January 6 – Former England and Manchester City midfielder Colin Bell, widely regarded as one of the finest players of his generation, has died aged 74 following a short illness, the Premier League side said.
Bell, who has a stand named after him at the Etihad Stadium, died after a short illness not linked to the coronavirus.
“Colin Bell will always be remembered as one of Manchester City’s greatest players and the very sad news today of his passing will affect everybody connected to our club,” City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said in a statement.
“Colin was incredibly humble and a modest and understated man with an obvious inner strength of character. Our Club has lost a true great. The passage of time does little to erase the memories of his genius. The fact that we have a stand at the Etihad Stadium named after Colin speaks volumes about the importance of his contribution to this club.”
Known as ‘The King of the Kippax’ by fans and also Nijinsky after a famous thoroughbred race horse because of his extraordinary stamina, Bell was part of City’s 1967-68 First Division title-winning team and epitomised the side of the late 1960s and 70s.
He made 492 appearances for the club over 13 seasons, scoring 152 goals, and won 48 caps for England. He also won the FA Cup, League Cup and the European Cup Winners’ Cup at City and would have made more international appearances but for a serious knee injury in 1975 when he was just 29.
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