Colin Bell, Blue through and through

I CAN confidently say that 'I was there' when Colin Bell made his comeback from an injury that had kept him out for almost two years against Newcastle on Boxing Day, 1977.

The game is my first memory of a City match and I was sat in the Platt Lane Stand with my dad, to the left of the goal, about half way up as Colin Bell came out for the second 45 minutes.

This was Colin Bell's comeback game after spending close on two years battling back from an injury suffered in a Manchester derby.

And it is this game which features at the heart of Bell's autobiography, Colin Bell - Reluctant Hero, written with Ian Cheeseman.

The book takes you through Colin Bell's life from him growing up with his auntie in the North East of England, to the World Cup in Mexico 1970 and on to the struggles he faced after suffering his terrible injury.

There are also plenty of funny moments including the time a team mate had to be carried out of the sea after a training session, as the tide rose.

But he also provides an insight into the way football teams worked and trained in the 1960s and 70s, and how Malcolm Allison was a man before his time when preparing for a game.

There is never a feeling that Colin Bell is looking for sympathy for the injury he suffered, you realise the amount of hard work and single minded dedication he put in to get back playing would have beaten many others.

As he says if a player suffered the damage to his knee he did today, there is a good chance they would be able to play properly again, the medical knowledge just didn't exist at the time.

The book finishes with a look at the modern game and Bell highlights the difference between football today, especially the damaging affect money has had, and the game of yesteryear.

He feels that when he was playing teams had a number of very good players that stayed with a club to build success, so the potential to win the league and cups was spread around many teams.

There was no talk of 'just happy to stay up' at the start of a season there was a desire to contest the League and challenge in all competitions.

Definitely one to pop in your football sock on the end of your bed this Christmas.

Hardback:  240 pages. With a number of photographs.
Colin Bell - Reluctant Hero