That famous old mantra is becoming a thing of the past, but 20 years ago, the rollercoaster that was supporting the Club we love was still alive and kicking.
After three years of free-fall, including two relegations, the dramatic Division Two Play-Off penalty shoot-out win over Gillingham, when City had been two down with three minutes of normal time left, seemed to suggest we were turning a corner.
And with just a draw needed on the final day of the 1999/2000 Division One season away at Blackburn to secure back-to-back promotions, it appeared ‘Typical City’ was to be consigned to the history books.
But just before 4pm on Sunday 7, May 2000, that tag was in danger of rearing its ugly head once again at Ewood Park.
A cagey opening 45 minutes from Joe Royle’s side had been punished by the hosts, who marked their first-half dominance by taking the lead just before the break.
“In all honesty we could count ourselves lucky that we were still in it,” former City midfielder Kevin Horlock says of the game.
“I think Blackburn must have hit the post two or three times in the first half, so to be just one goal down gave us something to cling to.
“It was all or nothing – it was 45 minutes of football. Are we going to turn up and deliver the goods or are we going to go into the play-offs?”
It seemed that nerves had got the better of City and, after two years of blood, sweat and tears, the dream of gradually clawing the club back towards the Premier League was in danger of being dashed.
“We hadn’t played any football in the first half, we looked nervy on the ball, we gave the ball away a lot and we rode our luck,” Horlock recalls.
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“But going into the second half, things went our way.”
‘Typical City’ once again had to do it the hard way, but boy did they do it in style.
It’s often a piece of quality which acts as a catalyst in a tight match and, with just over half an hour to play, Royle’s men were in need of it… up stepped Horlock.
A clever reverse pass from Mark Kennedy found the left midfielder on the edge of the Blackburn box and, without breaking stride, he swung a delightful cross into the far post.
“It was like everything slowed up for me, it was at the perfect pace on my left foot,” Horlock reflects as he talks through the chance.
“I knew if I left it in there with any quality – Shaun Goater like all good strikers, peels off and finds space at the back stick – so I knew if I got it in the right place, we were back in the game.”
And get it in the right place he did – Horlock’s inch-perfect cross being smashed into the roof of the net by Goater at the back post.
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“It was probably the best pass I played in my career and the most important,” the midfielder recalls with some tongue-in-cheek humour.
“Goats couldn’t miss could he?”
Within seven minutes, a bizarre own goal from Christian Dailly put City ahead and, from there, Horlock felt he and his teammates were in the driving seat.
And that confidence was only reinforced when Kennedy got in on the scoring act, slotting home at the far post after making a late, untracked run from left-back.
In celebration, pumping his arms with glee, he ran into the disbelieving, outstretched arms of his beaming manager in the dugout.
“Obviously in previous games, we’d let leads slip and (there was) the Typical City tag,” Horlock recalled.
“So, you were still unsure… but when the third went in I thought that was it. We just sensed it.”
And so did the fans, and in some style too.
After years of pain and disappointment, City were on the cusp of returning to the promised land; it seems baffling that this match is often regarded an afterthought in terms of what happened on the pitch!
Instead, it’s remembered for our incredible following on the day – with supporters travelling in their droves up the M66 to see Royle’s side earn promotion.
From congas in both the home and away ends to the now immortalised ‘Ewood Park Hill’, where hundreds of City fans without tickets to the match peered in to the ground from a higher vantage point, the legend of that final day in the glorious May sunshine had been born.
“It was incredible, probably one of the best atmospheres I’ve played in,” Horlock says of the game.
“We knew as players there were Man City fans everywhere. You could see it from when Goats scored the equaliser, the whole ground erupted nearly enough!
“You saw City fans doing the conga… it was incredible.”
Five minutes later, it got even better as Paul Dickov – the hero in the previous season’s Play-Off Final – raced through and slotted coolly past Alan Kelly to add further gloss to the score line.
Despite trying to evade their attentions, the forward was mobbed by his teammates before he could even get out of the penalty box and it was all but confirmed: Manchester City were back in the Premier League.
And even though there were still ten minutes left on the clock, the players knew it.
“You sensed it on the pitch the lads were a lot more confident on the ball,” Horlock remembers.
“Everyone wanted the ball, which wasn’t the case first half – it was a bit like a hot potato!
“I probably enjoyed the last 20 minutes of that game as much as any other game I played.”
