MANCHESTER CITY A COMPLETE RECORD 1887-1987

TITLE           Manchester City A Complete Record 1887-1987
AUTHOR          Ray Goble
PUBLISHER       The Breedon Books Publishing Company Ltd.
                45 Friar Gate,
                Derby DE1 1DA
                England
ISBN No         0 907969 24 0
PRICE           £14.95 (1988)

A hardcover book containing 400 pages including lots of black & white photos.

If you consider yourself a serious City supporter then this is "the book" you can't do without. It has a complete biography of players and managers, a statistical section covering every competitive first-team game played and a historical background summary, with flashbacks of matches to remember. There is also a comprehensive study of City's most important players from Billy Meredith to Dennis Tueart.

There is absolutely no doubt about the value of this book as a statistical reference. It consists of all line-ups, all subs, all goalscorers and all attendances in league and cup matches from 1891 to 1987. It should earn its reputation as an "argument-killer". For example, did you know:

• How many spectators watched City's first official league match?
• How many goals did Tony Book score in 1971-72?
• Did Horace Barnes score more goals than he played games during wartime football?
• Who collided with Bert Trautmann when he broke his neck in the '56 final?

Don't worry, it's in here, and more too.

There are also a lot of quality pictures, unfortunately all of them are black and white but then the fifties and sixties look more like the fifties and sixties when presented in monochrome...

So what could have been better? Well, first of all; the book is a statistical reference. The history part is brief and only covers the highlights of City's greatest years. The history of the various venues is also very brief, and as previously mentioned, there are only black & white photographs.

What did I enjoy most? No doubt about it: The review of matches to remember, 19 in all. Lots of interesting and funny notes about matches I didn't see, or couldn't possibly have seen, most of them pre-1970. Also the Player A-Z and City's Managers make interesting reading.

So, as one City fan to another: Buy the book, you won't be disappointed.