When I joined Manchester City as a teenager, I never thought this day would come.
An FA Cup final against Manchester United with City starting the game as odds-on favourites? So much has happened in three decades and it has been my privilege to see close up how the landscape has changed.
These are the three key phases I believe enabled City to become Manchester’s dominant team.
IN THE SHADOWS
The thing I remember most about the first time I came up against United was the madness. On a Saturday morning, in those 11am kick-offs when the academy sides went head-to-head in games at Carrington — the clubs had neighbouring training grounds — it was a battle, plain and simple.