Doyle was a stalwart during the Blues’ glory years and played in every round of the 1969 FA Cup triumph which culminated in a 1-0 win over Leicester at Wembley.
With just one goal conceded in that epic cup run, Doyle, who racked up 558 appearances between 1962 and 1978, says his team knew their name was on the trophy that season.
He also believes the current City side will, by now, have a similar feeling.
“I could tell by the attitude of the lads we were going to win the FA Cup,” he said.
“After we beat Everton in the semi-final, nobody could have stopped us. We didn’t consider Leicester, our opponents in the final, as any great shakes, either.
“No-one talked about the possibility of beating Leicester – it was a case of ‘when’, not ‘if’. I didn’t get any butterflies until we were driving down Wembley Way.
“When I saw all the fans milling around the Twin Towers, it hit me like a sledgehammer and that in 90 minutes, all those people would be inside and waiting for the game to kick off.
Everything changed when we walked down the tunnel with only one thought – to win another trophy for our fans
...Mike Doyle
Doyle also has one painful recollection from that momentous day. He says: “During the game, Leicester took a free-kick and it hit me in a rather sensitive place!
“The camera must have zoomed in on my face because I remember swearing in exasperation. The next day my mum said, ‘Michael, we never brought you up to use language like that!’
“She was obviously better at lip-reading than I’d given her credit for!”
