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'I never had self belief'

Angela Kelly
17/ 9/2008

NO-ONE who saw Mike Summerbee play for Manchester City in the Sixties and early Seventies could have doubted his heart for the game.

Mind you, there were quite a few elbows and knees involved, too, but it never detracted from the dazzling football, nor earned him a poor reputation among fellow professionals.

"Yes, I was quite an aggressive player," he admits today, "but I was fair. I never deliberately went out to injure anyone."

Exactly how he is viewed by football fans who came to the sport long after Mike had finished playing may depend on his hugely enjoyable autobiography.

But there is no doubt he was, and is, a true hero of the English game and, in spite of his genuine modesty, his skills and passion have earned him a special place in football’s history.

"I never had self-belief," he explains. "Away from football, I was full of doubt, but when I went on the field, I just played the best way I knew how."

Born in Preston, Mike grew up in Cheltenham, the son of a footballer who played for Preston, Chester and Barrow but never quite lived up to his potential.

His father died on the day Mike played his first representative match, for Cheltenham Boys, "and it’s one of the great regrets of my life that he never saw me play professionally," he says.

Not gifted academically, young Mike – or Titch, as he was nicknamed – excelled at football and first played for his local YMCA team. "Tom Finney was my hero then," he recalls. "But there were so many great players to watch."

He played for the Gloucester County boys’ side before being picked up for Swindon FC’s B team at just 16. His wages were £15 a week, with none of the glamour of today’s pampered stars.

In the summer, on a basic salary, he had to take other jobs, so he cut grass, was a painter and decorator and even became a gravedigger to make ends meet.

Joe Mercer, then manager at Aston Villa, noticed the lad whose father he’d played with at Aldershot during the war. So, when Swindon were relegated from the Second Division in 1965, Mike rang Joe Mercer, by now at Manchester City, "to see if he had a space for me."

He did, but the other half of that "dream team," Malcolm Allison, obviously needed convincing. "I think Joe wanted me more than Malcolm did at that time," he states.

However, the crowd soon took to the hard-working youngster showing skill and pace on the right wing, and his passing and goal-scoring ability soon made Allison revise his opinion.

This was the beginning of both a golden time for City and an illustrious career for Mike, during which he made more than 400 appearances and scored 67 goals.

He was not only a tenacious player but a larger-than-life character on the field.

Nicknamed ‘Buzzer’ because of his prominent nose, he often enjoyed banter with the linesmen and the crowd, who appreciated his lively antics. "It’s sad to think that this would now be classed as bringing the game into disrepute," he says.

On the pitch, he had a memorable partnership with fellow legends Colin Bell and Francis Lee – all selected for England, although they never played together. Mike represented his country eight times and has particularly warm words for ex-England manager Sir Alf Ramsey.

His life off the pitch was equally fascinating. He and best friend George Best, although both shy young men, enjoyed busy social lives and went into business together during the Swinging Sixties.

"People wouldn’t understand that, now, a ‘blue’ and a ‘red’ could be so friendly and close, but George was a wonderful man, very kind, a good friend," he says.

"I still miss him terribly."

Today, Mike, at 65, still has close links with Manchester City, where is an ambassador and runs its luncheon club. "All I’d like now is more success for the club," he states.

He isn’t envious of today’s multi-million-pound footballers: "I played at a glorious time with some of the best. Who could regret that?

"I would never put myself in an ‘11 All-Time Greats’ side, but ‘11 Most Hard-Working Players? Perhaps I’d get in."

Mike Summerbee – The Autobiography is published by Century at £18.99.