Spurdle then joined Jock Thomson's Manchester City for a £12,000 fee in January 1950, but could not prevent the club from suffering relegation out of the First Division in 1949–50. Les McDowall was then put in charge at Maine Road, and led the club to an immediate promotion with a second-place finish in the Second Division in 1950–51. After Spurdle helped the "Citizens" to a 15th-place finish in 1951–52, he finished as the club's joint top-scorer (with Johnny Williamson) in the 1952–53 season with 12 goals. City struggled in the lower half of the table in the 1953–54 campaign, before exploiting the "Revie plan" to push on to a seventh-place finish in 1954–55. They also improved their FA Cup form, and reached the 1955 FA Cup Final at Wembley, where they were beaten 3–1 by Newcastle United; Spurdle was forced to spend most of the game playing at right-back after an injury to Jimmy Meadows left them with only ten players. The "Sky Blues" improved further in the 1955–56 season, finishing fourth and reaching the FA Cup final for a second consecutive year. Spurdle was unable to play in the 1956 FA Cup Final due to a severe outbreak of boils on his arm; Revie took his number 7 shirt and helped City to beat Birmingham City 3–1 in his absence.