Blue Moon Rising: The Fall and Rise of Manchester City

For instance the first words spoken to the team by former manager Alan Ball is a real treat, reproduced by one of the players ( Tony Coton?). Quite a few of the players have contributed to this book. Coton was one of them. He describes his last days with Manchester City from his perspective and it's not the same story that was put forward by the management at the time.

Other players talking about their fortunes with City are Garry Flitcroft, Lee Bradbury and Michael Brown. But most interesting is perhaps the story told to the authors by the widow of Chairman Peter J. Swales. Swales' biggest mistake was that he didn't understand when to quit. But when football, and Manchester City is all your life you can't help it - can you? Swales died of a weakened heart. Brenda is not the one to blame the take-over process for his condition, but you can't help feeling that they must have seen it coming. Lots of the fans blamed Swales for 25 years in the dark alley, as his only trophy was the League Cup in 1976. But the years with his successor proved to be worse, and still both of them can only be blamed for playing their game more with their heart than with their head.

You could argue that the book does it's best to portray everyone as good-guys. Swales, Lee, Coton and Bradbury are all doing what they think is in the best interest of the club. Even Lees handling of Brian Horton and Swales sacking of Reid and Ellis are described with a careful, almost "reluctant" pencil.

Also the authors put their finger on the fans role in the happenings at the club. Both during the "Forward with Franny" campaign and the bashing of players like Bradbury and Edghill you get the feeling that the fans should have stood by the players during the hard times and that things could have turned out better if this and that had happened. Well it did in the end, and we are all grateful for that!

I would recommend this book to any City fan that would like to understand what happened during the fall - and rise - in the 90ies. It gives a short glimpse of events and contributes to the stories from a different perspective. And in the end I understood the quote we often hear by Bill Shankley. "Football is not a matter of life and death - it's much more important than that". It most certainly was to Peter J. Swales.

The book dedicates one chapter to each season of the nineties. For the uninitiated that's eight managers, three chairmen, two relegations and two promotions. Through a series of interviews and meticulous research, the story of the decade is unravelled.

New light is shed on the Franny Lee takeover as Brenda Swales, the widow of Peter, speaks for the first time. Franny himself, talks about his own demise and it's alarming to read his initial verdict on the then City record buy, Lee Bradbury. Find out how close Mike McDonald came to taking over and the players he'd already lined up. Discover how Brian Kidd and David Bassett almost became City managers. There's loads of exclusives. I thought that I knew everything about my favourite club, but this well written book has provided me with much new information. It's an action-packed account of the fall and rise of Manchester City.

If you have been on a different planet since 1990, you won't believe that this is non-fiction. The end in particular is a fairy tale with the dramatic last day promotion to the Premiership. Wonderful stuff.

My only minor criticism is that some of the characters - Boler, Bird, McDonald, Makin, Niven -are not included in the pictures section. Still, this does not detract from a book which is excellent value. An essential addition to any City fan's library - other football supporters should enjoy it too.

Once, one of the so called and self appointed 'Big Five', City's fall from grace was spectacular.

Unlike many club 'biogs' that may fairly be described as opportunistic cut and paste jobs, Blue Moon Rising is in a different class.. it is closer to genuine history rather than fanzine.

The authors have enjoyed the inside track at the club for some considerable time working, so it says, in the local media during the period covered by the book. Obviously they have had some first class research material at their finger tips and it is the quality of the research and access to the major characters that sets this apart from most other club biogs (how many more Manchester United books can there be?)

This was no rush job to meet the new season back in the top flight. The knowledge they have of the ins and outs of the club seems to have invited the book.

What you get is a very readable and 'box seat' account of the agony and ,well, the agony of Manchester City before Joe Royle, not always with the surest of touches, guided them back to whence they came.

There is no single back page revelation, rather a collection of memories gleaned from a wide range of interviews and from there an almost forensic reconstruction of the madness that can infect a football club. The tyranny of personal whim,the lack of control or overall vision ill judged lunges for a quick fix all played their part.

It is a horror story with a happy ending and one that will add not just to your knowledge of Manchester City but also to just how amateur and bonkers football can be when you dig behind the scenes.