Manchester City
Which team did Colin Bell play for from 1966 to 1968?
Colin Bell Colin Bell ( 26 February 1946 – 5 January 2021 ) was an English professional footballer who played as a midfielder . Best known for his thirteen-year spell at Manchester City , he was regarded as one of the clubs finest-ever players , and was part of the Bell–Lee–Summerbee trio in the late 1960s and 1970s . Bell made forty-eight appearances for the England national football team ; he was an unused squad member at UEFA Euro 1968 and played in three matches at the 1970 FIFA World Cup . During his playing career , he was nicknamed The King of the Kippax ( after Maine Roads Kippax Street terraced stand renowned for its singing ) and Nijinsky ( after the famous racehorse , due to his renowned stamina ) . In 2004 , the West Stand of City of Manchester Stadium was later named in his honour . Club career . Bell began his career at Bury where he was swiftly made club captain . In total , Bell made eighty-two league appearances for Bury ( in three seasons ) and scored twenty-five goals . In 1966 , he moved to Manchester City ( who were managed by Joe Mercer ) for £45,000 . When trying to sign him for Manchester City , assistant manager Malcolm Allison misled other clubs interested in Bell ( including Leicester City ) by claiming that the player was hopeless . Allisons stratagem succeeded as Bell ultimately signed for City . In the 1965–66 season , Bell helped City finish first in the Second Division , earning the team promotion to the First Division . Bell scored the only goal ( via a header ) in a 1–0 victory against Rotherham which ensured promotion . In the 1966–67 season , Bell was Citys top scorer with fourteen league goals in all competitions , and the team finished in fifteenth place in the First Division . Bell scored a hat trick in a 3–1 victory against Stoke City in April that season . In the 1967–68 season , Bell helped City win their second League Championship ( they had won their first in 1937 ) . Bell scored fourteen league goals that season . One of his goals came in the famous 4–1 victory against Tottenham Hotspur , at Maine Road , which was dubbed the Ballet on Ice due to the snowy conditions in which the game was played . Mike Summerbee , Tony Coleman and Neil Young scored Citys other goals while Jimmy Greaves scored the goal for Spurs . After the game , legendary centre forward Dixie Dean informed Allison that the City team which had beaten Spurs was the most brilliant side I have ever seen . In the penultimate game of the season , Bell scored twice in a 3–1 victory against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane . In the game , Lee and Summerbee stretched the Spurs defence allowing Bell a clear run at a slowing Dave Mackay which overwhelmed the Scotsman . In the final game of the season , City defeated Newcastle United 4–3 , to clinch the title . Bell assisted Lee with the best pass of the afternoon to score Citys fourth goal . In the 1968–69 season , Bell again scored fourteen league goals as City finished thirteenth in the First Division . Manchester City won the FA Cup that season with a 1–0 victory over Leicester City in the final thanks to a goal by Neil Young . In the 1969–70 season , Bell scored eleven league goals for City , who finished tenth in the league . Manchester City and Bell won two trophies , in 1970 , the League Cup and the European Cup Winners Cup . City defeated West Bromwich Albion 2–1 in the 1970 Football League Cup Final , in which Mike Doyle and Glyn Pardoe scored Citys goals . City defeated Górnik Zabrze 2–1 in the 1970 European Cup Winners Cup Final with goals from Young and Francis Lee . In the 1970–71 season , Bell scored thirteen goals for City who finished eleventh in the First Division . In the following season , City challenged for the title but ultimately lost out to Derby County and finished fourth in the league . Bell scored thirteen goals that season . In the 1972–73 season , City finished eleventh in the league . In the 1973–74 season , Bell helped City reach the 1974 Football League Cup Final , in which he scored in a 2–1 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers . Bell played for City in a 1–0 victory against Manchester United in the final game of the season . Denis Law scored the only goal in the game which confirmed Uniteds relegation from the First Division . In the 1974–75 season , Bell scored fifteen league goals . He was named in the 1974–75 Football League First Division PFA Team of the Year . In November 1975 , at the age of 29 , Bell severely injured his right knee against Manchester United in a challenge with Martin Buchan during a League Cup match at Maine Road . City went on to win the League Cup that season , defeating Newcastle 2–1 in the 1976 Football League Cup Final . Bells prolonged absence due to his injury was a blow to Don Revie , who quit as manager of England in 1977 . Bell returned to action in a 4–0 victory against Newcastle on Boxing Day in 1977 . His introduction to the game , at half time , was greeted with rapturous applause . However , Bells return to City was fleeting as he left City in the 1978–79 season ; Malcolm Allison , who returned to City for a second spell as manager in 1979 , convinced Bell that it was time to go . The then-chairman Peter Swales described Bell as the finest tuned athlete and irreplaceable . This latter sentiment turned out to be true as Allison was not able to find a trio of talented players of the calibre of Bell , Summerbee and Lee as he had done in the past with Joe Mercer . Bell tried to resurrect his career in 1980 with NASL side San Jose Earthquakes , where he joined former Manchester United player George Best . However , Bell ended up playing only five games for the club before retiring from football altogether . International career . Bell played twice for the England Under 23 team in 1968 . He played in a 2–1 victory against Scotland Under 23 team in which Martin Chivers and Rodney Marsh scored for the England Under 23 team . He also played in a 4–0 victory against the Hungary Under 23 team . Bell scored one of the four goals . The other scorers were Chivers , Marsh and Joe Royle . In the same year , Bell won his first cap for the senior England team against Sweden , where he helped inspire goals from Martin Peters , Bobby Charlton and Roger Hunt in a 3–1 victory . Bell was part of the England squad for UEFA Euro 1968 , which was ultimately won by Italy . England finished third in the tournament after defeating the Soviet Union in the third-place match . In 1969 , Bell distinguished himself in the national team , scoring Englands only goal in a 1–0 victory over the Netherlands in an all-action display . Bell was part of the England squad which toured South America in 1969 . Brian Glanville contended that both Bell and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Alan Mullery excelled on the tour . Bell gave England an early lead in a game against Brazil , but late goals from Tostão and Jairzinho gave Brazil a 2–1 victory . Bell also played in a 2–1 victory against Uruguay on the tour . He also helped England to win the 1968–69 British Home Championship . He played in a 2–1 victory against Wales in which Bobby Charlton and Francis Lee scored Englands goals . 1970 FIFA World Cup . Bell played in the 1969–70 British Home Championship , which was shared between England , Wales and Scotland . He replaced Keith Newton in a 3–1 victory against Northern Ireland . He was subsequently included in the England squad for the World Cup in Mexico . Glanville contends that Bells excellence was threatening Bobby Charltons place in the England team . England were seeking to replicate their performance in the 1966 FIFA World Cup , which they had won . Bells City teammate Francis Lee was also included in the squad . In order to help the players acclimatise to the heat of Mexico , the team staged an intra-squad mini-olympics which saw Bell win every event . In the group stage , Bell came on as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat to Brazil , in which Jairzinho scored the only goal . Bell added spark to the England offence in the latter stages of the game . Bell started in the next game , a 1–0 victory against Czechoslovakia , in which Allan Clarke scored the only goal . In the quarter-final , Bell replaced Bobby Charlton in a 2–3 defeat to West Germany . England had taken a 2–0 lead in the game through goals from Alan Mullery and Martin Peters . Franz Beckenbauer had pulled a goal back for West Germany before the substitution . Following the substitution of Charlton and another substitution ( Peters was replaced by Norman Hunter ) , the Germans scored twice ( Uwe Seeler and Gerd Müller were the scorers ) . Bell was involved in creating chances for England following his introduction . At one point in the game , Bell sent in a low cross to the near post , but Hurst headed the ball just wide of the far one . At another point in the game , Bell beat Beckenbauer in the German penalty area and was then knocked down by the German player , but England were not awarded a penalty . The substitution was deemed by some to be the negative ( for England ) turning point of the game . However , West Germany scored their first goal before Charlton was substituted , and the fact that the German team at the time had a habit of coming back in games indicates that it was questionable to blame the substitutions for Englands defeat . West Germany were subsequently defeated by Italy 4–3 in the semi final . Italy were eventually defeated 4–1 by Brazil in the final . Charlton asserted that the absence of Gordon Banks ( he was replaced in goal by Peter Bonetti ) through sickness was the most important factor in Englands defeat to the West Germans . Similarly , Glanville argued that had Banks played , England would surely have won . Geoff Hurst stated that to suggest that Colin Bells inclusion weakened the team is patently unfair . Alan Ball described the substitutions as wise given the need to rest players for the prospective semi-final . Failure to qualify after 1970 . Bell also played for England in the 1971–72 British Home Championship which was shared with Scotland . Bell scored in a 3–0 victory against Wales ( with Rodney Marsh and Emlyn Hughes scoring Englands other goals ) . Bell also captained England ( in Bobby Moores absence ) in a 1–0 defeat to Northern Ireland . In addition , Bell played in a 1–0 victory over Scotland ( in which Alan Ball scored the winner ) . Bell also played in a 3–1 defeat and a 0–0 draw with West Germany in 1972 , which meant that England failed to qualify for UEFA Euro 1972 . In the first game , Sepp Maier had spilled a shot from Bell which Lee tapped in to equalise Uli Hoeneß first half goal . However , late goals from Günter Netzer and Gerd Müller secured victory for the West Germans . In November 1972 , Bell cashed in on clever approach work by Alan Ball to score the decisive winning goal in a 1–0 victory over Wales in a World Cup qualification game at Ninian Park . Bell played in the other qualification game against Wales at Wembley , which ended 1–1 . Bell was described as having excellent technique and rated as the best England player in the game as he was always trying to find a way through the packed Welsh defence . In 1973 , Bell scored in the 7–0 demolition of Austria . In the game Bell , along with Martin Peters and Tony Currie dictated the pace and pattern of the match from midfield . Bell also helped England to win the 1972–73 British Home Championship . He played in a 2–1 victory against Northern Ireland , a 3–0 victory against Wales and a 1–0 victory against Scotland . Despite these successes , Bell was upset that he was unable to better make his name on the world stage when England failed to qualify for the 1974 FIFA World Cup . England had needed to defeat Poland to qualify . Polands goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski had been labelled a clown by Brian Clough before the match but turned in a man-of-the-match performance in which he repeatedly denied Englands attackers ( including Bell ) . The only goal that Tomaszewski conceded was an equalizing penalty from Allan Clarke . In drawing the game , Poland qualified for the finals in West Germany at the expense of England . Englands failure led to manager Alf Ramseys departure . Bells former manager at Manchester City , Joe Mercer ( who had left City in 1971 ) , took over as caretaker of the national side and chose Bell to play in every game that he was in charge . Bell also played for England in the 1973–74 British Home Championship which was shared with Scotland . Bell played in a 2–0 victory against Wales ( in which Stan Bowles and Kevin Keegan were the scorers ) , a 1–0 victory against Northern Ireland and a 2–0 defeat to Scotland . Bell played for England in a 2–2 draw against Argentina in which Mick Channon and Frank Worthington scored for England and Mario Kempes scored twice for Argentina . He was also part of the England squad that toured Eastern Europe in the summer of 1974 . This included a 1–1 draw with East Germany , in which Martin Dobson , ( Colin ) Bell and Trevor Brooking dominated the match in midfield . In the second game of the tour , England defeated Bulgaria 1–0 . The performance of Englands midfield trio ( Bell , Brooking and Dobson ) in the game was described as tremendous . In the last game of the tour ( which was Mercers last game as England manager ) , England drew 2–2 with Yugoslavia . Bell scored a brace in Don Revies first game in charge of England , a 3–0 victory over Czechoslovakia . In Revies third game in charge , Bell helped England defeat the then World Champions , Germany , 2–0 , in 1975 , at the one hundredth international game played at Wembley Stadium . The team that beat the Germans in that game consisted of a forward line-up of Channon , Keegan , Malcolm Macdonald , Alan Hudson and Alan Ball , as well as Bell . Channon commented that he did not understand why Revie did not continue with this line-up which he considered was as good as any forward line England had had since 1970 . In the game against the West Germans , the energy and tackling of Bell and Ball had freed Hudson to show his full range of playmaking skills . Bell also helped England to win the 1974–75 British Home Championship . Bell played in a 0–0 draw with Northern Ireland , a 2–2 draw with Wales and a 5–1 victory against Scotland ( in which he also scored ) . Other international appearances . In January 1973 , Bell played for the New European Common Market ( NECM ) , alongside Peter Storey , Emlyn Hughes , Bobby Moore , Bobby Charlton and Alan Ball , in the match celebrating the admission to the European Common Market of the United Kingdom , the Republic of Ireland and Denmark . NECM defeated the Old European Common Market ( OECM ) 2–0 . In addition , in March 1974 , Bell scored a goal in a 5–0 victory for The Football League XI against the Scottish Football League XI at Maine Road . Later life . Bell subsequently became a coach for the youth and reserve teams of Manchester City , as well as one of its club ambassadors . He was awarded an MBE in 2004 for services to the community . Bell was diagnosed with bowel cancer shortly after his autobiography , Reluctant Hero , was released in 2005 . He detailed how his mother died from that same disease and was encouraged to have it examined himself . He was operated on within three weeks of the diagnosis . He died on 5 January 2021 at the age of 74 . He suffered from a short illness in the time leading up to his death . Legacy . Bell is regarded as one of Englands finest-ever midfield players , being described by one commentator as the most finished article in the modern game . Bell has been inducted into both the English Football Hall of Fame and the Manchester City Hall of Fame . In 1998 he was selected as one of the Football League 100 Legends . In his foreword to Colin Bells autobiography , Bobby Charlton has stated that Colin Bell was unquestionably a great player . Alan Mullery , another of Bells former England teammates stated that Bell would still be a star in todays football and would fit into any team . Another England teammate of Bells , Kevin Keegan , has stated that Bell had it all . England legend Tom Finney stated that Colin Bell was as good as anything Ive ever seen . George Best described Bell as a brilliant player . Joe Royle described Bell as a phenomenal natural athlete and a wonderful footballer . Journalist Dave Maddock described Bell as possibly the greatest midfield talent England has ever unearthed . In 2003 , Manchester City moved into the new City of Manchester Stadium , and in February 2004 , one of the ends , the west stand , was named after Bell as a tribute . Only three players have scored more goals than Bell for Manchester City in all competitions : Sergio Agüero with 252 goals , Eric Brook with 177 goals and Tommy Johnson with 166 goals . Bell scored 152 goals for Manchester City in all competitions . He was deemed by Goal.com to be Englands twenty-sixth best-ever footballer . He is listed as the greatest-ever City player on the Times website , in Ian Penneys book The Essential History of Manchester City , and in the Manchester Evening News . Honours . Club . Manchester City - Football League First Division : 1967–68 - Football League Second Division : 1965–66 - FA Cup : 1968–69 - FA Charity Shield : 1968 and 1972 - Football League Cup : 1969–70 , 1975–76 - European Cup Winners Cup : 1969–70 International . England - British Home Championship : 1968–69 , 1969–70 ( shared ) , 1971–72 ( shared ) , 1972–73 , 1973–74 ( shared ) , 1974–75 Individual . - Manchester City Player of the Year : 1968 - PFA Football League Division 1 Team of the Year : 1974–75 - Football League 100 Legends : 1998 - Manchester City Hall of Fame : 2004 - English Football Hall of Fame : 2005 Publications . Bell , Colin ; Cheeseman , Ian Colin Bell : Reluctant Hero , Mainstream Publishing References . Specific Bibliography External links . - English Football Hall of Fame - Colin Bells Sweaty Jockstrap