Jump to content

User:Stevo1000/Ballet on Ice

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 England Ken Mulhearn
RB 2 England Tony Book
CB 5 England George Heslop
CB 6 England Alan Oakes
LB 3 England Glyn Pardoe
CM 4 England Mike Doyle
CM 8 England Colin Bell
RW 7 England Franny Lee
LW 11 England Tony Coleman
CF 9 England Mike Summerbee
CF 10 England Neil Young
Substitutes:
DF 12 England David Connor
Manager:
England Joe Mercer
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR:
GK 1 Northern Ireland Pat Jennings
RB 2 Republic of Ireland Joe Kinnear
CB 5 England Alan Mullery
CB 5 England Roger Hoy
LB 3 England Cyril Knowles
RM 6 England Dave Mackay
CM 10 England Terry Venables
LM 11 Wales Cliff Jones
RF 7 England Frank Saul
CF 8 England Jimmy Greaves
LF 9 Scotland Alan Gilzean
Substitutes:
DF 12 England Kevin Bond
Manager:
England 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"