Phill Gatenby

Teenage Happy Memories

In 1986 Manchester City Youth team won the FA Youth Cup in the second leg at Maine Road against that lot from the swamp, sorry I mean Manchester United. Some of the team managed to graduate from the Youth Team in to the first team and well the others had various degrees of a football career and some left football all together. This is book is the story of that journey in the Youth Cup and was a labour of love for the authors Phill Gatenby and Andrew Waldon as they interviewed all members of that team except one, John Bookbinder who has passed over.

This book is well written and as well as interviews with the players and their families they use archive newspaper reports as well as old football programmes. Unfortunately there is no TV or video recording of the game only the memories of those who were there and the declared crowd of 28,000 and personally I swear there were far more there but who am I to disagree with the then Club Secretary Bernard Halford.

This is a must read for all Manchester City fans and those with a general interest in football as it not only tells the story of the tournament and the work that Tony Book and Glyn Pardoe did with the team but what happened to them after their life at Manchester City. This is from the time when if you wanted to make it in professional football your choice was either City and have real opportunity to play professionally or waste your time at United. Alex Ferguson copied the set up at Manchester City to bring through his class of 92.

I went to a reunion of this team while reading this book and the one injustice was finally put right when Andy Thackeray when he was finally presented with his winners tankard. The years may have aged them but the memories were still fresh and that comes through in the book.… (meer)