shadygiz
Moderator
RIP Big fella.....a sad sad day ;(
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Malcolm Allison RIP - Confirmed
- Thread starter BlueDean
- Start date
chinley blues
Well-Known Member
a very very sad day, met malcolm and joe as a young lad, watching the team train at wythenshawe park, they both had loads of time for the onlooking kids, that day comfirmed to me city are gods only club.
malcolm was by far the best ever coach this club has had.
RIP MALCOLM
malcolm was by far the best ever coach this club has had.
RIP MALCOLM
M18CTID
Well-Known Member
Sad news. He was as instrumental in our success back in the late 60's and early 70's as Joe Mercer himself. A classic managerial double act.
As far as my own memories are concerned, being born in 1970 means that unfortunately I'm only old enough to remember his ultimately unsuccessful return to the club in 1979. But despite that, it's good to know our fans never held that spell against him and chose instead to remember the huge positive impact he had on our club.
As far as my own memories are concerned, being born in 1970 means that unfortunately I'm only old enough to remember his ultimately unsuccessful return to the club in 1979. But despite that, it's good to know our fans never held that spell against him and chose instead to remember the huge positive impact he had on our club.
DenisLawBackHeel74
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 20 Feb 2010
- Messages
- 11,612
scorer said:Truth be told it was he and Mercer that are the reasons I am so privilidged to support this magnificent team. I would no doubt these days be tagged a glory hunter.
I cant believe it but there are tears streaming as I write this and what is more I just cant stop.
Me too.
Sheriff Fatman
Well-Known Member
RIP Big Man - Just too young to remember the glory days of the 60s but have fond memories from family and friends. Will always remember Mal's return with Palace and him running to the Kippax to be greeted as a God. It's one of my childhood memories of City, up there with King Colin's comeback game. Like many have said previously, this has left me shaken, empty and with a tear in my eye.
marco
Well-Known Member
minutes silence at the arsenal game 5 live say
Maintainin
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 10 Sep 2009
- Messages
- 7,603
"Ascend in peace Big Mal n' continue to bless us."
Off out in abit to get yet another sky blue ribbon !
=============================================================================================================
David Tossell's openin credits in the book, "Big Mal: The High Life and Hard Times of Malcolm Allison".
It was still only late August, the opening weeks of the 2006-07 season, but the familiar pattern had been re-established already. Even on their own ground, little consideration had been given to the likelihood of Manchester City achieving victory against a multinational, multi-talented Arsenal team whose ambitions of winning another Premiership title contrasted starkly to the home club's more modest aspirations for the coming campaign. A penalty scored by City's Joey Barton appeared merely to be delaying the inevitable. For most fans in the City of Manchester Stadium, games between these sides had usually conformed to this recognisable blueprint.
Spotting a recognisable face in the crowd, the Sky Sports cameras homed in. Here was a man whose influence almost 40 years earlier had made things very different. A man whose vision, planning, motivational powers and, often, sheer force of personality had made Manchester City the team against whom the likes of Arsenal measured themselves. The graphics operators hurriedly got to work. Up went the caption, "Malcolm Allison, former Manchester City coach". Commentators were sufficiently distracted from the latest piece of Thierry Henry trickery to purr at the memory of Allison's achievements at the club: four major triumphs in a three-year span, including a complete set of domestic trophies and a European success.
Young viewers knowing only of life in the glossily packaged days of endless live televised football - even those who had flown in the face of the modern trend by following City instead of rivals United - blinked unknowingly at their screens. Those a little older might at least have been somewhat familiar with the name, perhaps heard some of the outrageous stories with which it had become associated. Anyone who had been watching football when Allison was in his glorious, exaggerated prime in the 1960s through to the19'80s, was shocked by what they saw, even those who had heard the stories of his mental deterioration. The imposing physical figure was still evident under his grey jacket, even if it was hunched forward in his seat, but the eyes that used to sparkle with a potent mix of charm, wit and cunning seemed glazed and distant. The expression behind which a thousand schemes used to play, whether planning the next big game or deciding where to dine with his latest female companion, appeared bereft of any indication that he was aware of his surroundings.
On one hand, it was painful to see how one of the most expansive minds and sharpest personalities in football's recent history had been diminished by the illness of dementia, into whose grip he had been slipping more completely over the previous five years. At the same time it was a chance to turn to younger companions and say, "See that guy there? Well, let me tell you..."
Preparation of this book was already well under way at the time of Allison's televised visit to the club where he had written himself into football's lore. Those interviewed in the aftermath shared those mixed feelings: sorrow at Allison's plight; pride that their careers, and lives, had been touched by him; and gratitude that, at least fleetingly, he had emerged from a regimented existence in his council-run nursing home and was back in the public eye, being acknowledged for something more than the fedora hat and fat cigar that had become the enduring image of the man they called Big Mal.
The ravages of his illness were something that Malcolm was powerless to prevent, although reports have suggested that his excessive alcoholic intake over the years contributed to the onset of his Alzheimer's-type affliction. His achievements in the game should, however, have afforded him the ability to live out his years in a little more physical comfort than has been the case. Scarcely any personal possessions survived the excesses of a man who placed no import on the accumulation of long-term wealth. Instead, his idea of being rich in his final days, he used to tell friends, was to be able to sit in a rocking chair with a big smile on his face, remembering - without regret - all the good times: the on-field success, the cigars, the best wines and all the beautiful women he had bedded. The cruel irony is that not only did the money all go, but many of those precious memories were eventually taken from him as well.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3KVEy1XKoc[/youtube][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3XEPJ923AQ[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YfQQjptuak[/youtube][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo_fV3h2DDI[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAbzMloipcY[/youtube][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLq7MvHUh7g[/youtube]
Off out in abit to get yet another sky blue ribbon !
=============================================================================================================
David Tossell's openin credits in the book, "Big Mal: The High Life and Hard Times of Malcolm Allison".
It was still only late August, the opening weeks of the 2006-07 season, but the familiar pattern had been re-established already. Even on their own ground, little consideration had been given to the likelihood of Manchester City achieving victory against a multinational, multi-talented Arsenal team whose ambitions of winning another Premiership title contrasted starkly to the home club's more modest aspirations for the coming campaign. A penalty scored by City's Joey Barton appeared merely to be delaying the inevitable. For most fans in the City of Manchester Stadium, games between these sides had usually conformed to this recognisable blueprint.
Spotting a recognisable face in the crowd, the Sky Sports cameras homed in. Here was a man whose influence almost 40 years earlier had made things very different. A man whose vision, planning, motivational powers and, often, sheer force of personality had made Manchester City the team against whom the likes of Arsenal measured themselves. The graphics operators hurriedly got to work. Up went the caption, "Malcolm Allison, former Manchester City coach". Commentators were sufficiently distracted from the latest piece of Thierry Henry trickery to purr at the memory of Allison's achievements at the club: four major triumphs in a three-year span, including a complete set of domestic trophies and a European success.
Young viewers knowing only of life in the glossily packaged days of endless live televised football - even those who had flown in the face of the modern trend by following City instead of rivals United - blinked unknowingly at their screens. Those a little older might at least have been somewhat familiar with the name, perhaps heard some of the outrageous stories with which it had become associated. Anyone who had been watching football when Allison was in his glorious, exaggerated prime in the 1960s through to the19'80s, was shocked by what they saw, even those who had heard the stories of his mental deterioration. The imposing physical figure was still evident under his grey jacket, even if it was hunched forward in his seat, but the eyes that used to sparkle with a potent mix of charm, wit and cunning seemed glazed and distant. The expression behind which a thousand schemes used to play, whether planning the next big game or deciding where to dine with his latest female companion, appeared bereft of any indication that he was aware of his surroundings.
On one hand, it was painful to see how one of the most expansive minds and sharpest personalities in football's recent history had been diminished by the illness of dementia, into whose grip he had been slipping more completely over the previous five years. At the same time it was a chance to turn to younger companions and say, "See that guy there? Well, let me tell you..."
Preparation of this book was already well under way at the time of Allison's televised visit to the club where he had written himself into football's lore. Those interviewed in the aftermath shared those mixed feelings: sorrow at Allison's plight; pride that their careers, and lives, had been touched by him; and gratitude that, at least fleetingly, he had emerged from a regimented existence in his council-run nursing home and was back in the public eye, being acknowledged for something more than the fedora hat and fat cigar that had become the enduring image of the man they called Big Mal.
The ravages of his illness were something that Malcolm was powerless to prevent, although reports have suggested that his excessive alcoholic intake over the years contributed to the onset of his Alzheimer's-type affliction. His achievements in the game should, however, have afforded him the ability to live out his years in a little more physical comfort than has been the case. Scarcely any personal possessions survived the excesses of a man who placed no import on the accumulation of long-term wealth. Instead, his idea of being rich in his final days, he used to tell friends, was to be able to sit in a rocking chair with a big smile on his face, remembering - without regret - all the good times: the on-field success, the cigars, the best wines and all the beautiful women he had bedded. The cruel irony is that not only did the money all go, but many of those precious memories were eventually taken from him as well.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3KVEy1XKoc[/youtube][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3XEPJ923AQ[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YfQQjptuak[/youtube][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo_fV3h2DDI[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAbzMloipcY[/youtube][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLq7MvHUh7g[/youtube]
He was before my time but just talking to my dad and this was his best memory of him...
"I will never forget when we played Liverpool in 1973 in the FA Cup 4th Round at Anfield.
You could cut the atmosphere with a knife because they were both great teams.
At about 15 minutes before kick off, Malcolm Alison emerged from the tunnel dressed in a sharp suit and walked in front of the Kop and stood there with his arms outstretched as if we’d already won the game.The crowd went crazy.He’d have been jailed nowadays.nil nil draw, won the replay 2-0"
"I will never forget when we played Liverpool in 1973 in the FA Cup 4th Round at Anfield.
You could cut the atmosphere with a knife because they were both great teams.
At about 15 minutes before kick off, Malcolm Alison emerged from the tunnel dressed in a sharp suit and walked in front of the Kop and stood there with his arms outstretched as if we’d already won the game.The crowd went crazy.He’d have been jailed nowadays.nil nil draw, won the replay 2-0"