City had been relegated to what is today the Championship after just one season back in the Premier League.
The momentum that had begun midway through the 1998/99 season and carried on to the Division Two play-off final victory over Gillingham and then a second successive promotion back to the top flight had stuttered and shuddered to a halt in 2000/01.
The Blues had risen too fast and hadn’t adjusted to competing with the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal and relegation became inevitable when a run of 17 games produced just nine points from a possible 51.
Joe Royle left the Club shortly after the end of the season and Keegan took command for the 2001/02 season, with Stuart Pearce and Eyal Berkovic his most high-profile signings.
Keegan was the sort of manager City fans craved. His brand of football was exciting and attack-minded and oozed flair. The fans wanted to go to Maine Road expecting to see expansive football and goals and Keegan was the man to do it.
Plus, he’d done it before.
His return to Newcastle as manager has seen the Magpies swept upwards on an emotional rollercoaster that took them to within a whisker of winning the Premier League title.
He had since managed Fulham and England but had taken a break from management and had been out of work for seven months when the opportunity to manage City emerged.
At his press conference unveiling, Keegan joked his mother had always warned him never to go near the Maine Road, but City fans were glad he did.
His first game was a 2-1 friendly win away to Halifax Town, with several thousand Blues making the short trip to South Yorkshire and while it was a gentle introduction to life under the man the Hamburg fans nicknamed ‘Mighty Mouse’, it was a winning start and allowed Keegan to pinpoint a lack of midfield creativity.
Berkovic was the perfect choice.
The talented Israeli playmaker had been shipped out to Celtic after a training ground spat with John Hartson and then loaned to Blackburn Rovers for a year. An enigmatic figure, his move to City where he would be allowed to play with freedom and, more importantly, be loved again, was perfect for all concerned and his £1.5m fee was a bargain.
Watford, managed by Gianluca Vialli, would be Keegan’s first official game in charge and the match was selected for live Satellite TV coverage and a 5.30pm Saturday evening kick-off.
Expectation hung heavy in the air of the sell-out 33,939 crowd – the most Maine Road could hold since becoming an all-seater stadium. The later kick-off ensured the atmosphere fairly crackled with electricity as the Blues and Watford ran out. This was the start of a new era and as the game began, it was excitement over nervousness; anticipation over anxiety.
The City fans believed.
It didn’t take long for the home support to realise that signing Berkovic was a masterstroke.
The diminutive midfielder caused mayhem, creating chances for team-mates and working the Watford keeper as well as going agonisingly close on a couple of occasions.
The Hornets hung on until the break, though the 0-0 score-line flattered them somewhat.
Yet with an hour on the clock, the City fans began to wonder if it might not be the dream start for Keegan they all craved. Chance after chance had gone begging and the visitors had begun to show more adventure themselves.
Then, finally, the breakthrough and inevitably, Berkovic was at the heart of it.
The Israeli set full-back Laurent Charvet away down the right and his pinpoint cross found Shaun Goater who thumped a header past Espen Baardsen to send Maine Road wild.
Three minutes later, the Blues doubled their lead. Cue pandemonium.
Goater found left-back Danny Granville and his cross saw Paulo Wanchope smack the crossbar with a header, but with the woodwork still shuddering, Berkovic reacted quickest, deftly taking the ball away from defender Ramon Vega before drilling past Baardsen to send the home fans crazy.
Berkovic ran away wheeling his shirt to the Kippax, his passion reflected in the faces of the celebrating City fans who had found a new hero.
The Hornets were reduced to 10 men shortly after with Paul Robinson picking up a second yellow following a foul on Berkovic who was substituted shortly after to a thunderous standing ovation.
It was almost the perfect day, but not quite.
The icing on the cake came three minutes from time as Stuart Pearce sent a howitzer of a free-kick over the wall into the top corner of the Watford net to make it 3-0 and leave Maine Road in raptures.
Keegan’s City were off and running and this victory was just the beginning of a hugely enjoyable and entertaining season that would see the Blues crowned champions playing the kind of football that even Pep Guardiola would have enjoyed…
