so.

[davelyncooper]

Just the mention of his name and I still go all misty eyed even at 62 years old.

Don't want to compare him with anyone, he was, still is and always will be my hero.

 

[Fat Chance]

Next time you see your rag mate ask him does he know what 44 bpm means?..if he does ask him what it means when you couple that with talent. Alison took a milli-second when asked by Garth Crooks who the best footballer was he had ever worked with (and he certainly seen a few heads in his time)..Best certainly was'nt complete....seen him not show-up plenty times.

Charlton was better than Scholes...not by much..watch both the goals he scored in that benfica final, he did'nt have to look where the net was and the goalie never moved, both brazilainesque in there execution.

 

[Vienna_70]

I posted this on another thread a few days ago.

When I lived in Stoke, I asked a friend of mine who watched the Potters in the late 60s and early 70s what he thought of Colin Bell.

His reply was only two words, but it said everything.

"World class".

 

[ped]

Meredith,Doherty,bert,swift,just to name a few,we have had some fantastic footballers,but bell was the best of the lot

 

[dark 'n stormy]

I watched him play in the 60s and 70s. I remember listeming to a TV pundit talking about England's upcoming World Cup challenge after Colin's injury. (It may have been Lawrie Mcmenemie) It was after a typical England poor performance and he was saying 'even if he turns up in a wheel chair, they have to get Bell playing'. It was such a shame his career ended as it did.

 

[City Raider]

You only need to read Keegan's biography and his excitement at getting called up to the England squad for the first time.

He says something like 'MacFarlane was Captain but everyone knew Colin Bell was the man' - I think he also puts Englands poor showing in 78 and 82 WCs down to Bells injury.

 

[East Level 2]

He was a great player but wasn't very showy (apart from some excellent long range shooting). If you wanted something to get the stupids wetting themselves in front of the telly then you looked for a flashy, it-works-one-time-in-ten player, but if you wanted a player who could do most things very well for 90 minutes week after week then Bell was your man.
And perhaps that's why professionals rated him; because they could understand what he was doing. We are talking about a time when televised football was very limited - two games on MOTD and another two (one regional) on the Sunday. City fans and fellow professionals admired his consistently top-class performances.
So YES he really was that good.

 

[GeekinGav]

before my time.

 

[Anonymous]

i always remember the video of him going past bobby moore like he wasn't there.

according to the older blues ive spoken to, he was the best they've seen from 1950 odd onwards.

definitely city's most complete player.

 

[gmckennasell]

Colin Bell was quite simply the best midfield player i have ever seen , he wasnt spectacular , or flamboyant , he was the complete player , tackling,passing,shooting,heading,dribbling.workrate he did not have a weak point , just the "greatest inside forward the world has ever seen"