Surreal Moments at City Games

[Eds]

I have a vague recollection as a young kid around the mid 1970's when the tannoy announced a bomb scare at MR and asked everyone to look under their seats. People had a look and carried on watching the game. Anyone else remember this?

 

[Kumpel]

There's a bit of doom and gloom around the world at the moment so let's try and lighten things here (for a few moments at least). I saw the thread about the Chicken Man (see: https://forums.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk/threads/an-audience-with-the-frozen-chicken-man.322795/ ) and it got me thinking about other surreal moments at City. I'm thinking about odd things that have happened which have lightened the mood or been a bit of a distraction from negativity. Obviously, there's the banana craze and fancy dress games but what about other moments that maybe some of us remember and others think 'surely that didn't happen?'

I'll start with one: Norman Wisdom on the pitch in full City kit plus flat cap (and yes, those of us on the Kippax did genuinely think it was Peter Reid wearing a flat cap for some reason when he first came out!). Norman was promoting a golf competition and he basically larked around on the pitch for a bit. He took a penalty and of course fell over.

20 years ago when I was writing Farewell To Maine Road an elderly fan told me about a character she called Hoppy. The nickname is not very PC BUT the story is that 'Hoppy' had one leg and before many home games in the inter-war period he used to hop around the pitch. He'd do a full lap of the pitch and be cheered all the way around it. She thought that he'd lost his leg in WW1 and thinks he may have been doing it to raise money for a charity, but apart from her memory I've never managed to find any other evidence of Hoppy.

So, go on, what other surreal or odd moments can we think of?

I remember my Dad telling me about the one legged man who hopped around the running track!

 

[Maly]

Batman & Robin getting chased across the pitch by coppers on Boxing Day at the old Victoria Ground in Stoke

 

[i kne albert davy]

I have a vague recollection as a young kid around the mid 1970's when the tannoy announced a bomb scare at MR and asked everyone to look under their seats. People had a look and carried on watching the game. Anyone else remember this?

Can’t remember name of ref in game maybe Kirkpatrick but he picked ball up on announcement gave it a shake put it down and waved play on.

 

[jaseisblue]

Resemblance is uncanny!

Bloody hell, forgot all about that. I was there that day.

 

[Gary James]

I have a vague recollection as a young kid around the mid 1970's when the tannoy announced a bomb scare at MR and asked everyone to look under their seats. People had a look and carried on watching the game. Anyone else remember this?

Yes. It was v Coventry and I was in the Platt Lane. They stopped play and Mike Summerbee picked up the ball and shook it! I'm not exactly certain what they expected us to do if we found a bomb.

 

[Gorton_Tubster]

Paul Dickov arguing with City fans whilst the game was still going on. Lomas having a hard-on after ?scoring? (Im sure that happened). Liam and noel coming right over to where we were sat for whatever they were there for. Opposition fans sat with City fans is quite surreal for me and infammatory (Apparently I have to not react wtf).

 

[the blue panther]

Not at City, but, a few thousand of us will remember when City played at Carrow Road one Wednesday night in February 2005 and the hitherto saintly Norwich Chairwoman, Delia Smith, came onto the pitch at half time with a microphone in her hand, almost too pissed to talk, and splurting out her famous "Where are you?! Let's be 'avin' you?!" urgings to the Norwich faithful.
Never to be forgotten.

 

[J.G.Blue.]

Surreal moments at city games?
Step forward a certain Mr Alan Wilkie who was probably the only person in the ground who knew why he awarded a penalty to the rags in a FA cup 5th round game at old trafford in 1996,
Certainly the weirdest thing I have seen in a football ground until last sunday when Mr Simon Hooper decided to join in the fun with his very odd behaviour?

 

[Scaring Europe to Death]

Finishing the crucial Boro game with two goalkeepers on the pitch, then missing the last minute penalty, just when it looked as though the cunning plan might have worked.

Even more surreal, the result guaranteed Boro's place in Europe, and ultimately they reached the Final, just in time for Steve McLaren to replace Sven as England Manager.

None of that would have happened if Fowler had scored