Gillingham v Manchester City 1999

urmston said:
I won't be buying the book. Good title though. My Scunthorpe supporting friend was looking forward to the possibility of us meeting in the league.

98/99 is something which did happen but I'd rather forget. I had a season ticket that year, as I did for years previously and still do now, but in 98/99 I only went to about half the games at Maine Rd. It was just too depressing to see City playing in the third division, the result of two decades of bungling and bad management, much of which I'd watched at Maine Rd and various grounds around the country.

My Gillingham Wembley ticket went to a relative. I wasn't going to travel 200 miles to watch a third division match.

Naturally I was pleased when City beat Gillingham and got back to the second division, but the whole era was terrible in City terms and not something I want to be reminded of too often.
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It was without doubt our darkest hour but as one of the many who went home and away to virtually every game that season it was also one of the best in a very strange way. The away trips were truly amazing. The amount of support we took to every ground - you could see the disbelief in the home fans eyes! The chants, the craic, the play off semi final stood on the mud heap (literally) at Wigan and then the events of the Gillingham game itself was for me some of the happiest days of my life. That period defined us as fans. What we are and how we support the team and the club and what we are now.
Also without a shred of doubt if we had not won that day at Wembley then as a club we were effectively finished. Without that day at Wembley there would be no Sheik, no Etihad stadium and no wonderfully bright future to look forward to.
Those were the days my friend. They really were...
 
I embraced us being in the 3rd division and yes it was shit but it was our shit and I loved it,didn't care one jot that we was playing Chesterfield or Wycombe, I was going to watch city and that was all that mattered imo.
We shouldn't erase that season out of our minds as it had a huge effect on what was to happen in the future, it's part of our past now and we mustn't forget it as it was a watershed moment for the club.
That is why we're different to all the other clubs, that is why winning the prem means more to this club than any other because we've had to come through years of shit and we're still here.....
 
The Gillingham game was the biggest emotional low and high I ever experienced as a City fan and only the QPR 3-2 comes close to that.

The thing I remember most when we were 1-0 then 2-0 down was the dawning realisation that the 'adventure' of a season in the 3rd tier was no longer an one-off new experience but likely to be reality for the foreseeable future. And it wasn't just me me, you could see it in everyone's faces that one season of exploring new depths and laughing at ourselves and ignoring what was going on in the Prem could be called 'interesting times' and made us better fans, but that if we stayed there then we could be stuck their for good.

At the time the Dickov goal felt like possibly the most important goal ever scored by a City player, and with what has happened since I don't think there is any doubt about that now. There should be a statue of Dickov outside the Etihad, although as has been mentioned the new regime may not want to be reminded of that era. However, it is part of what makes City unique and special so should be embraced.
 
we have the privilege of having wembley 99 and etihad 12, not many fans have such rollercoaster emotions, we are blessed in the football world
 
shemnel said:
we have the privilege of having wembley 99 and etihad 12, not many fans have such rollercoaster emotions, we are blessed in the football world
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No.

It was not a privilege to see City in the 3rd division.

It was a disgrace.

We are doing OK now.
 
How far we have come since then... who can guess what would have been if it was not for the valour of Dickov et al that fine day
 
Lucky Toma said:
urmston said:
shemnel said:
we have the privilege of having wembley 99 and etihad 12, not many fans have such rollercoaster emotions, we are blessed in the football world
Click to expand...

No.

It was not a privilege to see City in the 3rd division.

It was a disgrace.

We are doing OK now.
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Dont agree but I admire your honesty mate.
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It wasn't a disgrace, it was a deserved end product of running a poor pittle-up in a brewery with many leaking pipes. We came back stronger for it, we fought, we battled and we got lucky at times - but no club is bigger than the results on the pitch.
 
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