Clive Allen
Deadly striker Clive Allen arrived at Maine Road in 1989 and hit 16 goals in a two-year spell at the club but he’ll be best remembered for his time at White Hart Lane.
A true Londoner, Allen almost completed the full set of clubs from the capital, having been on the books at QPR, Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Spurs, Chelsea, West Ham and Millwall in a goal-laden 18 year playing career.
Bert Sproston
Recognised as one of England’s best pre-war defenders, Bert Sproston first represented his hometown side, Sandbach Ramblers before going on to play for City and Spurs in a memorable career.
Sproston made his City debut against Spurs on 5 November 1938 and although his time at Maine Road was interrupted by World War II, he went on to win a Second Division championship with the Blues in the first season after the war.
1981 FA Cup final
One of the finest FA Cup finals in living memory was played out between the two sides in 1981, an epic encounter between two easy on the eye teams, settled by one of the goals of the century by Ricky Villa.
City were 11 minutes away from winning the 100th FA Cup in the first meeting at Wembley thanks to a goal from Tommy Hutchinson but his own goal after 79 minutes meant that the game had to be replayed five days later.
An epic replay followed where goals from Garth Crooks and a Villa brace consigned the Blues to a heartbreaking 3-2 defeat.
Vedran Corluka
Croatian defender Vedran Corluka joined in the Sven-Goran Eriksson revolution of 2007 and quickly established himself as a regular starter at the City of Manchester Stadium, turning out 38 times for the Blues.
Unfancied by Eriksson’s replacement Mark Hughes, Corluka departed for Spurs in 2008 and made more than 80 appearances for the club before joining Lokomotiv Moscow.
Neil McNab
Most of Neil McNab’s first-team appearances came at City where he joined in 1983 from Brighton and Hove Albion, clocking up 221 games in seven years.
Neil first came to England to join Spurs from Greenock Morton at the start of his career, making 72 appearances in four years between 1974 and 1978.
