dowd being kicked in the head after diving at the feet of Law, he was out for quite a while.
 
Saddleworth2 said:
I just remember him from the cup final and that he was a plumber by trade.

This is his entry in wiki;

At the start of his career Dowd combined amateur football playing for ICI Blackley with a job as a plumber. On 10 January 1958 he signed for Manchester City as an amateur, and turned professional two years later. In December 1961 he made his debut in a 4–1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers, deputising for the injured Bert Trautmann. In the 1961–62 season he established himself as first choice goalkeeper, making 34 appearances. In February 1964, Dowd broke his finger in a game against Bury. Unable to continue playing in goal, he moved to centre-forward, where he scored the equalising goal.

During Manchester City's championship winning 1967–68 season, Dowd lost his first team place through injury to Ken Mulhearn, and made only seven first team appearances therefore missing out on a League Championship Medal under the rules then in place. He regained his place the following season, and played on the winning side in the 1969 FA Cup final, where Manchester City beat Leicester City 1–0.

In the 1969–70 season, Dowd lost his first team place again, this time to Joe Corrigan and so the spent two months on loan at Stoke City being used as cover for Gordon Banks, making three appearances for the "Potters". His final Manchester City appearance was against Sheffield Wednesday in the final match of 1969–70, and in December 1970 he was transferred to Oldham Athletic, where he played 111 times. Dowd died on 7 April 2015 at the age of 76.
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Lovely man....he ended up a sales rep for JW Lees brewery and you could see him most Monday mornings in Harpurhey at Bernard's Embassy Club.....obviously making sure the brewery didn't lose the tie lol
Bernard was robbed outside the club one day and he's said in his act that he threw the bag with the takings in it to Harry and the fucker dropped it ....
 
True, but it was only 3 or 4 years ago that Bobby received his medal retrospectively, as initially he was deemed to not have played sufficient games. More interestingly, he was the unused sub at Newcastle for that unforgettable game, which is why I think we can justifiably claim to have been "all English".
Whatever -as a silly old sod I am so proud to have witnessed that magnificent side, especially on that wonderful day at Newcastle in may 1968.
 
Howard Croft said:
True, but it was only 3 or 4 years ago that Bobby received his medal retrospectively, as initially he was deemed to not have played sufficient games. More interestingly, he was the unused sub at Newcastle for that unforgettable game, which is why I think we can justifiably claim to have been "all English".
Whatever -as a silly old sod I am so proud to have witnessed that magnificent side, especially on that wonderful day at Newcastle in may 1968.
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By such an awful coincidence Bobby died this weekend. Here’s an interview I did with him a few years back:

gjfootballarchive.com

Remembering Bobby Kennedy

Sorry to hear the news that Manchester City’s Scottish defender Bobby Kennedy has died. To remember his footballing life, here’s an interview I did with him in 2005 (as it was published at the time…
gjfootballarchive.com gjfootballarchive.com

He was proud to have played his part in that title success and it’s a real shame he and Stan Horne had to wait so long for their medals.
 
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