Your favourite promotion season?

[gordondaviesmoustache]

I agree about the end, but thought we were well in with a chance during the first half of the season.

It was a tough Division 2 in 1983/4. Chelsea, Wednesday and Newcastle all had strong teams, whereas we'd been forced to sell most of our decent players. I think it was always going to be a big ask, whereas the following season it was a pretty weak league. Truth is we shouldn't have been there in the first place. Possibly 1995/6 apart, the 1982/3 squad was the best group of players we had to get relegated. John Benson is all to frequently overlooked when threads on our worst ever manager are compiled. His short, but decisive record at City was truly appalling.

 

[East Level 2]

It was a tough Division 2 in 1983/4. Chelsea, Wednesday and Newcastle all had strong teams, whereas we'd been forced to sell most of our decent players. I think it was always going to be a big ask, whereas the following season it was a pretty weak league. Truth is we shouldn't have been there in the first place. Possibly 1995/6 apart, the 1982/3 squad was the best group of players we had to get relegated. John Benson is all to frequently overlooked when threads on our worst ever manager are compiled. His short, but decisive record at City was truly appalling.

Probably, won the first three league games, were second in November, 9th as late as January having thumped Norwich 4-1, but then went into free-fall after losing 4-0 in the cup at Brighton and Bond walking out.
The 97-98 squad should also have been strong enough to stay up.

 

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

Probably, won the first three league games, were second in November, 9th as late as January having thumped Norwich 4-1, but then went into free-fall after losing 4-0 in the cup at Brighton and Bond walking out.
The 97-98 squad should also have been strong enough to stay up.

I believe had we kept Beardsley on loan we would have. We smashed Huddersfield away 3-0 with him pulling the strings but we could only have 2 loan players so returned him to Bolton and kept Bishop and Lee Briscoe.
I'm convinced had Royle kept Beardsley we would have got one more point than we eventually got which would have seen us finish 3 places higher on goal difference

 

[East Level 2]

I believe had we kept Beardsley on loan we would have. We smashed Huddersfield away 3-0 with him pulling the strings but we could only have 2 loan players so returned him to Bolton and kept Bishop and Lee Briscoe.
I'm convinced had Royle kept Beardsley we would have got one more point than we eventually got which would have seen us finish 3 places higher on goal difference

I'm also sure we'd have performed better had Royle understood Gio was a better bet than Jamie Pillock.

 

[pace89]

01/02 was the best for performances. People forget that we were 8th in December and it was only around Cheistmas that Keegan went 3,5,2 and everything clicked. Despite that we still managed 99 points. The media at the time made out that there was a big tussle between us and Wolves for the title but we always had games in hand and fairly pissed the league.

Nevertheless 99/00 was the best simply because we so massively exceeded the supporters expectations. I'm sure this explains why the atmosphere for even run of the mill home games was pretty electric that season.

 

[pace89]

I'm also sure we'd have performed better had Royle understood Gio was a better bet than Jamie Pillock.

As much as I love Gio, the only position he could really play was in a free role behind the striker. Weirdly Frank Clark worked this out in 96/97 and we had a very good run with Gio, Rosler and Summerbee all playing very well. He then promptly changed the system the following year, swapped Summerbee for Brannan, played Bradbury up front and set up with 3 at the back which pretty much set us up for relegation.

Going down with a squad that included Horlock, Wiekens, Summerbee (for a bit), Rosler, Dickov, Gio, and later on Goater, and Bishop was criminal. It underlined how incompetence from the board level down could eventually manifest itself in the first team. It's notable how many players at City in May 98 were still there for promotion in back to the Prem in May 2000.

 

[aguero93:20]

98/99, one of four I can remember, of three I can remember clearly and the one which felt like we had the most to lose. Then the way we did it, was fucking magic.

 

[Harvster]

Keegan, wiping the floor with Millwall (?) at Maine Road despite only having 10 men for virtually all the game (Tiatto?). Sorry if facts wrong or repeating earlier stuff

 

[IanBishopsHaircut]

Is this even a contest?

Kev Keegan's 100+ goals romp surely

 

[Abattoir Blue]

I have to agree with the 99/00 shout. Expecting mid table, hoping for a play off challenge but end up exceeding all expectations.

Like someone mentioned earlier the atmosphere at home games that season was bouncing. Birmingham was electric....and when big fat Bob scored Maine Road went crazy.

The team spirit and camaraderie showed that sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. We didn't have 2nd best individuals but we had the 2nd best team.

All that shone through when we were on the pitch at Blackburn and the players came out into the stand...all the players were singing all the words to the songs with the fans. Amazing day. Can you imagine that happening now?!

 

[M18CTID]

For the football played, it has to be Keegan's season in 01-02. Nothing else comes close for me but although I got a hell of a lot of enjoyment out of that, I didn't get to quite a few of the away games so for personal reasons it's 98-99. It wasn't just because I did every away league game but also because there were so many new grounds to visit and on the whole I had a great time at virtually every game regardless of the result due to the fact that I went to most of the games with the Levenshulme branch and each match day was an event in itself. York away may well have been our lowest ebb but it was a legendary piss-up. Lincoln was the shittest away day by a mile. I couldn't get out of work early enough to get on the Leve coach as we were short-staffed so I had to book on the official travel club coach. No beer allowed of course, having to listen to Radio fucking 4 throughout the whole journey, and to top it all a late departure time coupled with horrendous traffic problems as we neared Lincoln meant that I couldn't even get a couple of pre-match pints once I arrived. What followed was a shit display on the pitch and then I had to look forward to a journey home on that fucking coach. Luckily, I negotiated a trip home on the Leve coach which at least made things a little bit more bearable!

As for those promotion seasons where I wasn't attending matches or only attended a few, 84-85 was good but my favourite is 88-89.

 

[bluesking]

However, for personal reasons, I'll nominate 1988/9. Partly, this was because I was at university in the south so, as well as making it to most home games, I started going away regularly as well for the first time, which I really enjoyed. We took good numbers (in relative terms during an era of low gates), and were vocal, but it was the height of the inflatables craze so it was always a laugh. And there was something about that team, too. Six members of the 1986 youth team were regulars that year: Hinchcliffe, Redmond, Lake, White and Moulden all made more than 40 appearances in all competitions, while Ian Brightwell reached 30. They were all a similar age to me and I loved watching them. I identified with them in a way that's much more difficult today. They'd grown up with the club and it was totally evident both how much Manchester City and how much playing with one another meant to them, which was lovely to see. And their youth seemed to offer us hope for the future. From 1982 onwards, things at City had been pretty gloomy, but heading for promotion with a talented young core of the side couldn't help but make you feel optimistic.

This and well articulated mate. Sums up my feelings exactly. I was 16 at the time and other than the 81 Cup Final and the earlier 84-85 promotion season there had been bugger all to celebrate. I remember going to Hull for the first match of the season at Boothferry Park and in "Typical City" mode parading our new signings such as Brian Gayle and Wayne Biggins etc.. and hitting the woodwork 4 times after outplaying the home side and still getting beat with a late goal!!

Even after losing at home to Oldham with Palmer getting his customary goal against us I thought that it would our year culminating with Bradford away and I just cannot describe to my daughters the feelings of euphoria after the final whistle. Probably the title winning goal from Sergio in 2011/12 but they were great days that's for sure!