John White, Department Secretary of Carryduff Manchester United Supporters’ Membership, pays this private tribute
Soccer rivalries run deep and it’s a flip of a coin as to which membership we Reds take into account our greatest rivals out of Metropolis and Liverpool. However regardless of that, for my part it is very important respect not solely our gamers, however the gamers of our opponents.
Simply 24 hours earlier than our vital League Cup semi-final conflict with Manchester Metropolis at Outdated Trafford, a participant who graced the Manchester derby on many events handed away aged simply 74. His identify? Colin Bell.
Bell performed for Manchester Metropolis from 1966-79, having signed for our rivals from Bury, and the Blues’ legendary supervisor Joe Mercer was fortunate to amass this extraordinarily proficient and classy midfielder, a participant coveted by numerous different golf equipment. Mercer’s right-hand man Malcolm Allison tried to place different golf equipment off the scent by claiming that Metropolis weren’t within the 20-year-old as he was
“hopeless.”
It labored, and so Bell joined the membership once they had been within the English Second Division. In season 1965/66, he scored 4 occasions in his 11 league appearances, serving to Metropolis win the Second Division title and achieve promotion again into the highest flight.