Tony Pulis (Gillingham)
Stoke City’s current boss was in charge of Gillingham when they met City in the Division Two play-off final at Wembley back in 1999.
Leading 2-0 with time running out, Pulis was all set to lead the Gills to Division One before Messrs Horlock and Nicky Weaver saved Guy Butters’ kick to snatch promotion for the Blues.
Carlo Nash
Stoke’s third choice goalkeeper was at City as backup for Nicky Weaver for a two year spell back between 2001 and 2003.
Despite being regarded as a perennial understudy, Nash was a regular starter for Preston North End in the mid-noughties and set a club record of 24 clean sheets in the 2005/06 season.
Asmir Begovic and Thomas Sorenson lie ahead of Carlo in the pecking order for today’s visitors although Nash did take a seat on the bench for the 2011 FA Cup final against City.
Alan Ball
World Cup winner Alan Ball did enjoy some success in his managerial career, most notably at Southampton where he helped to consolidate a Premier League position for in the nineties, but his tenures at Stoke and Manchester City were hardly to be deemed successful.
Despite spending a fortune on new acquisitions at Stoke, they were relegated to the third tier of English football in 1991 and he was sacked in March that year on their way to a disappointing 15th place finish.
His time at Maine Road wasn’t much happier, with Ball only lasting a year in charge as he led City down to Division One after a miserable tailspin in the 1995/96 season’s final months.
Mike Doyle
Doyle is another man on this list to have ascended the age-groups to become a Manchester City institution between 1962 and 1978.
The utility man may only have appeared five times for his country but he was an integral member of the City side that won the title in 1968, as well as the 1970 and 1976 League Cups and 1970 European Cup Winners Cup.
He left for the Victoria Ground in 1978 and proved he still had plenty to offer, making more than 100 appearances for the Potters, winning their Player of the Season award in 1979.
Mike Sheron
Sheron scored 22 goals in 92 appearances after breaking through from the club’s Academy in 1990 and making his debut against Everton in 1991.
The striker’s best season for City came in 1992/93 when he struck up a formidable partnership with Niall Quinn, scoring 14 goals in the inaugural Premier League campaign.
The arrivals of Uwe Rosler and Paul Walsh pushed Sheron out to the fringes and he joined Norwich City for a season before arriving at Stoke City where was an unmitigated success, scoring 39 goals in 71 starts, including a brace in the final Potteries derby to be playing at the Victoria Ground.
