Big Joe Corrigan was the star of yesteryear and now scouts for his country on a part-time basis after retiring as coach 12 months ago.
He was talented enough to have won a lot more than nine caps for England, and was only prevented from doing so by the brilliance of rivals Peter Shilton and Ray Clemence during a golden era of home-grown goalkeepers.
If only England were spoiled for such choice now on the eve of the World Cup in South Africa as Fabio Capello agonises over the No 1 role.
There are many who believe that 23-year-old Joe Hart was in such dazzling form last season for Birmingham during a loan spell from City that he could provide the answer at international level.
Capello has named Hart, David James and Robert Green in his provisional 30-man squad for South Africa.
Consistent
"I watched Joe Hart five times working for England last season and sent in five good reports about him," said Corrigan.
"He played the best on a consistent basis out of all the lads I've seen. I'm not going to tell you who'll play for England at the World Cup because I'm not the manager.
"They had to take David James, assuming he's fit, because of his experience. He didn't have the best of seasons but he did well. You've also got to take Robert Green, who played all season but also made a few howlers.
"Even if Joe Hart doesn't play, it'll give him a fantastic taste for what he can do and I'm sure if he progresses the same way that he has done over the last couple of years he'll be a No 1 for a long time."
Corrigan made more than 600 appearances for City - only Alan Oakes played more games - and is still a hugely popular figure at the club where he is now a match-day host.
Another big question is what role Hart plays at City next season with Shay Given having been first-choice goalkeeper. "I know Joe will want to play and that was the case with me. It's no good being sat on the bench," said Corrigan.
"Who plays is down to the management but Joe has just had a great season and he won't want to sit on the bench next season, ever for that matter.
"The worst scenario is that he comes back and isn't in the first team. You have a disgruntled player who's had a great season, gone to a World Cup and is sat on a bench. That's a recipe for dressing room disharmony."
Corrigan, now 59, enjoys his limited involvement with the game after retiring from his job as goalkeeping coach at West Brom.
"During the season my weekends have been tied up doing corporate work with City or helping the FA by watching goalkeepers at all levels. It means that in the week I can play more golf although my game's not improved. It's a year since I retired and it's not been difficult but different.
"After 42 years in the professional game it's a big wrench and you miss the camaraderie of the dressing room."
Corrigan spent a decade as goalkeeping coach at Liverpool, a role he had previously filled in a part-time capacity at Maine Road. "A lot of people ask me why I was never goalkeeping coach at City but I was actually for a very short period of time.
"Peter Reid was the manager and he decided that my services were no longer needed. I know the role was available for selection but that's in the past."
Corrigan established himself in the City side in 1969.
Magical
"It was a phenomenal team and we won the League Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup in 1970. I also got into the England under-23 team that year.
"It was just a magical era as proved by the number of trophies we won in a short space of time."
He was in the reserves along with Ray Hatton - Ricky's father - when City won the championship in 1968. "The day we won the league Ray and me missed the train because of all the celebrations in Newcastle so Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison stuck us on the back of the team bus coming home.
"It was an unforgettable experience and as a young kid it made me realise I wanted more."
Corrigan will be supporting England at the World Cup - he was a member of the 1982 squad - and is unsure about the country's chances. "A lot depends on the fitness of players in vital positions," he said. "The Premier League is the hardest league in the world with all the domestic and European matches played by the top players. Wayne Rooney has played a lot of games and is Rio Ferdinand going to be ready for a long World Cup campaign?
"I think the finals are far too big now and should be cut down by at least one round. I'm not having a downer on any country that's got there but there are some countries that should be eliminated at another stage during the season.
"The tournament lasts a long time and the demands mean it's going to take a hell of a lot out of the English players next season, and the players in the Spanish, Italian and German leagues as well for that matter.
"I saw the Africa Cup of Nations and overall it was the worst performance of goalkeeping I have ever seen in my life. It was shocking, admittedly not all of them were bad but it does make me worry.
"For me they are not being taught the right things. Too many keepers punch the ball and you don't know where it is going to end up, whereas if you have the ball in your hands the next thing you're doing is attacking and not defending."
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Nothing much to say apart from Joe, "You'll always be a City Legend"
My favourite Joe Corrigan memory is when he came back to City with Brighton in '83 (actually only a matter of months after swapping clubs). He got a fantastic reception from the City fans right from the start, all the more so when City demolished Brighton 4-0 and the entire Kippax broke out in "Joe's on our side, Joe's on our side, oh oh, oh oh".
Joe Hart seems disappointed to being recalled to our beloved City from Mighty Birmingham....ungrateful,disloyal,arrogant seem to pop up in my mind....the exact opposite to Big Joe.....not even fit to polish Joe Corrigan's shoes......
my memory of joe is being in the scoreboard end as a kid against west ham and watching big joe kick the ball out turn his back on goal and howls of screams as a west ham player whacked it back into the city net before joe could even turn round, think jimmy greaves was playing for west ham at the time.
your a legend Joe
Great keeper. Very brave. I always fancied him to win in a one on one situation.
Mind just dipping your toe back into those times when Joe wasn't retained as goalkeeping coach and Paul Lakes career was ruined because of a lack of proper medical care give me the shivers. It really was that shabby back then.
Younger City fans just do not know how bad it was under the Swales (and Lee)regime.
A great keeper and a true legend was Mr Corrigan,as for the current Joe he is by far and away the best of the current English keepers Rob Green is a liability just wait and see.
One of my first City heroes. That Brighton game was one of the first games I ever went to as well.
I used sit in Platt Lane with my dad and my sister in the seventies when I was a young lad. Big Joe used to come up to the fans behind the goal and stick both his thumbs up to us. We always resopnded in kind. Happy days!
Big Joe and Dennis Tueart, my two favourite players when I began watching City in the 1970's. I remember as a kid watching City lose to Shrewsbury in the FA Cup on an ice rink, someone shouted at Joe to get the lads going, Joe replied with a four letter expletive which shocked me, as I never new one of my heroes swore.
Joe should have had a lot more caps than 9. He was only kept out of the England team because Ray Clemence was in the mighty Liverpool side of the 70's. I know I am biased, but I would have picked Joe over Clemence and Shilton any day of the week..... opposition strikers used to fear Big Joe, he didn't take nonesense from any of them!
I would say that picture was after Paul Power thumped in the winner in the League Cup semi final at Villa Park. Joe was an excellent goal keeper. He had a dip in form (I think due to a bad back) and we signed a young Scottish keeper called Macrae who was number one for a while in the early to mid 70's but Joe got his place back again which is no small testament to his ability. He was a top top keeper and the article is quite right that he would have won many many more England caps but for the twist of fate that meant his playing career was at exactly the same time as Shilton and Clemence were around. I remember taking penalties against him when I was very very young and he had just broken in to the City team. I scored a couple but I think he might have let me. I was eight or so at the time. I met him with a few other City fans at Maine Road a few seasons ago when he was the Liverpool keeper's coach and was very happy to be back and equally happy to stop for a chat and sign a few autographs. Perfect gentleman and absolute City legend. As for his memories of him playing, anyone who attended City regualarly in those days would just have too many because he really was that good. The current Joe has a way to go before he will be looked upon with the same fondness as the great Joe.
Just one word sums up BIG Joe......Legend
I always remember the banter with Helen in the North Stand...True Gent
The save against Leeds at Elland Road I think was save of teh season and wa sthe bets save I have ever seen. He seemed to turn in mid air and save it at point blank range.
I remember being out for a run, with other players from Metrovicks (Rugby), coming back down Dane Road (Sale). We bumped into him as he was walking home. he was always good for a bit of banter. Mind you he was big enough to have played Rugby, especially then, when he was a little overweight.
a great story about big joe
city was playing liverpool at the kop end and a meat pie was threw it joe he turn around took a big bite and threw it back into the kop
the kop loved big joe and always got a good hand when city played them
I remember Joe when He broke through in the early seventies, and he was not the completed item by any stretch of the imagination. Keith McCrea was brought in and Joe was confined to the reserves. This had a dramatic effect on Joe, and when Mcrea was injured he got back in to the team, and became the great player we all remeber in the team that Tony Book took to 2nd in the league.
This is testement to Joes fantastic character and determination in the face of adversity, and to the fact that goalkeepers hit their peak in later years, which both city and Joe Hart should tale note.
That picture is defo at Villa Park, I was at that game, the cameras never picked up on how many blue's came on the pitch to join in the goal celebrations with Paul Power... great memories indeed..
I love reading these memorys of Joe from fans that actually watched him,thanks and keep them coming.
I remember when Keith McRea was first choice then Big Joe got back into the team and was not exactly the fans favourite at this time. The game that turned it was Wolves at Molyneux, we battered them 4-0 and Joe had a blinder that day and has never looked back since. That's how I remember it.
Does anyone else remember the save he made from "Sniffer" Clarke at Elland Rd in 75-ish ?? On MOTD jimmy Hill was comparing it to Gordan Banks famous save.
Give it some welly, Joe !
He guarded the goal like a "big lovely lion". What a legend!
Joe was one player that I was entirely wrong about. When I first saw him, I said that he would never make a goalkeeper. He developed more than any other 'keeper I have seen and went on to play many 'blinders'for City. When there was debate recently on whether Given is City's best ever 'keeper, I said that Swift, Trautmann and Joe were all well ahead of Shay.
Joe Hart seems disappointed to being recalled to our beloved City from Mighty Birmingham....ungrateful,disloyal,arrogant seem to pop up in my mind....the exact opposite to Big Joe.....not even fit to polish Joe Corrigan's shoes......
Evan Georgiou
14/05/2010 at 14:26 Offensive or Inappropriate?
Evan. Thank you I was not aware of JH's bad manners and behaviour.
my memories of frankemstein is stevie coppell chipping him at old trafford and then doing it 2 years later from the tightest of angles at maine rd.loved the way coppell, hill pearson came out of div 2 and destroyed the so called superior citeh, home and away.brill!
Sadly I was a Big Joe detractor,but then after he went out on loan to Shrewsbury under the tutelage of Harry Gregg(something recently in an interview Joe belied) returned one hell of a goalkeeper, one of the most improved players in his time, for me a zero to a truly great hero.
Joe's done remarkably well in lots of ways, but how has he managed to reverse time? I was at Sale Grammar School at the same time as Joe, and he was in the year above me; I'm now 60, so how the heck can he only be 59?
On another note I remember when he signed for City that all the scum fans in Sale - and there were far too many - were laughing at us few City fans, saying he was useless and would never make it. There were indeed a few howlers, some of which are already listed here. Anyone else remember a very muddy Turf Moor in 1972 or 73? Joe gathered the ball, went to bounce it on the ground, and it stuck. the covering player tapped it in, Burnley 3 City 0. Enter Keith McCrae as 1st choice ( A Scottish keeper? What were they thinking? ) exit Joe to the reserves. He worked hard, got a second chance and proved all the doubters wrong. Later as a high school teacher I used his story in assemblies as an example of how determination can triumph against adversity.
Well done Joe! And now can I have a go in the time machine?