‘I didn’t do myself any favours by joining my dad’s old club. He was a hero there, so, in hindsight, I should have expected added pressure when I signed’: Ex-Manchester City midfielder on attempting to follow in father's footsteps

11 February 1995, Manchester - FA Premiership - Manchester City v Manchester United - Nicky Summerbee of Manchester City. (Photo by Mark Leech/Offside via Getty Images)
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Manchester City have become a genuine English and European powerhouse in the last decade, after years spent in the doldrums between their last successful period in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

During that period, before they had billionaire riches and the genius of Pep Guardiola, Manchester City won the First Divison, FA Cup, two League Cups and the European Cup Winners' Cup.

Managed by duo Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allisson, Manchester City's key players included Colin Bell, Neil Young and Mike Summerbee - the later of whom played 452 times for the club across a decade. A club legend, his son, Nicky Summerbee, ended up signing for City in 1994 from Swindon Town.

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15 Feb 1997: Nicky Summerbee of Manchester City holds off the challenge from Craig Hignett off Middlesbrough during the FA Cup Fifth round match between Manchester City and Middlesbrough at Maine Road in Manchester. Middlesbrough won the match 0-1. \ Mandatory Credit: Shaun Botterill /Allsport

Nicky Summerbee playing for Man City (Image credit: Getty Images)

For Nicky, following in his father's footsteps proved more difficult than he expected, though he loved the experience of pulling on the sky blue shirt his dad did two and three decades beforehand.

"You asked earlier if having Mike Summerbee for a father affected me and I said no, but I certainly didn’t do myself any favours by joining his old club," Nicky Summerbee tells FourFourTwo.

Mike Summerbee playing for Manchester City

Mike Summerbee (right) playing for Man City (Image credit: Getty)

"He was a hero there, so, in hindsight, I should have expected added pressure when I signed. It was a turbulent time for the club and we were relegated on the final day of my second season. We just weren’t good enough. It was a tough one to take, especially given my family’s history there, but I’d still do it all again."

His dad being a legendary figure at Manchester City felt normal for Nicky while growing up, however. That continued when he started out in the game at Swindon, knowing full well that people would attempt to find the similarities between his game and his dad's.

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"I didn’t know any different really, but being brought up in Manchester and going to watch City as a youngster, it was clear how much he meant to the supporters," Summerbee adds.

"I’d always had that in my life, so it came as no surprise to me, as I made my first steps in the game, that comparisons were drawn between us. That was always going to happen and I just had to accept it – I tried to not let it affect me either way."

Ryan Dabbs
Staff writer

Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.