Manchester City: 10 Cult Heroes

Manchester City as a club is virtually unrecognisable from the way it was a mere decade ago.

These days, superstar signings are regularly brought in for eight-figuere fees. They are currently five points clear at the top of the Premier League and are contesting their first Champions League campaign.

Whatever grand achievements and trophies may come their way in this new era, however, there will always be players from days gone by who will hold a special place in the hearts and minds of City fans who have watched their club succeed, struggle and stagnate over the years.

Here are 10 of City's best-loved cult heroes.

Mario Balotelli

He has not been at the club for 18 months yet, but already Super Mario has become a cult icon not just for City fans but for all followers of football.

Where to start? How about driving an autograph hunter who was skipping class back to the boy's school and confronting his bully?

Or what about, when asked by police who stopped him in his car why he had a bag full of £5,000 in cash, he replied with the immortal: "Because I'm rich."?

Or even, when asked to comment on fellow Golden Boy award nominee Jack Wilshere, responding with, "No, I don't know him, but next time I play Arsenal, I will keep a close eye on him. Perhaps I can show him my Golden Boy trophy and remind him that I won it."

And all of that is without even mentioning his exploits on the pitch. His emotionless celebrations have become his trademark, most notably standing straight-faced after scoring the first of his two goals in the 6-1 win over Manchester United and revealing a t-shirt asking: "Why always me?"

And to think, he is still just 21 years old.

Colin Bell

You know you must be rather popular with your club's supporters when you have a stand named after you. That's what happened to Bell in 2004, when one stand at the City of Manchester Stadium was dubbed in his honour 25 years after he played his last game for the club.

It seemed only fitting for a man nicknamed "King of the Kippax" during his time on City's books between 1965 and 1979, the fans declaring him sovereign of the stand at their old Maine Road ground in which the most passionate supporters were based.

Bell was regarded as one of the finest midfielders England had ever produced, and was part of the great City side that won the league, FA Cup, League Cup (twice) and Cup Winner's Cup.

In all he scored 177 goals in 578 appearances for City, and none who saw him play will ever forget him.

Uwe Rosler

The East German signed from Dynamo Dresden made an instant impact at City scoring five goals in 12 appearances after joining City on trial at the tail end of the 1993-94 season.

That earned him a permanent deal, and the following season he was the club's top scorer with 22 goals, including four in one FA Cup match against Notts County.

Despite that, he fell out with new manager Alan Ball in the 1995-96 season and was dropped from the team, only to respond by coming off the bench and scoring at Old Trafford with a delightful lob over Peter Schmeichel.

Rosler also scored in the derby at Maine Road, but he was unable to stop City being relegated in ridiculous circumstances on the final day of the season. Rosler stayed for two more years at City in the second tier before eventually returning to Germany.

He may have had later spells at Southampton and West Brom and now manages Brentford, but in the eyes of the majority he will always be inextricably linked with City.

Georgi Kinkladze

A contemporary of Rosler, and the man who slipped a perfectly-weighted through ball into the East German's path for him to score that wonderful derby goal.

The little Georgian joined from hometown club Dynamo Tblisi in 1995 and for three years constantly dazzled Maine Road with he exquisite touch, skill and vision.

Although City were relegated in his first year at the club, Kinkladze stayed, further endearing himself to the fans by shunning offers from several bigger clubs to stay in Manchester.

Among his highlights were exceptional individual efforts such as those against West Ham and Southampton, and he scored his fair share of penalties and set pieces too.

For some he may have been a luxury player, but even those detractors could have avoided being at least occasionally spellbound by the mini-magician's performances.

Neil Young

City born and bred, Young grew up a stone's throw away from Maine Road and signed for City as a 16-year-old, turning down the chance to go to United in the process.

Playing as a winger or as an old-school inside-forward, he would go on to score 86 goals in 334 appearances during his 12 years at City, but two of those will be forever etched into the memory of the club's fans.

The first was in the 1969 FA Cup final, when he converted Mike Summerbee's cross to beat Peter Shilton and score the only goal of the game, winning the Cup for his boyhood club.

Then, a year later, he struck again in a final, this time that of the European Cup Winner's Cup. Young opened the scoring against Polish side Gornik Zabrze, and then won the penalty which Franny Lee scored to seal a 2-1 win in Vienna.

Young tragically lost his battle with cancer in February of this year, and the tributes flooding in from City's fans showed just how much he was appreciated by the club, even if he was held in quite the same regard as some of his teammates in that great team. 

Paul Dickov

The very definition of a journeyman striker, Dickov played for 11 different clubs between signing his first professional terms at Arsenal in 1990 and hanging up his boots as player-manager at Oldham 21 years later.

The striker may be just 5'6", but he more than made up for his diminutive stature was a fiery determination and plenty of pace.

The Scotsman sealed his place in City folklore during his first of two spells at the club. 

On May 30 1999, just four days after local rivals Manchester United had won the Champions League to complete a historic treble, Dickov was the hero in City's own late, late comeback in the Second Division playoff final.

With four minutes to go at Wembley, Gillingham's Rob Taylor scored to make it 2-0 to the Gills, but after Kevin Horlock scored in the 89th minute, Dickov struck a cracker right into the top corner in the fifth minute of injury time to take the match to extra time.

City went on to win on penalties, and a 2005 poll among fans saw that goal voted as the greatest in the club's history. 

If it had not been for Dickov's goal, it is highly unlikely the club would have been where Sheikh Mansour decided to invest his billions almost a decade later.   

Mike Summerbee

The winger was an integral part of the City side which won the league, FA Cup and Cup Winner's Cup during the most glorious period in City's history. For the time being, anyway.

Summerbee (pictured, centre, flanked by Denis Law and Bobby Charlton) was always at the heart of the dressing room banter, but facing him was no laughing matter for full-backs. In a decade at the club he made more than 350 appearance, scoring 47 goals. 

He was unfortunate to have been around at the same time as the players who won England the World Cup. Otherwise he would surely have earned more than just the eight caps he did.

Summerbee's son, Nicky, also played for City two decades later, but perhaps the thing which truly lifts him into the pantheon of cult heroes for City was his part in Escape To Victory alongside Sylvester Stallone and Pele.

Shaun Goater

"Feed the Goat," the fans used to sing, "and he will score!"

It's hard to argue with that. In five years at City between 1998 and 2003, "The Goat" scored 104 goals in 212 appearances. He scored his 100th as one of the two he netted in a 3-1 win over United, the club he joined as a trainee. 

Having played for Rotherham, Notts County and Bristol City after not making the grade at Old Trafford, it was not exactly a defection when he moved to Maine Road, but that did not stop the City fans  goading their local rivals about their goal machine scoring against them.

His exploits in England saw the declaration of a National Shaun Goater Day in his native Bermuda. What more do you need?

Dennis Tueart

Unlike many of City's cult heroes of yesteryear, Tueart arrived at the club already with a reputation, having won the FA Cup with Sunderland in 1973.

The Newcastle-born player was dubbed "King of the Geordies" by the Maine Road faithful, and he showed exactly why when, in his second season, his overhead kick at Wembley sealed a 2-1 win over his boyhood club in the 1976 League Cup final. The goal was later voted the greatest moment in the competition's history, and was the last major trophy City won before lifting the FA Cup last season.

After a brief sojourn in the NASL with the star-studded New York Cosmos, he returned to City for another three-year spell. 

He would again return to the club as a director, helping to run the club in the financially turbulent times before Thaksin Shinawatra took over in 2007.

Ricky Hatton

There are, of course, a great many other names that could be on this list, but the temptation to include one of City's most famous fans is too great to resist.

The former light welterweight and welterweight world champion is City through and through. He grew up in Hyde, and both his father and grandfather played for City. Ricky apparently had a trial at the club, but the boxing ring was clearly where his true talents lay.

During his fighting career, Hatton's entrance music was City anthem "Blue Moon," and not even Wayne Rooney carrying his belts to the ring for one fight could dampen the blue half of Manchester's affections for him.

Hatton is a regular at the Etihad Stadium, and in a recent television interview he revealed that he has a swimming pool and a pool table decorated with the club's crest.