The day Manchester City celebrated a corner kick
How times change eh?
At the risk of sounding more experienced I remember when Manchester City turned up in such a bad state that their fans sarcastically celebrated the award of a corner as if it was a goal.
At the end of 90 minutes against Newcastle today, City players were celebrating having one hand on the Premier League trophy.
It was back in the 1995/96 season as City were floored by Kevin Keegan's Entertainers.
City ended the season relegated under Alan Ball at the start of a journey that led them to places like Macclesfield and Colchester!
That season they lost at York City and Lincoln but fast foward from 1998/99 to 2011/12 and City put themselves just one win away from the Premier League title.
Credit where it's due, City have done the business this season.
But when it comes to Newcastle United, the Magpies have also made an astonishing journey in a short space of time - and without the billions of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Newcastle's journey is not as drastic as Man City's slide to the third flight.
True at times, both City and Newcastle have often battled with each other in the Comedy League down the years due to failure on the field and terrible supervision by the powers that be off it.
Thankfully times seem to be changing.
OK, Newcastle can't compete with the billions of Man City.
But they are making progress in their own way.
It was only two years ago since the Magpies were grappling with Scunthorpe and Peterborough.
So two years on, to be in with a shout of the Champions League in the last 90 minutes of the season is an achievement in itself.
Many Geordies would have gratefully accepted a Europa League spot last summer, and that's exactly what Alan Pardew has delivered.
Both City and Newcastle could be celebrating much more than just a corner kick this time next Sunday.
Older/Newer
« From Bob Moncur in Budapest to Tim Krul in Palermo - the Toon are back in Europe | Alan Pardew has delivered a team to be proud of »
1 Comments
Profile
Lee Ryder - Proudly born and bred on Tyneside, the Chronicle's chief sports writer has followed the fortunes of the club over the last three decades as a Toon fan and football writer.
Latest Premier League video
Email alerts
In association with
Follow my RSS feed
Follow me on
As a lifelong Blue I'd like to say NUFC fans were as classy today in defeat as they were in 1955 in victory when a bunch of them consoled this 14 year old kid who was in tears outside Wembley Stadium -me!
In many ways Blue Mancs and Geordies have a lot in common - 2 sets of supporters with an appreciation of football, a sense of humour and who will never forget the lean years even in the best of times.
It would be really good to see you in The Champions League. I'm raising a glass to success at Everton and fingers xxd for the right results elsewhere.