| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1942-12-15)15 December 1942 (age 82) | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Preston, England | |||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Winger,Forward | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 1959–1965 | Swindon Town | 218 | (40) | |||||||||||
| 1965–1975 | Manchester City | 357 | (47) | |||||||||||
| 1975–1976 | Burnley | 51 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 1976 | Blackpool | 3 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 1977–1979 | Stockport County | 87 | (6) | |||||||||||
| 1980 | Mossley | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||
| Total | 716 | (93) | ||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||
| 1968–1973 | England | 8 | (1) | |||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||
| 1978–1979 | Stockport County (player-manager) | |||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||
Michael George SummerbeeOBE (born 15 December 1942) is an English formerfootballer, who played as aforward in the successfulManchester City side of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Summerbee was born inPreston,Lancashire, and raised inCheltenham, Gloucestershire. He attended Naunton Park Secondary Modern School where he was influenced by sports teacher, Arnold Wills, with whom he was publicly reunited 50 years later when Summerbee was Guest of Honour at the 150th anniversary celebrations of Cheltenham YMCA, to which both had belonged in their youth. Summerbee made his league debut playing forSwindon Town in 1959 at the age of 16. He made more than 200 appearances for the Wiltshire club, scoring 40 goals. In 1965 Manchester City managerJoe Mercer signed Summerbee for a fee of £35,000. In his first Manchester City season, Summerbee started every match, the only Manchester City player to do so that season.
Playing on the right wing, Summerbee was one of the most influential players in the Manchester City side which won four trophies in three seasons from 1968 to 1970. Something of a practical joker, Summerbee (or "Buzzer" as teammates nicknamed him) was also known for a fiery temperament, a trait described by teammateFrancis Lee as "retaliating first". Summerbee left Manchester City in June 1975, moving toBurnley, for a £25,000 fee, after making more than 400 appearances for City.
Summerbee signed forBlackpool on Christmas Eve 1976. The transfer had been the Blackpool chairman's idea, not that of managerAllan Brown. Summerbee later admitted that he should not have joined the club.[1] He made just three League appearances for the Seasiders.[1]
Summerbee ended his footballing career atStockport County, where he was player-manager in the 1978–79 season. In 1980, he returned to the game for a single match, playing for non-LeagueMossley in their single goal FA Cup defeat ofCrewe Alexandra.
Over a five-year period, which encompassed the1970 World Cup Summerbee played forEngland eight times. He made his international debut againstScotland in front of 134,000 spectators atHampden Park on 24 February 1968, and helped to secure a 1–1 draw to clinchqualification toUEFA Euro 1968.[2]
Off the pitch, Summerbee has been involved with a number of business ventures with varying degrees of success, including a period where he co-owned a menswear business withGeorge Best.[3] Summerbee is now the Club Ambassador for Manchester City.
Summerbee also starred in the cult filmEscape to Victory alongsideSylvester Stallone,Michael Caine andPelé.[4][5]
Summerbee's son,Nicky, was also a professional footballer,[5] who followed in his father's footsteps by playing for both Swindon Town and Manchester City before joining Sunderland. His father,George, and uncle,Gordon, were both lower-division players[5] whose careers were affected by the outbreak of war.
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Swindon Town | 1959–60 | Third Division | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 |
| 1960–61 | Third Division | 45 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 51 | 8 | |
| 1961–62 | Third Division | 43 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 48 | 4 | |
| 1962–63 | Third Division | 37 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 43 | 6 | |
| 1963–64 | Second Division | 37 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 44 | 8 | |
| 1964–65 | Second Division | 41 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 13 | |
| Total | 218 | 39 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 244 | 40 | ||
| Manchester City | 1965–66 | Second Division | 42 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 52 | 10 |
| 1966–67 | First Division | 32 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 38 | 7 | |
| 1967–68 | First Division | 41 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 49 | 20 | |
| 1968–69 | First Division | 39 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 51 | 8 | |
| 1969–70 | First Division | 33 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 50 | 6 | |
| 1970–71 | First Division | 26 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 37 | 4 | |
| 1971–72 | First Division | 40 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 45 | 3 | |
| 1972–73 | First Division | 38 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 46 | 3 | |
| 1973–74 | First Division | 39 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 53 | 4 | |
| 1974–75 | First Division | 27 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 31 | 3 | |
| Total | 357 | 47 | 34 | 11 | 61 | 10 | 452 | 68 | ||
| Burnley | 1975–76 | First Division | 39 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 45 | 0 |
| 1976–77 | Second Division | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 0 | |
| Total | 51 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 61 | 0 | ||
| Blackpool | 1976–77 | Second Division | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Stockport County | 1977–78 | Fourth Division | 42 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 47 | 5 |
| 1978–79 | Fourth Division | 33 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 39 | 1 | |
| 1979–80 | Fourth Division | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 1 | |
| Total | 87 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 101 | 7 | ||
| Career total | 716 | 92 | 54 | 12 | 91 | 11 | 861 | 115 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 1968 | 3 | 0 |
| 1969 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1970 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1971 | 1 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1973 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 8 | 1 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 November 1971 | Wembley Stadium,London, England |  Switzerland | 1–0 | 1–1 | UEFA Euro 1972 qualification | [8] |
Source:[6]
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Stockport County | 1 March 1978 | 17 October 1979 | 83 | 24 | 19 | 40 | 028.9 |
| Total | 83 | 24 | 19 | 40 | 028.9 | ||
Manchester City
England
Individual
Summerbee was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the2022 Birthday Honours for services to association football and charity.[10]
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| International | |
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| Other | |
