Colin Bell

Like any football fan from the 60s and 70s, I was saddened to hear the death of Colin Bell. Out of all the players I have watched live in games, he has been one of my three all-time favourite footballers. The others were Tom Finney and Franz Beckenbauer. All of them could turn a game single-handed but were team players and one-club players, although Colin Bell career at Manchester City followed his teenage years playing for Bury. 

What made him special was his versatility, he could run at defences beating them with speed and fast footwork, shoot with both feet, head and tackle and he had legendary stamina that gave him his nickname of Nijinsky. This was allegedly after the champion horse but it could just as easily have been after the Russian ballet dancer who brought athleticism to ballet. 

I was lucky enough to be at university during Colin Bell's finest years at Machester City from 1966 -1971 and in those days it was easy to go along to games without tickets. I would travel to watch Manchester City at grounds in Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool when they were in their pomp and they won the League, FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup Winners Cup in successive seasons. 

Colin Bell didn't have bad games and he always gave 100% unlike some of his teammates. At one end of season game against Sunderland at Maine Road, Mike Summerbee, the spirited right-winger, was selling Cup Final tickets to fans in the crowd. Mike Doyle and Franny Lee could lose their temper and get sent off during any game and Neil Young, the talented but aloof inside left, was so laid back he played wearing his watch. Bell was both the heartbeat of the team and the link player between what we now call the midfield and the forwards. In most teams the no. 8 was the second striker and Bell performed this role, hence his 152 goals for Manchester City. He also created goals in the way that Kevin de Bruyne does today and covered for his defenders when they were out of position. His Opta analytics would have been off the scale..

At school, I had played on the right-wing trying to emulate Tom Finney, it was not possible. At Liverpool University I was a midfielder and captain of my team, trying to play in the mould of Colin Bell, except that my tackling and heading were woeful. My flatmate, Paul, was a rabid Manchester City fan, his father was the town clerk of Knutsford and City season ticket holder. After the five -a-side league on Saturday morning, we would drive to Knutsford for some lunch and then get a lift to Maine Road. Paul was left-footed and played a bit like Neil Young, skilful, scoring lots of goals but not doing much running back to cover. He described me as an amateur Colin Bell because I did all the running for both of us, that was as good a compliment as I was ever likely to get. We did win the University five-a-side league but we were probably helped by having Norge in the team, a Norwegian International goalkeeper.

During this period I only saw two attacking midfielders who could compare with Bell. Gunter Netzer was the West German equivalent and when I watched them beat England at Wembley in1972, it was Netzer who was the most effective player on the field eclipsing both Bell and Beckenbauer. This was mainly because Alan Ball and Martin Peters were playing alongside Bell and none of them provided the defensive cover that was necessary. Netzer's hard running and silky skills were the damage that saw the end of Alf Ramsey.

Similarly, I watched Sheffield United's Tony Currie demoralise other teams on several occasions with the skill and intelligence of Bell and considerable razzmatazz but on some days he did not turn up. Watching Bell play against Manchester United was always enjoyable. United had the superstars: Best, Charlton and Law but Bell could do the things that it took the three of them to provide for United. And Bell never sought nor wallowed in the praise that was lavished on the Manchester United trio, his class was unremitting and underplayed.

It has been heartening to hear how much respect he earned at Manchester City and in the wider world of football. His standing as a complete footballer has remained and his reputation cemented by his humble manner and his dedication to helping others.