The gentle-natured stray would soon win the affection of some of the Premier League’s greatest talents and several top managers as he went about his business, keeping Carrington free of mice.
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So, what’s the story of the Club’s first – and only – ‘official’ Club cat?
His tale (of course) began shortly after the Blues moved from Platt Lane to Carrington in 2000.
The white and ginger long-haired stray undoubtedly had a life somewhere else before City – he was neither feral or battle-scarred and had clearly had a more comfortable life in his earlier years.
Whatever led to him becoming a stray will never be known, but in many ways, he hit the jackpot when he chose Carrington as his new residence.
After he started visiting the new training ground looking for the odd scrap of food and a saucer of milk, he was soon adopted by reception staff, coaches and eventually the players and manager.
Not long after Kevin Keegan became manager, he employed Colombian conditioning coach Juan Carlos Osorio.
As legend has it, Osorio struggled with the name of upcoming opponents Wimbledon, just as Puss was making his way into reception for his daily sachet of Whiskas.
After the laughter over Osorio’s pronunciation of ‘Wimblydon’, had died down, it was suggested that it was the perfect name for the cat that had made Carrington its home - and so his legend was born.
And the name stuck.
Osorio would later go on to manage Mexico and Paraguay after leaving City, would eventually leave the Club, but his legacy would live on.
Wimblydon soon become an integral part of life at City and once delivered a dead mouse to Kevin Keegan’s office – as a show of his gratitude.
He was the first living creature Mario Balotelli met when he arrived at Carrington for the first time and the pair soon became good friends.
Most regular visitors to Carrington would stroke Wimblydon and chatter with him before they entered the reception and in turn, he did his bit around the complex.
He caught an estimated 200 mice, ate 7,000 sachets of cat food and drank more than 100 litres of milk during his spell as City’s officially unofficial Club Cat.
And when he needed veterinary treatment at some point in 2008, manager Mark Hughes ensured the Club would pay any fees incurred as a result.
To those how knew him, petted him and fed him, he was the cat’s whiskers.
Sadly, in June 2013 and not long before the Club moved to the City Football Academy, Wimblydon’s days of mice chasing ended aged 14 (approximately 75 in cat years).
He was indeed, the cat that got the cream, and quite rightly, his place in City folklore is assured.
