Best of friends for life – best of rivals for a day…
By Neil Leigh
That was the unique and fascinating personal backdrop to 30 May 1999, for Paul Dickov and Vince Bartram when Manchester City locked horns with Gillingham at Wembley in the Division Two play-off final.
For it was a clash that not only pitted Joe Royle and Tony Pulis’s respective sides together as each sought the priceless prize of promotion back to Division One.
It was a match-up that also forced City’s then striking talisman Dickov and acclaimed Gillingham goalkeeper Bartram to set aside their unbreakable close personal bond – for 120 minutes and penalties as it turned out – as both strove every sinew to help pilot their respective sides to promotion.
Fate would decree that both men would prove absolutely pivotal to the drama that unfolded on what has become etched in City folklore as amongst the most dramatic days in the Club’s illustrious 130-year history.
For former Scotland striker Dickov – now a hugely popular Club ambassador and respected pundit – it was a match that would see him strike one of City’s and Wembley’s truly totemic goals to help Royle’s side seal a dramatic injury time comeback from 2-0 down and so avert what would have been a devastating defeat.
Meanwhile for Bartram, ironically now a goalkeeping scout for City as well as goalkeeping coach at Eastleigh FC, it proved to be a rollercoaster ride that would see him shine and be named man of the match – only to then suffer the agony of seeing City first fight back from the dead with time almost up – before going on to claim a 3-1 penalty shoot-out triumph.
This is the untold story of their contrasting Wembley experiences, their long-standing personal friendship – and how what unfolded beneath the Twin Towers that day helped only forge an even closer, enduring bond between the pair and their respective families…
Having first met as young team-mates at Arsenal in the fledgling days of their professional career, Dickov and Bartram quickly become the very best of friends… their natural warmth and rapport with one another also extending to the connection between their respective wives, Jan and Tracy, with the pair also subsequently becoming godparents to each family’s children.
“We just hit it off straight away after Vince came in at Arsenal. I was a young boy coming through from the youth team into the reserves and we just became good friends very quickly,” Paul reveals.
“It was a bit of everything that helped us connect. Vince loved to do a barbecue over at his place, and I love to have a little bit of a drink, so I think that's where it all started!
“We lived quite close to each other and very quickly, Vince's wife, Tracy and my wife Jan through going to the games and everything else, became really close too.
“Me and Jan had got married a year before and then Vince proposed to Tracy and we were there to see them get married while myself and Jan are godparents to Vince’s kids and vice versa.”
“Paul was already at Highbury when I signed for Arsenal. He lived in Luton, while I lived just outside Luton,” Vince adds.
“He didn't drive so we became sort of car buddies and I drove him in and out of training most days. And our wives quickly became good friends too.
“We spent a lot of time together professionally and socially as well and we soon became such good friends. We had a similar sense of humour, and lifestyles… we just fitted well.
“In terms of the things we like to do, we're all very similar. The girls were the same and we just all enjoyed each other's company. We were probably very different characters on the pitch - Paul was quite fiery and tenacious whereas I'm quite laid back."
“You had the big man, little man kind of comparison and we were polar opposites on the pitch, you know, forward and goalkeeper. But off the pitch we were kindred spirits - that's probably the best way of putting it.”
That friendship and close connection with the Dickovs also extended to when Bartram got married to wife Tracy – though Vince is keen to put the record straight regarding one important aspect to the day that has subsequently gained traction far and wide.
“In terms of our wedding, Paul wasn't actually my best man in the strictest sense of the word,” Vince says.
“But him and Jan his wife, they were the only other people at our wedding, so I think that's how the story began to get around.
“I remember Paul actually left me a message on the morning of the play-off final and said: ‘Big man, I've got to apologise. I did an interview with one of the national papers and they've gone a bit overboard.’
“I think we were at the dinner table at the Gillingham team hotel, so I opened up the paper and there's this big double page spread, and they'd done a mock-up of me as the groom and Paul as the best man, with the top hat, tails and everything!
“The reality was we were going to go to Las Vegas and quietly get married out there and people were saying: ‘Oh, let us know what day it is we'll fly out. And we're like: ‘Well, no.’
“I remember we were back at ours after playing a testimonial game against Rangers and had a couple of beers and stuff and we were talking about how we were going to go to Vegas to get married, and then Jan, Paul's wife, said, ‘You know you can go and do it tomorrow down in Hemel Hempstead at the registry office.’ And we were like: ‘Can we?’
“So, the next morning, Tracy rang the registry office and they said: ‘Not tomorrow, but you can have it in three days if you put a notice in’.
“So, we booked it in and then the following week we went down to get married and Paul and Jan were the only people at our wedding.
“So yes, I don’t know if you’d strictly say the best man but, for sure, Paul and Jan were the only other people there and they were a massive, important part of the day.”
As their respective careers continued to take flight, Dickov left Highbury in the summer of 1996 to embark on a new – and ultimately life-changing - adventure with City, with Bartram going on to make his own move from North London via a number of loan spells to join Gillingham in 1998.
Despite their new-found geographical disparity, the duo maintained their close personal friendship, keeping a watchful eye on each other’s progress.
They had even come up against each other in a grim November 1997 Division One encounter at City when Bartram was on loan with Huddersfield Town.
Vince it was who enjoyed the bragging rights as the Terriers secured a 1-0 Maine Road win in a game best remembered for an angry post-match protest outside the ground as aggrieved fans demanded answers from the Club hierarchy and manager Frank Clark as City continued to hurtle towards the Division One trapdoor.
By the time the two met again on the football field in 1998, Clark was gone and replaced in the Maine Road managerial hot-seat by Joe Royle with City now at an even lower ebb, down in the depths of Division Two while Bartram was making a big impression in what was his first season with Gillingham.
In the two league encounters that season the sides first fought out a goalless draw at Maine Road in the November of ’98 before goals from Terry Cooke and Kevin Horlock secured a priceless 2-0 win at Priestfield in April of ’99 to further boost City’s spiring offensive into the play-off positions.
“I knew what it was like to face Paul well before Wembley… I knew it was horrible to come up against him on the pitch,” Bartram smiles today.
“He’d hassle you. You know, I remember Barry Ashby, our former centre half at Gillingham. He used to say to me: ‘He's horrible to play against, but what a nice guy off the pitch!’
“And that's what Paul was. When I used to do what we call a dribble and drive, I would drop the ball to kick it, he’d chase you down and harry you and then like as I kicked it, he’d turn round, and we'd both have a little smile and a little laugh.”
Despite those two league meetings, for the overwhelming majority of City fans – the very notion of potentially locking horns with Tony Pulis’s side at Wembley still probably appeared to be the most fanciful of suggestions.
Dickov however revealed that six months out from that momentous May day he had had half an inkling that fiction could become fact.
“We kept in touch with each other all the way through and I don't know if Vince remembers but we got together just before the Christmas time that season,” Paul recalls today.
“And I remember half-jokingly we said wouldn’t it be weird if we ended up coming up against each other in the final and then it went to penalties!
“Gillingham were pushing on at the time while we were just getting a little bit of form after what had been a really dodgy start to that season.
“And then we fast forward a few more months and there we were - up at Wembley against each other. It was as if it was fated to be.”
With so much on the line - promotion and a place in Division One, as well as the financial implications for both clubs – it meant friends had to become foes for one day at least.
Going head-to-head in the biggest match of their respective careers may have been the most testing scenarios for two such close friends.
But as far as Dickov was concerned, there was no issue at all in separating the professional from the personal.
For the City and Scotland striker, 30 May, 1999 was strictly business - even if it meant looking to get one over on his best mate.
“No question,” Dickov says today. “There have been lots of occasions where I’ve come up against friends. I remember coming back to City with Leicester and going up against Richard Dunne. You know Dunney and I were big mates.
“But both of us were saying that it goes out the window once you step over that white line.
“I was able to forget everything else once I stepped on the pitch.
“I wanted to win, and I wanted to win at all costs.
“I don't know if it was an extra incentive facing Vince because, you know, it was a massive play-off game, and we knew as players what it meant to the club.
“You’ve just got to try and separate that friendship element completely.
“I think it was more of a story for everybody else. And Vince will probably tell you the same thing.
“It's a nice backdrop – a huge game at Wembley, best mates, godparents, and all things like that. I think for everybody else it's a lovely story too, but for me on a personal note you just wanted to win the game.
“Yeah, of course it did give the occasion a little bit of extra edge coming up against your best mate, though it was just bizarre more than anything else.
“The one thing that always was the same for us both is that you want to win.
“Friendship gets put aside once you cross that white line and the big man will tell you the same thing as well. We're desperate to win both for yourself and everybody else at the Club.
“We both massively respected each other - but we were there to do a job for our Clubs.”
“As I recall there were a few messages between us in the build-up,” Vince adds.
“Obviously, you didn’t go into tactics. We didn't talk about, you know, this is going to happen or that's going to happen. It was more a case of: ‘This is brilliant!’.
“However, I think we both knew that the day was going to end in disappointment for one side, but ultimately did it make the day more special for me coming up against Paul? I think probably it did.”
Though a leaden, grey sky with rain peppering the ground made for a familiar Mancunian weather backdrop, once the action got underway, any thoughts of City winning the game initially looked a somewhat forlorn hope in what was to prove the most incredible of finales.
With first Carl Asaba and then Bob Taylor – later to join Dickov and Co at Maine Road – piloting the Gills into a 2-0 lead with 87 minutes up on the clock, it looked the bleakest of scenarios for Royle’s men.
As Paul reflects, it was a desperate and potentially devastating prospect before Kevin Horlock’s 90th minute strike – seemingly little more than a consolation – lit the touch paper on what would be a comeback for the ages crowned by a Dickov’s very own Rhapsody in Blue.
“I remember when Bob Taylor scored to make it 2-0 just going down on my haunches and knees on the turf and thinking ‘We’ve blown it.’” Dickov recalls harking back to the most seismic five minutes of his career.
“I thought about the build up to the game, all the fans being at Wembley, playing at Wembley. And you just think it's gone.
“But then when Kevin scored, I just had a feeling that I was going to get another chance. I don't know what it was.
“I didn't know how long was left. I couldn’t even remember the board going up to show five minutes of added time, but I just felt as if there was one more chance.
“I'd been on a good run of scoring goals as well until that point, and I remember when Kevin scored the two Gillingham centre halves were high fiving each other and I thought ‘They’ve switched off here.’
“It's 2-1. Do you know what I mean? We've still got a chance. So, I just had a feeling I was going to get another chance and that if I got it, I was going to put it away.”
As ever was the case, Dickov proved more than true to his word.
With 94 minutes up on the clock, a long Gerard Wiekens ball was flicked on by substitute Gareth Taylor with Horlock instinctively laying off a pass to Shaun Goater lurking on the edge of the box.
The Goat’s attempted shot was blocked and instead diverted into the path of the advancing Dickov in the heart of the Gillingham box.
Defying the desperate lunge of Gills defender Adrian Pennock, the City striker carved his name into Blue legend, letting fly with the sweetest of right footed shots that whistled past a despairing Bartram and nestled in the roof of the Wembley net.
‘Can you believe it! - City have come back from the dead!’ was the immediate, unforgettable soundbite from Sky commentators Rob Hawthorne and Alan Brazil.
The goal sparked scenes of joyous, utter bedlam amongst the City fans packed into the terraces behind the goal while Dickov’s tumultuous on-pitch celebrations were crowned by his now legendary Wembley knee slide – another totemic moment in the Club’s history.
“I remember Gareth Taylor’s crucial flick on and then Goat claiming an assist! But to strike the ball so cleanly and see it go in – it was such a special, special goal for me and the team,” Paul says today.
“What do I remember about the moment? – just sheer total elation and joy.
“To see it fly in the top corner past Vince (sorry big man) and the fans’ reaction – it’s what you play football for.”
For Bartram meanwhile a superb individual display had already paid dividends as he was announced as the official man of the match
“I got a bottle of champagne for winning the man of the match award which I think they announced in the 90th minute, right before Kevin scored. And yes, I think I had a good game,” Vince modestly ascribes.
“I made two or three good saves from Dicky but that was irrelevant. To me, I was just making saves and it didn't matter who it was from.
“And when that second goal went in, we just had to reset and just try to be professional.”
What the goal meant was the additional drama of extra time, and with neither side forcing a breakthrough in that half hour it meant the match – and with it the prize of promotion - would be settled by the lottery of a penalty shoot-out.
The spot kicks were to be taken at the end housing the army of City fans at the old Tunnel end of Wembley and with their side having been given an unexpected second shot at redemption, the feeling was that momentum and belief was with the boys in blue (and yellow for the day!)
And when Nicky Weaver saved Paul Smith’s opening penalty after Horlock had coolly despatched City’s first spot-kick, that feeling was only further crystallised.
That set the scene for Dickov to try and further hammer home City’s advantage.
But in another amazing twist of fate, the Scot - normally so deadly from 12 yards – this time saw his effort cannon back off both posts as his earlier sense of sheer ecstasy gave way to one of anguish and disbelief.
“I’d taken penalties against Vince loads of times and I was supremely confident,” Dickov smiles today.
“Joe Royle being Joe Royle was so meticulous, so we were practising penalties, probably for the 10 days that we had leading up to the final. And honestly, I didn't miss one, you can ask Nicky Weaver. Weaves said to me: ‘You're a tennis machine. Just going bang, bang, bang in that corner!’
“So, when I'm walking up to take it, obviously they had missed the first one and - not in a bad way - I just blanked the big man out of my mind.
“As I've stood up to take it, I saw Vince was going for a pie the other way… he was getting nowhere near it! And then to see it hit the post and then come back out again off the other one, I was devastated.
“The thing that helped me out was that Gillingham missed their first one. So, my miss sort of evened itself out.
“Then they missed their next one, so it took the pressure off me massively. In fact, I actually celebrated them missing their second one after I'd missed almost as much as I celebrated my goal because I knew I'd get let off the hook a little bit!”
As Paul attests, with Adrian Pennock subsequently sending the second Gills penalty wide of the target, suddenly it was advantage City once more.
Terry Cooke (City) and John Hodge (Gillingham) both successfully converted their own efforts before Richard Edghill – who had never scored a goal in his senior career - also coolly proved spot on for the Blues.
That left Gillingham’s Guy Butters with the ultimate pressure kick and Nicky Weaver proved too big an obstacle to overcome, the City keeper’s famous save sealing a 3-1 shoot-out win and with it a ticket to Division One.
It also prompted Weaver’s now legendary madcap sprint round Wembley before skipper Andy Morrison’s bearhug tackle on him sparked an outpouring of joy, relief and the mother of all celebration pile-ons.
Experiencing the opposite end of sport’s pendulum of emotions, Bartram now looks back on all the twists and turns, the highs and the lows, with an air of pragmatism and perspective.
“I didn't get too down and too upset at the end. You know, it's life and worst things happen. It is sport,” Vince points out.
“Likewise, when Paul hit the post in the penalty shoot-out, people said you didn't massively celebrate and that was me. I didn't over celebrate successes. and I didn't over celebrate saves.
“Yes, fans get emotional. Players get emotional, but at the end of the day you can't change it once it's happened, so you know, don't cry over spilt milk.”
However, the warmth and depth of his and Dickov’s friendship was perfectly illustrated in the immediate aftermath of what represented the greatest moment of the City man’s career.
“Paul was the first person to come to me when our final penalty had been saved by Nicky Weaver to finish the shoot-out,” Vince revealed.
“That is the measure of the man.
“Weaves had then gone off on his lap of honour and I was just sat on the pitch and Paul was the first to come over to me and he was like: ‘Mate I’m gutted for you.’
“I wasn't upset. I just remember sitting on the pitch and thinking: ‘I need to take this in. I might never be back at Wembley to experience an occasion like this ever again.’
“So, I just said to Paul: ‘Mate, congratulations. Just go and enjoy yourself and celebrate.’ And we got together then in the bar afterwards.”
For his part, Paul said it was pure natural human instinct that took over – serving as a composite snapshot of the respect and compassion that welded the two men together.
“Do you know what? People who saw what I was like out on the pitch probably misunderstood me a little bit. I'm actually quite a nice guy!” Paul chuckles today.
“And when Weaves went on his celebration and there was that big pile up on top of him after his mad run, I was the last one to join because I went to see Vince straight away.
“You know he was down on his haunches, and we just gave each other a big hug. I’m not saying I wasn't interested in celebrating. I just felt for my mate.
“It was the human side of it. I just wanted to see if he was OK before I went to join in the celebrations.
“In the immediate aftermath, I just left him alone.
“But we laugh and joke about it now and the big man says he always turns his phone off on 30 May because he knows just what’s coming from my social media!”
It was a fitting climax to an unforgettable day in both players’ personal careers and for their respective clubs.
For City it signalled the start of a long and winding journey – not without numerous bumps in the road – that would lead to takeovers, a move from Maine Road to a new stadium and ultimately our standing as one of the titans of not just English football but a global powerhouse to boot.
“Every emotion possible was contained within those 120 minutes and penalties,” Paul points out today as he looks back 25 years.
“It was just indescribable. You know, even the build-up. People forget, we had 10 days beforehand so there was a lot of excitement and adrenaline that was building up ahead of the game and then, you know, there was Wembley itself.
“I was at Wembley with Arsenal as I was in the squad as a young kid back in 1993 but wasn't involved and being brought up in Scotland, it was always my dream to score at Wembley.
“So, then we’re there and 2-0 down on 89 minutes feeling utterly devastated. And then there was the comeback and the thrill of scoring my goal.
“Then the switchback of missing the penalty in the shoot-out only for us to win… honestly, every emotion possible was wrapped up in that one day.”
A quarter of a century on, the subsequent passage of time and City’s fairytale journey since then, has, if anything, only served to further crystalise the affection and emotion surrounding what remains one of the most iconic and fondly remembered days in the Club’s history.
For his part Dickov says it served as a genuinely transformative moment that not only changed the destiny of his own life but one that also turbo-boosted the trajectory and future prospects of City as a Club.
The ultimate Sliding Doors moment in the long, illustrious story of Manchester City if you will.
“Looking back, we all knew how important that game was for the Club. But possibly it wasn't until afterwards that we actually realised the scale of just how important it proved to be,” Dickov says today.
“And maybe that’s probably just as well. Joe Royle and the chairman David Bernstein were amazing in keeping that side away from the players because there was a lot of pressure on us as it was.
“The scary thing was David Bernstein told us a couple of years later that we potentially would not have been able to later take possession of the Etihad Stadium from the Council if we hadn’t won that game.
“There was possible administration and all scary things like that. So, to be a small part of where the Club is now… it's an amazing thing. Even more so when you see where the Club is now 25 years later.
“And I also think because of the success City have had in the last 10 years or so, looking back to ‘99, it makes it a bit more nostalgic for people.
“Don’t get me wrong - ten years after the event, 15 years after - fans were still coming up to me to say thanks for the goal and what have you.
“But I think it's only escalated since then and has been borne out of the success the Club has gone on to enjoy.
“I think people today look back to 30 May 1999, and say that's the moment when it started to go well for us.”
Bartram meanwhile has his own, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, retrospective take on the significance of both Dickov’s goal and the meaning of the day as a whole.
“Did the goal mean more for Dicky that it was against me? I don't think so. I think it just meant a lot to him and City given the situation,” Bartram said as he overlooked the Etihad on a flying visit earlier this month.
“He scored a goal for City that has been voted the most important goal in the Club’s history.
“We're here talking at the Etihad and it’s probably here because of me because I let the goal in – not because Dicky scored!
“Does it mean that we've got an even bigger bond? Probably.”
And, in a wonderful postscript to the drama of 1999, the following year was to bring professional joy for both men.
Dickov and City achieved the magnificent feat of securing back-to-back promotions as Royle’s Roundheads trounced Blackburn 4-1 on another iconic day in the Club’s history at Ewood Park which saw the blue half of Manchester stage a Lancashire takeover of one corner of Darwen.
Bartram and Gillingham meanwhile were to gain Wembley redemption as the Gills exorcised their own demons by beating Wigan 3-2 - after extra time no less! - in a thrilling 2000 Division Two play-off final to reach the sunny uplands of Division One for the first time in the Kent side’s history.
“As much as we were buzzing with back-to-back promotions, and it was an unbelievable achievement, I did have a big eye on what Gillingham were doing,” Dickov admits harking back.
“I was just delighted for the big man when they went up, and through Vince, I got to know some of the Gillingham players as well.
“So, I was really, really pleased because they must have been absolutely devastated in ’99 and to come back from that and bounce back and get promotion the next year says so much.
“I think even City fans were happy for them with the way it happened.”
“To go from such an emotional low to such a high almost a year on to the day was incredible,” Vince Bartram adds. “And you know what, Dicky was the first person to be on the phone to congratulate me.
“We broke Wigan’s hearts in the same way City had broken ours, but I always remember the Wigan striker Stuart Barlow coming up to me and going ‘We’re so pleased for you because of what had happened against City.’
“So, it meant Gillingham got their own bit of history and their own special moment too.
“But in terms of ’99, for me it's just a pleasure to look back on and I’m just proud to have been involved in an amazing day like that.”
Just as in 1999 however, it seems only fitting that the last word goes to Paul Dickov, a man for whom Manchester City is ingrained into his very soul and whose goal that day will be talked about Ad Infinitum.
“It was an amazing day. It's a great story with my friendship with Vince and I'm just glad to have been able to play my little part in it,” Paul reflects.
“Just to hear people talk about it today and the impact of my goal… I still get goosebumps on the back of my neck, you know.
“I do jokingly remind people that there were ten other players out on the pitch that day as I seem to get all the credit for scoring the goal, but look, it's amazing.
“To think it was 25 years ago is madness. But always at this time of year, whether it's 25 years, 20, 15, 10… it's a massive, massive talking point and I always say that I'm so very proud to have been a part of it for the Club.
“I’m a lucky boy.”
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