Catch A Falling Star (26 page)

My dream would be to have a hole-in-one but that could be very costly because you are supposed to buy everybody on the course that day a drink. I think it would be worth it though. I once played with Christy O’Connor Jnr in a pro-celebrity tournament and it was simply poetry in motion playing alongside someone like that. You can see their game and
it’s
absolute perfection. The sickening part is they make it look so easy.

Christy was very good that day because he would give you little hints every now and then and he was a very nice chap to talk to as well. He was just like one of the boys. Sadly I had to stop my membership of my golf club because it was getting too expensive. I still manage the odd game when one of my friends phones and wants to play – when you play with a member you only have to pay a green fee, which is only £12. Cheap enough that even I can afford it!

With City in the Premiership and, fingers crossed, with Carmen and
I
now in good health, what more could a man ask for? Perhaps for City to win something again – that would be good. Another trip to Wembley or as it is now,
Cardiff
, just to round everything off.

*

Like anyone who has lost loved ones, I miss my mother dreadfully. I lost my mum in the spring of 1990, just prior to the Italy World Cup. She’d had a lot of heartbreak in her life, from an abusive husband through to losing Chris and seeing me lying on the floor with an empty bottle of pills scattered across the floor. How that must have hurt her. She lived for me and Chris though and I’ll never forget the love she showed us.

I take heart from remembering the little things – the tiny moments of pleasure when she smiled. For example, in the last three or four years of her life, she would not go out too much, just to the village hairdresser really. I knew the girls and the manageress quite well so every time she went to have her hair done I’d have it paid for prior to her arrival. The manageress would then say to her: “
Alice
, you have an admirer… your hair-do has been paid for.” The first time that happened she came back with a broad smile on her face which was so nice to see. She never found out
who
it was who paid for her cut and blow but she must have known!

I have mentioned my mother a lot in this book because she was my best friend as well. She helped me as much as she
could,
nothing was too much trouble for her.

Just before she died I sat at her bedside in Macclesfield General and she grabbed my hand. She was doped up to the eyeballs but she whispered very quietly in my ear: “Neil, City will never win anything until they give you your game.”

That was the last time I saw her alive. Those words have stuck in my mind for the past fifteen years. Later when the doctor at the hospital told me: “Her heart was not strong enough to carry on,” I knew that she had died of a broken heart.

You know, since her death, City have done nothing at all. What she said seems quite strange now because it’s turned out to be true. The odd play-off win and a couple of promotions but you can only get them if you are relegated in the first place. As I say, City still
haven’t
won a major trophy since she said those words.

  I have a little photo on the wall near the toaster and every morning when I make my breakfast I give her a little kiss and wish her well: “I hope you’re at peace now. God bless,” I whisper.

*

Well there you have it. My life has been a real rollercoaster ride of tremendous highs and dreadful lows. I’ve always wanted to tell my story but sometimes it’s been hard to get the words out. I feel quite comfortable knowing that City fans the length and breadth of the country can pick up a copy of my book and make up their own minds about my life and my contribution to the club’s successes. I wish you all the best and I’ll leave you with this one thought.

My assets may be very small but my love for the club is great. God Bless.

Tributes
From
Fans, Friends & Colleagues...

“This tall, elegant inside forward is not only kind and wonderful but the most generous person in more ways than one! Thank God we’re incredibly happy, I couldn’t wish for more. I love him with all my heart and soul. I can easily break down when asked about him. He is absolutely amazing, incredibly handsome. He is always wonderful with my three children and grandchildren. I consider myself a very lucky lady. I love him.”

CARMEN YOUNG

“There is no better player at the club than Neil Young.”

JOE MERCER OBE, Legendary City Manager

“A
very
underrated player for City with a brilliant left foot. He was a tremendous character to have in the dressing room, very funny, extremely witty. I can’t think of a bad word to say about Neil Young, he was an absolute gem of a player.”

ALAN OAKES,
Former
City
Player

“The fans called him ‘Nelly’ because he didn’t like physical contact – bet you wouldn’t say it to his face off the pitch though! One training session at
Cheadle
Town
FC illustrates how well he struck the ball. We were playing five-a-side and the pitch was one of the worst I’d ever come across. It was like the old Baseball Ground at
Derby
, a real cabbage patch. The ball came over to Neil and he thundered it, like a cannonball from all of forty yards with that sweet left foot and it hit Joe Corrigan right between the eyes. He
fell
forward straight down like a tree into a pile of mud and the ball rebounded halfway back to Neil. He had such power in his shots it was unbelievable.”

PAUL HINCE

Former
City
Player, now Chief Sports Writer,
Manchester
Evening News

“He was a first-class winger and you don’t get to say that too often these days do you! He was a fine player, quick-footed and he had a ferocious shot. I thought that when Malcolm let him go to
Preston
  it
was a ridiculous decision at the time. It upset him and all of us terribly.”

KEN BARNES,
Former
City
Player and Scout

“Besides the Holy Trinity of
Bell
, Lee and
Summerbee
, Neil Young was the one player that made everything tick for
Manchester
City
, he was the focal point of our attacks. Think of the contribution he made, scoring in those important games which won us the FA Cup, the League, the European Cup Winners’ Cup, the Charity Shield. He was a pleasure to watch and he was one of us.”

TOMMY MUIR, Supporter

“‘Nelly’ as they called him was a real great favourite of mine. I adored him because he was left-footed and was a winger and eventually I played in the same position for the club. I used to walk down

PETER BARNES,

Former
City
Player, now GMR Pundit

“My very first memory as a schoolboy watching football came at the age of seven when Neil Young’s strike won the Cup for City. I watched the game on TV and can remember what a top quality finish it was, a goal from the moment it left Neil’s foot. I didn’t go into
Manchester
to see City parade that trophy but I always had that memory from childhood and it still means something to me now.”

DAVE CASH, City Supporter

“The best bit that springs to mind was when we walloped Spurs at

JOHN STAPLETON,

City Supporter, Journalist and Television Presenter

“He was a vastly underrated outside left / left-sided midfield player who in many people’s opinions, should have represented
England
. When I came up against him he was a tall, lanky lad with an uncanny nimbleness that was not unlike a dancer and fortunately I didn’t get in the way of any of his left-footed shots! The names Lee,
Bell
and
Summerbee
are familiar to City fans but I know that Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison rated Neil Young in the same high esteem, as did the City fans of that day.”

KEVIN KEEGAN,
Manchester
City
Manager

“I went to primary school and secondary school with Neil. I used to call round to his house every morning and we’d walk together to school. Both
myself
and Neil hated swimming lessons, which were part of the curriculum. Once a week we attended

“One day Neil was in the pool and Mr
Ravey
said: ‘Mitchell – kick Young in the legs as if you were kicking a football. Make him work a bit harder!’ and when I kicked him he went flying, he
headbutted
me in the chest and we both sunk under the water, we had to be pulled out by other pupils.”

GRAHAM MITCHELL, School Friend

“What a fantastic footballer.
Highly underrated in the championship winning side.
I remember a thirty-five-
yarder
he slammed in against Wolves at the

TOM RITCHIE, Editor, City
Till
I Cry Fanzine

“A delicate player and an exceptional talent.
He stood out amongst the forwards for me. I’ve never said it was a Bell-Lee-
Summerbee
team. There was always a front five, Bell-Lee-
Summerbee
-Young and Coleman. To me,
Youngy
was the pick of the bunch. He was so elegant on the ball as well.”