Best All-English City XI

[spacecadet]

Corrigan Walker Doyle Watson Pardoe Oakes Summerbee Bell Lee T Francis Tueart sub Barnes

 

[Lavinda Past]

Mulhearn

Book Pardoe

Doyle Heslop Oakes

Lee Bell Summerbee Young Coleman

A team that actually won the league.

This is the only correct answer.

 

[petrusha]

Nobody on here's ever seen him play — but by reputation, Peter
Doherty.
Must be one or two players from the mid 50s team who'd compete, too;

Doherty was Northern Irish, so wouldn't be eligible for this team. But FWIW my late grandfather, who died in 1989 and had seen City since the Hyde Road days, insisted that Doherty was the best player we'd had in his time watching us. He did say, however, that the old boys watching Doherty in the thirties used to say he wasn't as good as Billy Meredith in his first spell (my grandad was born in 1909 so did see Meredith play, but only when the great Welshman was past his best).

As for the 1950s side, many of the star players also weren't English - the likes of Bert Trautmann, Roy Paul, Bobby Johnstone and Roy Clarke. I suppose, at least judging by reputation based on my later reading, the leading Englishmen in that side would have been Ken Barnes and Don Revie.

 

[AliBobbyJ]

----------------Hart
Book---Doyle-------Watson---Pardoe
---------------Oakes
Buzzer--------Bell---------Sterling
-----------Lee------Young

Very good. But Frank Swift in place of Hart and I've got to have Foden and Paul Lake in there, which two to drop for them? And maybe Sterling has missed too many one on ones to make the starting XI.

 

[Blue and still suffering]

Nobody on here's ever seen him play — but by reputation, Peter
Doherty.
Must be one or two players from the mid 50s team who'd compete, too;

My late Dad used to say that Doherty was the best player he ever saw.
My team FWIW
Corrigan
Walker Doyle Watson Hinchcliffe
Bell Lake Owen
Tueart Francis Foden

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

My late Dad used to say that Doherty was the best player he ever saw.
My team FWIW
Corrigan
Walker Doyle Watson Hinchcliffe
Bell Lake Owen
Tueart Francis Foden

That's a pretty bloody fearsome team.

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

Doherty was Northern Irish, so wouldn't be eligible for this team. But FWIW my late grandfather, who died in 1989 and had seen City since the Hyde Road days, insisted that Doherty was the best player we'd had in his time watching us. He did say, however, that the old boys watching Doherty in the thirties used to say he wasn't as good as Billy Meredith in his first spell (my grandad was born in 1909 so did see Meredith play, but only when the great Welshman was past his best).

As for the 1950s side, many of the star players also weren't English - the likes of Bert Trautmann, Roy Paul, Bobby Johnstone and Roy Clarke. I suppose, at least judging by reputation based on my later reading, the leading Englishmen in that side would have been Ken Barnes and Don Revie.

Yes, I thought about that afterwards, with a name like Doherty. Should have been more awake.
I knew that Meredith was Welsh. The Welsh often seem to have one really brilliant player for any given generation, but never a whole team.
People who saw Ken Barnes really rated him, I believe.
It's great that there are people on here who represent generational continuity stretching back to the early twentieth century. But we have no history before Abu Dhabi, of course…

 

[1.618034]

Despite all our foreign stars over the years, City have had some decent English players. Whist musing idly yesterday, I came up with a notional City team comprising English players. (I have probably forgotten someone important):

Corrigan

Walker Stones Watson Pardoe

Grealish Barry Foden

Bell

Lee Sterling

Subs: Coton, Doyle, Booth, SWP, Buzzer

Of that XI, ten were internationals - and Pardoe could well have been if Best hasn't committed that assault.

So your username isn't a reference to Frank Swift then?


Anyway:

Frank Swift
Kyle Walker, John Stones, Mike Doyle(c), Glyn Pardoe
Mike Summerbee, Colin Bell, Phil Foden, Dennis Tueart
Francis Lee, Tommy Johnson

Subs: Corrigan, Book, Booth, Oakes, Meredith, Young

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

So your username isn't a reference to Frank Swift then?


Anyway:

Frank Swift
Kyle Walker, John Stones, Mike Doyle(c), Glyn Pardoe
Mike Summerbee, Colin Bell, Phil Foden, Dennis Tueart
Francis Lee, Tommy Johnson

Subs: Corrigan, Book, Booth, Oakes, Meredith, Young

For me, Watson is a shoe-in in central defence. Like a bloody rock.

 

[burnley blue mcfc]

Paul lake has to be in a best 11! as us “older” fans know only injuries stopped him becoming an all time great, tho swales would’ve made sure it wasn’t with us