Colin Bell
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 26 February 1946 | ||
| Place of birth | Hesleden, County Durham, England | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Horden Colliery Welfare Juniors | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1963–1966 | Bury | 82 | (25) |
| 1966–1979 | Manchester City | 394 | (117) |
| 1980 | San Jose Earthquakes | 5 | (0) |
| Total | 481 | (142) | |
| National team | |||
| 1968–1975 | England | 48 | (9) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
Colin Bell MBE (born 26 February 1946), is an English former football player who was born in Hesleden, County Durham, England. Nicknamed "The King of the Kippax" (after Manchester City's Kippax Street terraced stand renowned for its singing) and Nijinsky after the famous racehorse (due to his renowned stamina). Bell is widely regarded as Manchester City's best ever player. The Colin Bell Stand at the City of Manchester Stadium is named in his honour.
He began his career at Bury captaining the team at a young age. In 1966 he moved to Manchester City and helped the team earn promotion to the First Division that same year. When trying to sign him for Manchester City, Assistant Manager Malcolm Allison misled other clubs interested in Bell by claiming the player "can't head it, can't pass it, he's hopeless". Allison's stratagem succeeded as Bell signed for City. In 1968 he helped City win their second League Championship. In the same year Bell also won his first England cap against Sweden, where he was instrumental in a 3–1 victory. In 1969 Manchester City won the FA Cup with a 1–0 victory over Leicester City thanks to a goal by Neil Young. That same year Bell distinguished himself in the national team, scoring England's only goal in a 1–0 victory over The Netherlands and also scoring against Brazil. In 1970, Manchester City and Bell won two trophies, the League Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup.
In 1970 Bell earned a place in the England squad for the World Cup in Mexico. To help the players acclimatise to the heat of Mexico, the team staged an intra-squad mini-olympics which saw Bell win every event. During the tournament, Bell saw action in the quarter final when he replaced Bobby Charlton in the 2–3 defeat to Germany. The substitution was deemed by some to be the negative (for England) turning point of the game. However, Charlton has argued that it was not the substitution which changed the game, and pointed out that Germany scored their first goal before he was substituted, and also that the German team at the time had a habit of coming back in games indicates that it is wrong to blame the substitutions for England's defeat.
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