Pep Guardiola’s men achieved the unthinkable, claiming a third successive Premier League title, beating Manchester United in the FA Cup final and being named Champions of Europe for the first time in our history.
A UEFA Super Cup triumph in September has since followed, with the potential of a fifth major honour in the form of the FIFA Club World Cup still on the cards before the new year.
And City are on the hunt to repeat those remarkable feat in the current campaign, but the 2022/23 season will be forever etched into the fabric of both our own and English football’s history.
That’s why Clive Tyldesley, one of finest commentators and most recognisable voices of our generation, was keen to mark that historic achievement in his own special way.
Tyldesley’s career in the press box spans over four decades and includes numerous World Cups, Champions League finals and iconic matches across the Premier League and Football League.
And his Football Commentary Charts, which initially started as an order of around two dozen frames during the COVID-19 pandemic, has provided over 50,000 supporters and more than 50 different teams or nations with a detailed, statistical reflection on some of their greatest-ever moments.
Indeed, Tyldesley’s collection includes two of City’s famous matches; our 3-2 win over Queens Park Rangers in 2012 and the Champions League final triumph over Inter.
But the Treble Commentary Chart, like our 2022/23 season itself, is unique. It documents the entire 61-game campaign, and the twists and turns which saw Pep Guardiola’s men achieve footballing immortality.
BUY THE TREBLE COMMENTARY CHART
“It’s just a lovely record of an extraordinary season,” Tyldesley explains.
“As the chart evolves, you have no idea where it’s taking you. It could take you to three near misses.
“The first trophy that City had a chance of winning, for example, they lost to Southampton in the Carabao Cup. Then you’re not quite sure what’s coming next.
“It’s a little bit like a golfer for coming down the stretch at the end of a tournament. When there are three or four in contention each shot becomes twice as important as the last one.
“I’m sure there must have been a realisation among the players as well as the fans that we may never get this opportunity to do this again, so it would be a fantastic thing, and it’s there as left on the grid as it unfolded week-by-week at the time.”
The crowning moment of that iconic campaign came, of course, in Istanbul, with Rodrigo’s second half strike enough to see us get the better of a well-drilled Inter side by a single goal.
Covering the game for CBS, Tyldesley was there to witness that historic moment from the commentary box at the Ataturk Stadium.
And while the decisive moment itself was one he described as a ‘lovely goal’ for a commentator, the scorer did provide him with a brief moment of panic!
Tyldesley explains: “You want to be shouting the name of the goal scorer as he or she hits it. That’s the classic piece of commentary, but Rodri does look a bit like Ruben Dias I think sometimes.
“It’s weird, the players you sometimes get a bit of a problem with and there’s something about those two that I’m always wary of every time I do a City game, particularly in penalty areas, corners, headers, things like that.
“As I yelled Rodri there was this little voice in the back of my mind saying, ‘that’d better not be Ruben Dias!’.
“It felt like a good way to win. It was great to be there for the crowning glory, and nothing beats being there.
“If you can say ‘I was there’ then that’s the crowning glory for Manchester City to become champions of Europe.
“I think it was a very decent Inter team who made life awkward for City but it was doubly awkward because of the expectation on them to win. They just had to manage the game.
“It was a lovely goal for a commentator. For a commentator more than anything you want a ball rolled back to somebody that you recognise.”
For more information on Clive’s other products, click here.
Copies of the framed item signed by Clive are available to purchase in our Stadium and Arndale stores only.
