Catch A Falling Star (22 page)

Perhaps it was never really going to happen but if people think we’d be happy taking money off working-class City supporters then they don’t know us. If a game had been organised it would have meant people would have got more than a raffle ticket for their money – they’d have had a good afternoon’s entertainment.

Carmen came along to every single meeting I attended. She wanted to lend her support and she always came, whether she was well or not. I used to enjoy our question and answer nights. I must have visited a lot of branches over the years. One time in
Sheffield
they even put us up in a motel. James H Reeve was the master of ceremonies and there must have been around 400 people there – the place was alive.

Also my thanks must go to Don Price and his boys at the
Prestwich
and Whitefield branch. Again there was a brilliant turnout, it was packed to the rafters and I also want to put on record my thanks for organising a splendid night for me at other branches such as Reddish, Glossop, Macclesfield, Blackpool,
Swinton
and
Irlam
– all of the places had hard-working, dedicated volunteers organising nights for me and in return I tried to pay them back by coaching some of the members’ kids. The support I had was amazing and the rapport I have with the supporters remains superb.

Most of the branches would send a car for us so we could have a drink on the night with them.
Northenden
branch deserve a mention, where my good friend Roy
Little
was president and where they gave me a lovely letter that a member had written about me. And last but not least I’d like to thank the
Shrewsbury
branch of all places, where we were greeted by more fanatical Blues.

*

I have recently returned from
British Columbia
in
Canada
, courtesy of a wedding gift from my cousin who lives over there. He was the perfect host. He took Carmen and
I
everywhere. While I was there with my cousin (an ardent Blue) we were on the internet and we logged onto Manchester Online where they have news concerning City.

He’d saved a page from a few years ago. One of the paragraphs had a quote from Mr Bernstein who was at that time the City chairman: “Young’s turn could come when the Blues move to their new stadium where he has already been offered work as a paid ambassador.” I must say right here and now that is not true. The club stopped short of offering me such a position.

When my campaign for a game was in its infancy we had a meeting at the club. It was supposed to be just Mr Bernstein and
I
but Chris Bird was there too. The last thing he said to me was, “We are thinking of a position at the club for you.” Now that is all I ever heard. After one letter to my house they didn’t follow that comment up with an offer of anything – so why was the website fed information that I had been offered something?

Let me say here and now, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to return to the City family once again. I always miss out on the City golf day for example. I miss the buzz of going to the ground, talking to the fans – I can talk football all day long.

In addition to his earlier statement Mr Bernstein was quoted as saying: “Neil Young put a gun to my head for a quick decision.” All I did in fact was
write
him a letter asking him if it was possible to play a game for me. I was told there were seven others in the queue before me, people like Tony Coleman and even Richard
Edghill
but following some enquiries it seems only Willie
Donachie
was offered a testimonial and by all accounts he didn’t even want one.

Later the club hinted at having a testimonial which would have honoured a few of us, to kill a few birds with one stone, so to speak. There was talk of playing a game against
Fiorentina
, as they were due to play
Blackburn
and
Middlesbrough
on the same tour but the Italians were in financial strife and so couldn’t fulfil their fixtures so that game was off before it had even started. Then I was told that any game couldn’t happen for a while at the new stadium because Kevin Keegan wanted the new pitch to settle down before the season started.

In truth, there was no attempt to play any other game which leads me to believe it was never going to happen. To organise a testimonial game takes time – that’s why you have a testimonial year. Months into the tours of branches we were no closer to a game. If someone had told me at the start: “Sorry Neil, it’s not an option because of this, that or the other,” then I would have known where I stood and might have been able to move on.

Again I felt hurt because my hopes of a game had been raised again. Here I was going round the Supporters’ Club branches cap in hand. And although I received a warm
welcolme
, I felt uneasy doing it. Without a game I had no way to repay the supporters.

On the other hand, perhaps the club thought that the fans were putting them under some pressure. They were all crazy about me getting this testimonial game. This was the overwhelming opinion when I toured the Supporters’ Clubs’ branches. Maybe the board saw this groundswell of public opinion as a threat, as a type of public criticism. But as the campaign gathered momentum, it had a snowball effect. Soon, the fans were pressing the club so much – that was the gun to their head – that I don’t think they liked it.

The supporters came to a special dinner for me in a city centre
Manchester
hotel, organised with the help of devout Blues Bill Borrows, Alan
Tapper
and a few other people. There were about 350 people there. Most of the Cup Final team came along to support me which was superb. A lot of City supporters said very kind things to me which made me feel very special and wanted.

Carmen and her daughter Michelle came to help with the raffle tickets and they worked very hard on my behalf that night. Then one of my team-mates made a fantastic gesture out of the blue and put one of his
England
caps up for auction to make some cash on the evening. It was Francis. I won’t forget what he did for me that night. Tony Book also auctioned the ball from the ’69 Cup Final as well.

I had to make a thank-you speech at the end of the night. I stood up to start and all the audience started cheering and chanting my name. I was really taken aback by it all because, as I’ve mentioned, I’m no public speaker. So instead of blustering I recalled what Joe Mercer once said to me: “If you can count on your hand four really good friends you are a lucky man, but tonight I feel very lucky because I have 350 friends here tonight,” and they loved that. Again they all stood up and sang my name once more. By this time I was fighting back the tears. Anyway I got through the speech and everyone seemed to like it.

Another thing I wish to put on record is that, while this event was attended by some prominent club directors, it had actually been organised by the fans. That night the former chairman, Mr Bernstein, didn’t speak to me once, he just made notes on a piece of paper for half an hour before making a speech on my behalf. I got the impression he did not want to be there but then if he hadn’t turned up he would have been conspicuous by his absence.

So although we enjoyed a successful testimonial year we never got the testimonial game, which was the original objective. At the end of it all the old wounds had been re-opened and my state of mind was damaged again. The whole campaign left me feeling shattered and I know Dave Cash felt the same.

Once again, when I thought it might be all over at last, the nightmare continued for me and sure enough once more I was hitting rock bottom and I went back to being a recluse. 

11. One Chance
On
This Earth

The only thing we can all agree on is that you only get one chance on this Earth to make your mark. Turning the clock back to when I was sixteen or seventeen I couldn’t wait for Saturday to come so I could play in a match. I was wishing my life away. Now I dread every Sunday passing because that’s one more game gone for good, one week less to enjoy life and the game I love. That may sound dreadfully morbid but when you’ve turned sixty you start looking back at everything that’s happened in your life.

I have made terrible mistakes and had great successes. I’ve experienced real tragedy in my life but I’ve tried to stay positive in recent years because you never know what’s around the corner. I’ve learned to take the bad with the good these days. When it’s all bad you need your family around you. I suppose that’s what mums are for.

My brother and I were given so much love by her. Her whole life was dedicated to keeping Chris and I happy – she was happy when we were happy. So I am glad for the times I made her proud, such as winning my
England
cap, scoring in the Cup Final, giving her grandchildren, giving her a warm glow at times in her life when she needed it most.

I feel life is like the seasons. You have winter, autumn, summer and spring. I should imagine many people can relate to that. Everybody has a winter in their life and I don’t necessarily mean the last years of your life, I’m talking about the bleak times, when all hope seems lost. I’ve had that and now I feel I’m reliving my summer again because of the warmth of people around me. I’m enjoying my life again. There are still reminders of past illnesses, past problems but although I have to take six tablets out with me just in case I have an attack of neuralgia, I’m enjoying life and have been for quite a while.

Yet despite the medical curiosity that is my body, I have kept myself in good shape and still feel young at heart. I can still join in with the five-a-sides when I am coaching, so that keeps me trim. I was 12 stone 10 lbs when I was at City. Nowadays I am 13 stone 12 lbs – so that’s not too bad! Also now that I am sixty I get
free prescriptions which is
just as well – with all the tablets I have to take it saves me an absolute fortune. Just think – five years to go and I get my pension! So that’s something to look forward to I suppose, using my bus pass to get to
Eastlands
!

Anyway, I recently celebrated my sixtieth year and I received a card off Susan, Carmen’s daughter. It read: “Generosity seems to come so naturally to some people.” Well, forget me, that
sums
up Carmen to a tee. She has been like that for the last sixteen years of my life. I don’t know what I would have done without her. I’ve mentioned her in passing over the past few chapters but now I suppose I’d better give my better half the introduction she deserves…

There are a few funny sayings in life but one of them I truly believe in is ‘Third Time Lucky’. My third marriage is exactly that. Although I’ve known Carmen for many years she has become both my
soulmate
and my best friend.

I’ve called this book Catch
A
Falling Star. Well, I caught myself a star in Carmen. She is a wonderful, loving person. When my mum died she helped me to buy my mum’s flat where we are today.

Carmen and I met at a Christmas party on
December 12th 1988
. We were at a restaurant called Portobello’s in
Cheadle
Hulme
. I was going through a bad time and Carmen was too. We had mutual friends (including my former wife’s twin sister would you believe) who thought we’d become
soulmates
if we ever got together.

At first Carmen didn’t want anything to do with me. She tried to avoid me but she finally came over for a dance at
1am
– she must have felt sorry for me – and that night we went to her house and talked and talked right through till
7am
and by
9am
she had to be up for work! We haven’t parted since that first night!

Carmen even cancelled a holiday in
Spain
that Christmas to spend time with me, so we hit it off straight away. After about 8 months of dating we moved in together but because we’d both been married before and had the scars to prove it, we waited this time round because we didn’t want to tempt fate. Everything had to be just right.