Manchester City legend Neil Young dies of cancer aged 66

04 February 2011 00:41
The late, great Malcolm Allison said of the elegant Neil Young: 'Beneath an often timid approach there was a marvellously delicate skill and thunderous shooting power.'[LNB] Young, an unobtrusive Manchester City hero of the 1960s and 1970s, died from cancer at the age of 66 on Thursday.[LNB] Enlarge It's there: Neil Young scores the winning goal in the 1969 FA Cup Final[LNB]City fans talk of Young, Francis Lee, Colin Bell and Mike Summerbee in much the same way their great rivals United remember Law, Best, Crerand and Charlton of the same era.[LNB] The side Joe Mercer and Allison developed and honed will live long in the memory.[LNB]When City pipped their rivals from Old Trafford to win the league titlein 1968, they did it with a stunning 4-3 win at Newcastle, Youngscoring twice.[LNB]City legend: Neil Young was part of the great 60s side built by Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison[LNB] In Colours of My Life, Allison's autobiography, the City manager recalls the victory celebration.[LNB] 'It was at a huge party in the Cabaret Club that the scale of the achievement began to dawn on me. We had carried off the league title playing football that brimmed with skill and aggression. We had proved that you can still win something big with five brilliant forwards. Lee, Summerbee, Bell, Young and Coleman had exploded as though out of a more colourful past.'[LNB] It was heady praise for Young, a lifelong City supporter. [LNB]Born in the Fallowfield district of Manchester, he joined the club as an apprentice and became their top scorer in the title-winning season. In all he played 412 matches for City, scoring 107 goals.[LNB] In 1969, Young scored the winning goal against Leicester in the FA Cup final.[LNB] Mike Summerbee paid tribute through the City website, saying: 'Today is a very sad day for City because we've lost one of our favourite sons and, as a former team-mate of Neil's, I feel I've lost a member of my family. The team that won so many trophies in the late 1960s and early 1970s were a family and Neil was right at the centre of it.[LNB] 'He was like a ballet dancer in the way he was so graceful on a football pitch.' [LNB] Adebayor sets up El Clasico final with 5,000th Real goal at the BernabeuBirmingham 2 Man City 2: Mancini's stellar attack turned over by GardnerFA Cup suffers yet again as replays clash with fifth round weekendMan City failed with ?4m deadline day bid for Gent winger El GhanassyUpdated Premier League squad list: Manchester CityAll the latest Manchester City news, features and opinion [LNB] [LNB]  Explore more:Places: Newcastle, Manchester

Source: Daily_Mail