Wikipedia

User:Stevo1000/Ballet on Ice

< User:Stevo1000
Ballet on ice
Manchester City 4–1 Tottenham Hotspur
Event1967–68 First Division
Manchester City Tottenham Hotspur
4 1
DateWednesday, 9 December 1968
VenueMaine Road, Manchester
RefereeD W Smith
WeatherSnow

Manchester City 4–1 Tottenham Hotspur, commonly referred to as the Ballet on ice. It is remembered in English football for being played in snowy conditions with the Maine Road pitch resembling more a ice rink than a football pitch and Manchester City fans fondly remember it being one of City's greatest performances.

As the teams came out onto the frozen pitch, BBC Match of the Day commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme dubbed the Manchester City team as "the most exciting team in England"[1]. As it proved, City produced one of their best footballing performances in their history, so much so the Tottenham players were convinced the City players were using more effective studs with one Spurs players quoted as saying, "It was extraordinary. City moved like Olympic speed skaters while we were falling around like clowns on a skid patch."[1] Third-place City won many plaudits and went onto to win the league that season. The match was named as Match of the Day's "Match of the Season".[2]

Pre-match

edit

Manchester City went into the game in third place in the league whilst Tottenham were currently fifth placed in the league. The pitch was inspected twice before referee, D W Smith allowed the match to be played, despite the pitch seemingly frozen.

Match report

edit
Manchester City4 – 1Tottenham Hotspur
Bell   18'
Summerbee   49'
Coleman   64'
Young   75'		 Greaves   6'
Referee: D W Smith
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Home
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tottenham Hotspur
MANCHESTER CITY:
GK 1   Ken Mulhearn
RB 2   Tony Book
CB 5   George Heslop
CB 6   Alan Oakes
LB 3   Glyn Pardoe
CM 4   Mike Doyle
CM 8   Colin Bell
RW 7   Franny Lee
LW 11   Tony Coleman
CF 9   Mike Summerbee
CF 10   Neil Young
Substitutes:
DF 12   David Connor
Manager:
  Joe Mercer
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR:
GK 1   Pat Jennings
RB 2   Joe Kinnear
CB 5   Alan Mullery
CB 5   Roger Hoy
LB 3   Cyril Knowles
RM 6   Dave Mackay
CM 10   Terry Venables
LM 11   Cliff Jones
RF 7   Frank Saul
CF 8   Jimmy Greaves
LF 9   Alan Gilzean
Substitutes:
DF 12   Kevin Bond
Manager:
  Bill Nicholson

References

edit
  1. ^ "Manchester City 4-1 Tottenham". mirrorfootball.co.uk. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ Goldstone, Phil (2005). Manchester City Champions 1967/68. Stroud: Tempus. p. 58. ISBN 0-5724-3611-2. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Stevo1000/Ballet_on_Ice&oldid=1221301181"