It marked the beginning of a golden era in the club's history; a time when they bestrode the game like a cavalier colossus, collecting trophies and admirers along the way.
The anniversary of that second, and last, championship triumph was but a sepia memory yesterday as the class of 2008 produced a miserable conclusion to the season; one that has ended with the club doing what it has done so often in the past - shooting itself in the foot.
Instead, the Blues turned the clock back to August 1962, the last time they shipped eight goals in a game, when they were battered 8-1 at Wolves.
The club's heaviest defeat in 46 years - suffered with 10 men following the early sending off of Richard Dunne - will hardly have had Thaksin Shinawatra clapping his hands with delight back in Thailand.
If the players - with motivation and heart ripped out - wanted to save the manager, then downing tools in such deplorable fashion was not the way to do it, especially on a day when their neighbours were crowned champions.
Sulking
Having said that, there is nothing more likely to demoralise a side than the thought that they may be about to lose a respected boss.
And this defeat smacked of a side sulking and fed up with what has gone on behind the scenes.
It was in stark contrast to most of the rest of the campaign. Not since England's top league changed its name and largely became a four-team competition have long-suffering Blues fans met a season with such optimism.
A manager with gravitas and world standing, an owner with vision, ambition and billions in the bank - albeit temporarily frozen - ought to have been a potent recipe for success. Instead, a highest Premier League points total in 15 years and the chance of a place in the UEFA Cup via the Fair Play League has been the precursor to rancour and disharmony.
And that has gone some way to undoing the continuity, stability and respect built up by the former board over the previous five years following City's return to the top flight.
The whole of football is bewildered at why the Blues have dominated the headlines in recent weeks, when they should have been celebrating a big improvement and searching for the three or four players to make the difference between ninth place and fifth next time around.
Until City rid themselves once and for all of their innate ability to self-destruct, then the new owner's ambitions - which are in tune with those of the fans - will never be realised.
All the available historical evidence shows that chopping and changing is not the way forward in football. It never will be.
In four decades since Tony Book hoisted the Football League championship trophy aloft, City have had 20 managers.
It doesn't take a mathematical genius to work out the average life span of a boss at the club is self-destructively short.
While waiting for the axe to fall on the popular Sven-Goran Eriksson, City's noisy fans continued to show their support for the Swede throughout this end-of-term fade out at a freezing and misty Riverside.
Eriksson has shown himself to be more emotional than most people believed could be the case in his reaction to the warmth of the support. He made frequent gestures from the bench to acknowledge the adulation.
There was a touch of sentiment in Eriksson's team selection, with Andreas Isaksson given his first start in goal since December in a bid to help him tune up for Sweden's Euro 2008 campaign.
Isaksson may have wished his fellow Swede hadn't bothered.
Elano was benched, Michael Johnson was left out altogether with a recurrence of his abdominal problem, while Gelson Fernandes and Javier Garrido came back into the starting line-up.
Hasty
Garrido played at left-back with Michael Ball initially alongside Dunne and Vedran Corluka in a holding midfield role.
There was another hasty reshuffle after just a dozen minutes when Benjani hurt his ribs after Fabio Rochemback had left his studs up in a challenge.
Having lost a powerful forward, Eriksson surprisingly replaced him with the slight Nery Castillo rather than the substantial Felipe Caicedo.
Things quickly went from bad to worse as skipper Dunne picked up a three-match ban for the start of next season; the captain sent off rather harshly for clipping Tuncay as the two crossed in the penalty area.
The skipper waved goodbye to the visiting fans as he left the pitch and there remains the possibility that they have seen him for the last time. Stewart Downing potted the spot kick.
Without their lynchpin central defender, City were vulnerable and Afonso Alves collected a pass from Fabio Rochemback to sweep home a second eight minutes from the break.
Two more followed in as many second-half minutes; the first a wonderful Downing volley and the second a solo effort from Alves.
Then substitute Adam Johnson added a deflected fifth before Rochemback's glorious sixth.
Still the humiliation wasn't over. Jeremie Aliadiere added another with five minutes to go. Elano came off the bench to at least get City on the scoresheet, but Alves completed his hat-trick right at the end, sealing the heaviest defeat of Eriksson's managerial career.
Despite the embarrassment, the 3,000-strong visiting section shouted for Eriksson to keep his job - it's called loyalty. Owner and directors should take note.
What is your verdict? Have your say.
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Nice article, Mr. Bailey.
I agree. 17 managers in 21 years makes continuity and success virtually impossible. And still this message board is full of sack the manager/players. Those who don't learn from history are condemned to repeat it.
At the end of the day Sven and the player's are the only people responsible for the demise since Christmas.If Sven is to go now is the time and that goes for lots of the underachievers "playing" for City also.Sort it out Frank
Loyalty! You want to talk about loyalty!
What about the players loyalty to the fans and club?! This article is nearly as disgusting as the display on Sunday! Those set of players on the pitch were absolutely appalling there is no fight in any of them! I’d rather have Edgehill back in our defence! I don’t think I’ve ever been as let down by City and God knows we’ve been through a lot! I have honestly never felt so ashamed, with perhaps the exception of getting relegated to Division 2. However this result has actually made me angrier!
Sven out and all the over priced players out!
Any fans who blame this result on Thaskin are idiots! Liverpool have been in turmoil all season, have their players let down the manager and fans?! No!
All after that stupid march at Eastland’s this is how they repay us!
I’m proposing we march down to Carrington now!
Owner with vision yes and a manager with a pedigree. But maybe the latter is not all what he's made up to be anymore.
What an absolute disgrace, and what a day to see a defeat like that. Then watch
your biggest rivals lift the title for the tenth time.
Somebody wants to tell the players what it means to the fans to have days like these. Didn't think Sven should go, but I don't think he's done himself any favours.
If the players were protesting yesterday - they have really done themselves and Sven no good!!
The players want to be ashamed, they have signed a contract with MCFC, not SvenCFC! They should be playing their hearts out for the club and the fans, not Sven or the good Dr T.
Personally, I think the sooner Sven is sacked the better, since christmas we have not been good enough... Sven was first to admit that teams had worked out how to play against, and did he change the system...No! He stuck with the 451 formation! In January he knew we needed a right winger and experienced Prem striker... so we got a 19 year striker from Basle and Benjani, who have hardly set the world alight!!
I for one, am very worried about what is going to happen at MCFC in the coming weeks!!!
Boro 8 City 1 - Verdict - Embarrassing for the already long suffering fans. Dr T needs to make his decision quickly so we can move on.
In Dr T We Trust. CTID
I posted days ago that anyone who wants Eriksson to keep is job is either a mentalist or United fan...I guess the results say it all....Now can the MEN apologise for their backing of the laughable save our sven campaigne..as the only people who want to save him are the mentalists who are clamoring for more of the same next season...!!!
Yesterday was a bad day. A very bad day. Hopefully there will be some good days to come. I imagine, however, that most of yesterday's players will be shipped out and we will have a new team next season.
What a discrace !
Thought of a positive mind you.With all thats going on it seems much clearer who the new manager should keep.Of the players on display yesterday only Issakson and Gelson deserved a place.
Think Sun is worth a mention too,he always stikes me as a player that gives his all,but not up to the standard.
Quite ironic really that 90% of the squad can`t be bothered !
I've gone complete volte face on this. I signed the petition in the belief that the timescales involved last summer were such that Sven had little room for manouvre in the transfer market, and that he deserved a chance to fashion his own side.
Bottom line though is that of the dozen or so players Sven has signed, only Benjani has any heart and only Corluka has the physique, as well as the ability, to cope in the Prem. All the others are little girls, and as much use in the hurly burly of the world's most competetive league as a condom machine in the Vatican.
I thought Petrov wimping out of a tackle at Anfield that was 90:10 in his favour about summed up the level of committment and loyalty the players have to the club, but yesterday was something else. After 6 years in charge of England, Sven should surely know what it takes to succeed in English football. Alas it would appear that he doesn't have a clue, and that his 'everything's alright, arm around the shoulder' style of management is increasingly being reflected in a group of players with no stomach for the fray. City, the only club in history to go nowhere with a billionaire owner. Where we go from here, who knows, but a new manager should be appointed asap and a massive clearout is a must or we're going down next season
Without meaning to gloat (and I do mean that), as a home fan yesterday I was impressed by the behaviour of the City fans during the game - the chants were supportive and humorous - until the end. Talk about the team shooting yourselves in the foot - how will the fans' behaviour affect the "European tour"?
Quite enjoyed the day yesterday, bizarre you might think. The City fans were in good form, jovial gallows humour everywhere and it was hilarious seeing all of us turning up in shorts and t-shirts only to be greeted by the sub-zero arctic Teeside chill.
I thought it was funny to cheer the Boro goals, thought it was funny to shout "ole" when City put more than 2 passes together. I sang the pro-Sven songs with gusto and generally couldn't care less about the result. After all, it was US that was going to have a European Tour.
Then it dawned on me.
The players wearing the shirt actually cared less than I did, they were already on the beach. They didn't care about the manager, the embarrassment that we all feel this morning, our club and they didn't give a toss about US...freezing our gonads off on the terraces, paying good money for tickets and travel, singing our hearts out for OUR club.
I've got every right to do what I like (within reason)having paid for my ticket...they get paid to perform....for us.
If it was a protest against the chairman, then perhaps the fans should have been informed, before forking out a fortune in the expectation of a final flurry for Sven.
Absolute disgrace I ended up thinking, and I was in such a good moood until I realised what was happening before my eyes.
I wonder if the players will have a whip-round for us..
Hmm..
PS PC693 you've been rumbled, the complaint is on its way to your boss mate.
Players who have got to go,
Sun,Isakkson,Ball,Garrido,elano,Vassel,Dunne.Hamman,Petrov,Benjani
I don't think Frank will be too disappointed by this performance as he'll see it as a summation of all the reasons why he wants rid of Sven. Let's face it, we look pretty spineless at times and it's especially galling when you look at how well we played in the last derby. There has been a distinct lack of conviction and we just don't look like winners. Although I'm sure we'd improve next year under Sven and with a few quid to spend in the summer, maybe Frank has decided that there are problems with Sven's management style that will always undermine the team regardless of what players he brings in or what tactics he uses. I want Sven to be given a proper run at the club next year - but I wonder if Frank has seen the future...and it's just not that different from what we've seen this year. In which case, he could be making a very good, unemotional, and unsentimental move in cutting Sven loose now. I only hope that if he goes, he's followed quickly by several players. We need winners and there were none on show yesterday.
Well played City. 32 points behind the Champions all thanks to the kick up the backside you gave us at Old Trafford. Classic. And you've lost your back door UEFA Cup spot because of dnkey Dunne. Priceless.
Boro will never never pick up an easier 3 points. City showed no fight whatsoever and just rolled over. Could well be Isaksson's and Dunne's last game - and they'd be better off out just like Sven. If ever there were an occasion for the players to make a statement to the owner supporting Sven - this was it.
The new manager has one hell of a job on next season and very little time to achieve it. Just to rub salt in festering wounds Trafford Quay Bucks picked up the EPL title same day.
Finally, bluesreed may shut up. How humiliating was yesterday. Yes The Emperor has no clothes. The cheeky swede now wants a resolution to the whole thing. Easy mate, walk, and stop dragging your heels waiting for a payout you do not deserve. Sven you really have no pride. And Joe Hart, it hasnt gone unnoticed about your pay. You are 19 and had one good season. 10,000 a week is not ridiculous is it half a years pay (and more) for a lot of your supporters. Grow up.
Yesterday our players showed a massive disrespect to their fans something we have experienced many times over the last 34 years but this latest one wasthe worst ever -SHAME ON SVEN,HIS STAFF AND MOST OF ALL THE PLAYERS. I felt sorry for those travelling fans and can understand their frustrations perhaps now they'll bin those stupid SAVE SVEN FLAGS!
I am 30 years old never seen City win anything like so many blues. But yesterday saw another milestone passed I was there to witness City's biggest defeat since 1906, like I was there for the 10-1 victory in 87. I am gutted today, tears actually in my eyes as I write. The fans yesterday were once again the only thing that was great. But what ever your opinon about City, deep down you know we are once again in trouble, the new regime just seems to have no clue on how to run a club. Nothing is goin to be sorted this week, untill after the tour to China probably so we are left once again to live in torture. I say to people that all clubs have problems look at Newcastle, I deny the typical city syndrome, but who am I kidding as Franny Lee said'Cups for cock ups'. The thing that really hurts that I love the club so much I am not saying I love it more than anyone else, but honestly the dissapointment I feel is terrble. I try to tell myself not to care but I can't. I Just have this love for those sky blue shirts.
I love my club and I have always try to keep positive in moments of total despair but what I witnessed yesterday was totally and utterly disgraceful. I've never seen anything like it, just a total lack of respect from a team whose fans have shown them nothing but encouragement and belief.
No passion, no fight, no respect, no nothing and to think these players are paid more money in one week than I am in one year! its a joke..
If you ever want to see not how to manage a football club, Man City is surely the prototype. We have a chairman who makes all the major decisions but doesn’t live in the country and barely it seems speaks to his manager. He has left the manager, the players, the fans and all the staff in complete limbo by his inaction and his invisibility. I was once given ambiguous signs as to whether I was going to be sacked or not and it went on for two weeks before I was put out of my misery. It is a form of torture and is totally out of order. It has unhinged and dispirited the players and made them question whether they want to play for a totally rudderless club. It has turned the fans against the players. These are the same players we lauded till Xmas. They haven’t turned into rotten players and with good stable management around them they will be good players again. Dr T, wherever you are, we are crying out for some leadership here. Please come out of hiding and try and save this sinking, stinking ship, before it completely sinks without trace.
Well i'm speechless and nothing to say about MCFC at present, totaly pee'd off. I played in a Childrens Hospital Charity match at Bramhall lane at the weekend(played in goal in my City goalie shirt, went down well : ) Along with the obvious balloon chants we lost 1.0 but the effort all the players put in was fantastic, now thats what i call football, not these money grabbing so called stars at City and every other club, what an experience and privilege it was....City players take note as i'm slowly but surely thinking of following another sport as it's just getting to much, cheers guys and have a great summer
Our results since Xmas has been relegation form and on that basis I'd sack Sven. Yes there have been injuries, yes we've been a bit unlucky but that doesn't matter. Results matter and he's not delivered. He came as the big White Knight to save us all and he's not. Last week I was all for Sven but after yesterdays performance, well, it was appalling. They dont deserve 50 quid a week for that let alone 50 grand.
OK so we got more points than ever before, but we should have had more. Our form for the first 4 months was chumpions league form and we have, maybe, got in the back door of the UEFA cup. Not good enough. The only man for this job is the Special One. Lets hope the UEFA place is confirmed and it helps to attract a better class of manager and player and not Big Phil or Rijkaard
The Dunny Monster was very unlucky to get sent off - get the appeal going City.
Come on you Blues.