Joe Corrigan on the Class of 1976
· Yahoo Sports
Manchester City’s very own number one, Joe Corrigan proved a tower of strength in goal as he helped pilot the Blues to 1976 League Cup final glory.
An iconic goalkeeper whose stellar time at Maine Road spanned three decades, the England international was a reassuring presence at the back of our defence for a succession of great City sides.
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And his talent, experience and know-how ensured he was a veritable rock in that fabulous side which lifted the League Cup against Newcastle 50 years ago today.
A true Manchester City icon and a giant of the Club in every conceivable way, by way of marking the anniversary we got Big Joe to run the rule over City’s heroes of ‘76 and to offer his own shrewd insight into what made them tick both as players and individuals.
Ged Keegan
Even though he was so young and had only just turned 20, Ged came out that day in a Wembley cup final and he was absolutely excellent.
Ged certainly wasn’t an arrogant type of player, but he was self-confident in himself.
To me he was like a young kid with an old head on his shoulders. He handled the whole occasion brilliantly.
Our first goal that Peter Barnes scored came from a free kick that Ged and Asa Hartford had worked out between them.
We had trained during the week and worked on this routine and Ged just strolled up to the ball, dummied it and Asa put the ball in and then Barnsey finished it off and it was brilliant to see.
Ged didn’t freeze. He did what he was told, he knew what he was doing and he just got on with the job. As I said, for such a young kid, in an environment like that, he came out with flying colours.
Ged also had a little bit of an edge to him. He wasn’t over the top with it, but he had this self-confidence in himself.
He was a very, very good midfield player, but Booky (manager Tony Book) knew his quality and that putting him back in at right back meant we had a player able to not just to defend, which he did very, very well, but also to push forward.
Ged was a big part of what we achieved that day.
Willie Donachie
Willie was a great player, a top left back and really nice lad. He was and is very, very quiet, but one of the fittest men I’ve ever seen. He was a fitness fanatic.
Alongside that, he had great skills. And though he may have been one of the quieter ones in that side, he was as brave as they come.
Off the pitch he may have been quiet but on it he was like a giant.
He also was a real deep thinker about the game and life in general. It was no surprise to me that after finishing playing, he went into coaching and did so well given the way he thought about the game.
We used to have little 5-a-side games sometimes with restrictions or a rule that players had to abide by. And Willie really came out with one that you couldn’t pass the ball backwards. Everyone had to look to play forward. So it made people in front of him move. And once that ball had been played, everybody else had to move.
He put that into practice at Wembley as it was from his long pass forward that Tommy Booth headed the ball for Dennis Tueart to weave his overhead magic!
And given his experience with Scotland, playing in front of 100,000 people didn’t faze Willie at all.
He stood up to the plate from the back, and he was one of those players who everybody reacted to because of the way he was both on the field and off the field.
Mike Doyle
Our captain that day and a man synonymous with Manchester City.
What can you say about Doyley? An incredible character and a guy who literally bled Blue and for whom City meant everything.
We all know that the Derby fired up Mike and he would get the lads going in the dressing room.
It was the same that day at Wembley against Newcastle.He knew how important the final was to us; he got us all going and again was another player who led by example.
It was a top Newcastle side that day with the great Malcolm MacDonald their centre forward, but Mike’s reading of the game and awareness meant Malcolm was largely kept quiet.
And I know that for Mike to captain Manchester City and lead us to a cup final win at Wembley meant everything.
He was such a big part of our league winning team in 1968. He was in the European Cup Winners Cup winning team two years later. He was in the League Cup team in 1970 and the FA Cup team that won at Wembley in 1969, so he knew what it was about.
He was one of the driving forces of that era and also epitomised the connection with the city of Manchester.
Doyley was so good that day and that season overall and got his reward later that summer when he won his first England cap.
Looking back to that day in particular though Mike led and we all followed. And of course, it was his header that helped set up the chance for Barnsey’s opener.
Mike was such an important part of that side and all that we achieved and is so sadly missed by us all.
Dave Watson
I think the 1976 League Cup final perfectly demonstrated why Dave deserves to be classed as one of the great English centre halves of that era.
He’d already been very successful at Sunderland before joining City, helping them win the 1973 FA Cup final but Booky knew he was a class act and Dave became such a positive, dynamic centre half during his time with us.
He was a real warrior too. A real tough man and he literally shed blood on our behalf in that League Cup final.
There’s some famous TV footage of after the game where Dave is being interviewed whilst being stitched above the eye to mend a deep cut while we were celebrating!
We’re all coming in into the dressing room spraying champagne and poor Dave is sat on the bed with the club doctor stitching his eye up calmly chatting away. It’s incredible when you look back!
I also remember after our semi-final first leg away at Middlesbrough on our way back to Maine Road after the game, Dave had done his back in and had a slipped disc and was lying between seats on the coach.
When we got back to Manchester he was taken straight to hospital and in both the home semi-final and final itself he played through the pain barrier. I think at one stage he was reduced to sleeping on the floor which just summed up Dave!
I actually also thought Dave was a little bit underrated.He didn’t miss an England game for four straight years and that was in an era where there were so many top centre halves.
Just a top, top player as he proved that day.
Alan Oakes
What a fantastic servant Alan was and his incredible career as a player just speaks for itself.
He holds the record for the greatest number of appearances for Manchester City and I’m very proud to be second behind him in that all-time list.
Alan was and is just a lovely man. A bit of a joker in the dressing room and someone armed with a very, very dry sense of humour, but when push came to shove, he was one of those players you could totally depend on.
You can see why people called him Mr Dependable.
He was never what you would call a headline hitter, but you knew when anything was going wrong, he would step up and would calm things down and just get on with the game.
He had a fantastic left foot and was a great passer of the ball.
And Oakey was one of those guys who just thrived in the big occasion, not in an over-the-top way, but he was just totally at ease out there at Wembley.
That was his last season at City but his quality still shone through that day, and thanks to his knowledge, he was a great example to the younger lads in the side with his experience and know how.
Nothing ever fazed him. Oakey was also the epitome of a player who let his football do the talking. He didn’t want to grab the headlines – he just got on with it and did what he had to do.
Another massive part of that team.
Tommy Booth
Boothy was another of the real genuine characters in that side.
Just a genuinely funny man always ready with a joke which helped calm any nerves – especially in a League Cup final.
But boy he couldn’t half play.
I tag Tommy as being one of the best players I’ve ever seen to be able to use the ball with his head. He could pass the ball with his head.
He was also a great thinker of the game, and such a great reader of the game too. I wouldn’t say he was the fastest but because of his knowledge and his reading of the game, that didn’t matter.
He was, for me, another very, very underrated centre half and so very unlucky not to play for England.
But that day at Wembley, Tommy played in midfield and showed what a fine versatile player he was.
Booky had moved Tommy into midfield after that awful knee injury to Colin Bell in late 1975 and he just slotted in perfectly.
Like everybody else on the day stood up, Tommy stepped up to the plate against Newcastle, and it was his header in the box from Willie Donachie’s ball that looped back and helped set up Dennis’s amazing overhead kick.
Dennis did his usual great finish and that was it.
We knew that we’d had one or two real major upsets with regards to injuries to players, but everybody on that day, just delivered and did exactly what we were told to do and Tommy exemplified that.
And just like with Alan, Dave, Willie, Mike… Tommy’s experience and know-how was so, so important.
Peter Barnes
What a special player Peter was. Scorer of our fabulous first goal on what was such a special day for him.
He had great skills, a great left foot and was quick as hell and frightened the life out of full backs.
He may have only been 18 that day but I thought he was excellent. He just revelled in the occasion – there was no hint of fear - and of course he scored that fabulous opening goal for us and caused Newcastle no end of trouble.
It was such a special weekend for Peter as he also was voted the PFA Young Player of the Year at a ceremony in London on the Sunday night where he famously clammed up during his speech as he was so nervous!
I think Peter’s Mum joked that she thought the TV had broken when he went silent on stage collecting the award!
It was one of those moments that Barnesy has never been allowed to forget. But it didn’t matter because he did all his talking out on the pitch.
That day and that season he was an outstanding, outstanding player and went on to play for England the following year.
And for Peter being a Manchester lad with his family connection to the Club through his Dad Ken who was such a great player and then such a top coach with us, it was real Roy of the Rovers stuff.
You couldn’t have scripted it.
But Peter deserved everything he got that season, you know, topped by scoring and winning the League Cup and I know that his Dad was so very, very proud of him.
And quite rightly, Peter was a fabulous winger
Joe Royle
Another cracking player and bloke. Joe was a real figurehead for us up-front that day and was such a terrific player throughout his career.
I first had the honour of playing with him for the England Under-23s in 1969 and Joe went on to enjoy a brilliant number of years at Everton before he joined us in 1975.
He soon showed he was just a truly great player and also one of the funniest men you’ll ever come across.
He had such a dry sense of humour and he used to make all of us laugh. He did it throughout his career.
Joe was already a very experienced centre-forward when he joined City and we needed that type of a player for the way we played with two wide men, Dennis and Peter, on either wing.
His talent and experience meant that the defenders he was playing against had to worry about coming up against one of the best centre forwards of that era.
Everybody said Joe was great in the area, I thought he was great all over. He could hold the ball up and had a great touch for a big man. When he wanted to, he was quick. Not over a long distance, but very quick over a short distance. And such a great finisher.
He was huge in our League Cup success too. He scored in every round and also found the net at Wembley though the effort was ruled out for offside – much to Joe’s frustration!
But he was immense that day and caused Newcastle all sorts of headaches.
He was another of that side to also feature for England and after his playing days he went on to carve out a brilliant career as manager including a special few years in charge at City.
That didn’t surprise me at all because you could always see that in him. He had huge respect in the game and such a deep knowledge of football.
ASA HARTFORD
Short in stature but huge in talent, drive and determination, the Wee Man as I call him was another crucial part of our 1976 success.
Asa may have been unassuming off the pitch and a quiet guy, but you knew he was there once the whistle sounded.
Asa was a typical Scotsman, when it came to tackling. There was a real bit of steel there and he was as hard as they come. He dished it out, but he took it as well and never flinched.
He was a wonderful midfielder operator. Asa was another great reader of the game, and a superb passer of the ball.
Not so much long passing like you would say with Alan Oakes but more in terms of short passing and moving and keeping up our rhythm. It meant he used to dominate the midfield for us.
He was a big part of that great Scotland team too around that period, so playing at Wembley didn’t faze Asa at all.
He was another player who absolutely thrived that day and it was Asa’s brilliant first half free-kick that helped set up Barnesy’s opening goal.
Asa was another great character but not what you would call a laugher and joker like Joe Royle. He had a very special sense of humour in his own unique way.
Asa was also a great motivator of other people as well. He used to gee people up, but when he had to give a rollicking, he would stand there and give it out but he could take it too.
That’s the one thing about that team - the fact that we all were a group of people who would look after the side and look after other people, but if they stepped out of line or they weren’t doing their job on the pitch, the players would tell them and the other guys would respect it.
Asa was one of those guys who had the respect of other players because of what he did on the pitch.
Another brilliant talent.
Dennis Tueart
Dennis’s incredible overhead kick not only won us the League Cup final but is a Wembley goal and moment that will never be forgotten.
It just illustrated too that Dennis was such a great, great finisher.
Like Dave Watson, Dennis had been part of that fantastic Sunderland side that won the FA Cup in 1973 before joining us so he already a top talent.
He was also very much his own man and when he was at City, he did what he had to do with his talent, and he scored some fantastic goals.
In that period of time when we won the League Cup, Dennis was one of the top, top drivers in that win.
Of course, the final being against Newcastle, his hometown club, meant everything to him.
After the game when we had our pictures taken after being presented with the League Cup I think he was the only player not wearing a Manchester City shirt, he’s wearing a Newcastle shirt as he had swapped shirts with one of their players.
I know he was a proud Geordie – but he had also played for Sunderland, Newcastle’s big local rivals, so that final was a really significant occasion for Dennis in so many different ways.
In terms of the goal, I couldn’t believe he actually tried it, it was a hell of a goal and finish. The build-up was quite similar in a way to Barnsey’s goal but if anyone could pull it off it was Dennis.
When Boothy headed the ball back from the far post, the ball had gone behind him and how he executed it I’ve still no idea to this day.
But that was Dennis - he was a great striker and a great winger - and it went on to be voted the greatest League Cup goal ever and you can see why. It was that special.
And, of course, Dennis was another of that great side to also represent England and someone else who really delivered on the biggest of occasions.
Joe Corrigan
It’s always difficult to talk about yourself but, for me, to be part of that City side that won the League Cup in 1976 it was humbling.
In a couple of years previous to that, in 1974 and 1973, there was a time when I could have left the Club as I was out of the side and not playing.
But I worked so hard and the likes of Ian MacFarlane and Bill Taylor on our coaching staff helped me through as did Booky and all the players as well.
I worked hard and I got back in, and I think I was consistent right the way through until I left the club.
But it was a great, great, humbling experience to think that less than two years earlier, you weren’t even in the first team having been dropped.
But I love Manchester City and it was a great honour to help us lift the League Cup that day.
The one thing that sort of epitomised the day for me was when we were walking around the pitch with the Cup and we spotted Helen ‘The Bell’ Turner. So, we made sure that we went to see Helen and that she came on the pitch and walked around with us on our lap of honour.
Helen was and is an idol at Manchester City, and so she should be. She was Mrs. Manchester City.
And the way the players as one went towards her and got her over the barrier and got her on the pitch it epitomised that team.
It was for Manchester City and everybody and was the icing on the cake that day.
Having been through those tough times it was fantastic to be back part of that special City team lifting the League Cup at Wembley.
You know, you are walking around and the fans are cheering, you’re walking around with a Cup it was such an amazing experience.
And then not long after that, I got called up to go to America with the England squad and I made my England debut in the summer of 1976 so it was the first stage of a long, long period of time of success for me personally.
Looking back now, I feel that sometimes you have to go through periods of learning. Sometimes you have to take the knocks. And if you can come through it, I think you get your reward.
I worked so hard to get back and I was very lucky in doing so. And it’s not just about yourself, it’s about all your family and the players who were in and around you at that time to help you through.
I feel very proud and grateful to have been given that opportunity – the only thing I can’t believe is that it was 50 years ago!
Kenny Clements (substitute)
Kenny was another great homegrown Manchester lad and wonderful part of that squad.
He was only a youngster back in 1976 – I think he was 19 at the time - but he was already an outstanding player in his own right.
He wasn’t one of the Dennis Tuearts or the Asa Hartfords or players like that who maybe got the headlines because of the way they played.
Kenny just did his job and got on with it quietly in the background. He had a heart as big as a lion and was one of those guys you could totally rely on.
And he played his own part in helping us get to WembleyHe had come back from a broken leg and again I can’t stress enough that he was such a great lad and such a very funny man and great to be part of that dressing room. He still is.
Kenny was also a very fit man. He was quick for a full-back, and he was a good full-back.
He was good in the air, a very decent passer of the ball, and someone who always did his job when he was asked to do it and for him to be part of the squad that day was really special.
Kenny’s City back story is quite something. He started off as a groundsman at Cheadle and ended up playing for City and his pathway through Manchester City was also amazing.
When you hear him talk about when he made his debut it’s so funny, with his Mum waiting up for him when he got back home because he said he had to get the bus out to Piccadilly and then back home!
What a great character!