It’s a story that will live forever in Manchester City history – and not just because Noel and Liam Gallagher were there to witness it.

City, down and out in injury time at 2-0 behind in the Second Division Play-Off final of 1999, staged a colossal Paul Dickov-inspired comeback to finally see off Gillingham in a penalty shoot-out thanks to the heroics of Nicky Weaver.

We’ve heard from the Wembley heroes many times in the years that have followed.

So, for today’s 25^th anniversary, we’ve spoken to a host of personalities who can offer a fresh take on that remarkable game, as the heavens opened and new heroes were formed.

You’d think that the Royal Box would be a stoic and sober place to watch major cup finals with grandeur and formality reigning supreme.

It was anything but when Paul Dickov’s goal hit the back of the net on 90 + 5 at Wembley in 1999 to bring the scores level 2-2 with Gillingham and send the game into an unlikely extra-time and eventual penalties from which we would prevail.

Chairman David Bernstein in his own words - penned so eloquently in his wonderful new book ‘We Were Really There: The Rebirth of Manchester City’ – admitted ‘my mask slipped, a poker face was impossible’ as he celebrated joyously alongside fellow director and former City great, Dennis Tueart.

“When we equalised an animal roar came out of Dennis Tueart. It was quite something – a lion roaring with pride,” the former chairman told us.

“I jumped up. I simply could not contain the relief from that equalising goal.

“From then, of course, I believed we could win, I couldn’t imagine a comeback like that and then not going on to win.

“For the first time, I had a feeling of ‘fate is on our side’ and it was going to happen for us. I’m sure the fans felt like that too.

“Thinking back now, I feel great pride about what we did that day, fighting back and succeeding at the very, very end.

“It was a great tribute to the whole team and the manager but at the time, there was also relief, absolutely.

“When I looked at the giant scoreboard with a couple of minutes to go and it read Gillingham 2-0 Manchester City and all I could hear was Gillingham fans singing ‘Going up, Going up, Going up’, I thought ‘my god, this is going to be tough moving-forward’.

“Then the first goal went in which you know isn’t going to be enough and then Paul’s equaliser.

“I must say since then, nothing has ever been quite the same for me watching sport."

“It was so intense for me personally, being the chairman, being in a final, this vitally important match, being 2-0 down and then coming back and getting promoted. It was so emotionally exhilarating that I’ve never quite felt the same about anything since.”

Paul Dickov’s astonishing leveller that day is certainly not the only iconic, last-gasp goal in the annals of Manchester City history.

Fast forward to 2012 and one Sergio Aguero who wrote his name in City folklore to help the Club earn a first league title in 44 years.

Bernstein, as a lifelong fan, smiles as the comparisons are made but stresses that the 1999 effort carried more weight.

“People compare Paul’s goal with Sergio’s goal because of the pure drama both created,” added the affable former chairman.

“That was an amazing moment for the club as well but I think the main difference is that if Sergio hadn’t scored it would have been a grave disappointment, of course, but given where the club was going, it was only a matter of time, with the progress we had made – and look at what has come since!

“Had Paul not scored, the history of this club would have been completely different.

“It was a fundamental moment for the club. Sergio’s was amazing and started off this incredible period of success we have had but I think we would have that success in any case.”

When that 1999 game is ever brought up, Dickov’s goal is always front and centre.

But for Bernstein, there was a less glamorous moment that will always live with him – and one he looks back at now as an ‘extraordinary fateful moment’.

“I know people remember 93:20, the timestamp for Sergio’s famous goal, but the timestamp I most remember is 89:25. That was the moment when Ian Bishop passed the ball across the pitch fairly aimlessly, which showed he’d lost his usual poise because of how desperate the situation was. It was going out of play and that would have given Gillingham the chance to eat up more time. Then Mark Saunders went for it and it just brushed his studs and went out for a throw-in to us rather than for them.

“Then from that move, we scored the first of those two goals. Had he just left the ball, I think we would have run out of time in the end. Those are the margins. Recalling it now, it was an extraordinary fateful moment.”

Bernstein was never one to court the limelight, always preferring to do his diligent and dutiful work in the shadows.

But, with the penalty shoot-out won after heroics from Nicky Weaver, the chairman felt it was appropriate to go down pitchside to thank the fans for their support on an afternoon that turned our terrifically despite the early trauma.

In the midst of the euphoria, as he chronicles in his book, Bernstein was greeted by captain Andy Morrison, who asked: ‘Chairman, you won’t forget about my bonus.’

“Andy was an amazing servant for the club and such a strong, dominating and intimidating figure on the field and a real leader out there,” said Bernstein, laughing on being asked about that particular passage in his book.

“He did a great job for us. But all I could say to him on the Wembley turf that day was: ‘No Andy, of course, I won't’.

It’s an unwritten rule in the media world that journalists and photographers should keep their emotions in check when covering games – a little bit like the Wembley Royal Box!

It’s a directive that Alex Livesey, one of the top-ranked snappers in the UK, has lived by – except the Play-Off Final of 1999 when the emotion of Paul Dickov’s late leveller overcame him.

The City fan got reprimanded by the Wembley press steward in the immediate aftermath – and quizzed about it by his mum when he got home!

“The funniest thing I remember from that day and what makes me laugh even now is my parents had watched the game, recorded it onto video tape and after the match, my mum said: ‘You weren’t jumping up and down behind the goal were you when they scored the equaliser?’ I sheepishly said ‘yes’ and she replied ‘you’re on the television and I have it on video.’

“So when I went home, I watched it.

“So when I went home, I watched it. You can see me celebrating when Paul Dickov scores.

“I wasn’t taking any pictures at that point. I was going crazy, pumping the air with my camera, in pure delight.

“I’m the only one in the crowd of photographers who celebrated. If you watch footage of the game now, if you look to the left of the goal when Paul scores, you can see me clear as day.”

Alex has travelled the world covering major sporting events including Summer, Winter and Paralympic Games, FIFA World Cups, UEFA European Championships, UEFA Champions League Finals, Rugby World Cups, the Tour de France and numerous Grand Slam tennis events. He has also found himself in some weird and wonderful places covering events as diverse as ice golf on a course 590km north of the Arctic Circle in Greenland and horse racing on the frozen lake of St Moritz.

But that Wembley day ranks high on his long list of memorable moments in a 30+ year career in the industry even if he did stop taking photographs when Gillingham went 2-0 up late on.

“It was chucking it down, I was soaking wet, I’d seen Gillingham score two at the other end of the pitch late on and that was it and I was so deflated, I was just thinking ‘that’s it, it’s all over’.

“The fans started to leave and I was thinking I wanted to go too but I couldn’t because I was working.

“When Kevin Horlock scored, I was still so fed up and thought ‘who cares anyway because it’ll just be a consolation, it’ll be over any minute.’

“I expected the whistle to go as soon as they got back to the centre-circle. Then we went on that last attack and the feeling I got when Paul scored was indescribable, like I’d been taken over.

“When that went in, I managed to get back into work mode for extra-time and the penalties.”

As we all know now, City won the shoot-out 3-1, with Nicky Weaver saving the decisive spot-kick from Guy Butters before going on the run of all runs to celebrate.
It was a memorable moment but one that also came with difficulties for the clutch of photographers covering the exuberant post-match scenes.

“I was focused on Nicky Weaver for each penalty because I was waiting for him to be the hero. You’re working the scores out in your head during the shoot-out and I did get the photo of him saving the final penalty, which I am really pleased about.

“I was feeling ecstatic and wanted to get the celebration shots but then he started running around and around and I was trying to follow him, like all the photographers were, and it was just chaos.

“We were all chasing him thinking he was going to stop at some point. He didn’t until he got wrestled to the floor by the other City players.”

Livesey admits he was far from optimistic heading into those penalties because of what he calls ‘City syndrome’ – a feeling that things aren’t going to work out well in the end.

It's a mentality he says City fans of his generation felt in this era and one he only managed to fully shake off after the Sergio Aguero-inspired Premier League title win of 2011/12.

“Before the match, I thought it was going to be a walk in the park. I’ll be honest, I thought we’d have it won. When we made it to penalties, I thought ‘don’t mess it up again, don’t go and lose it'.

“It doesn’t matter what you do, you’re always waiting for the same old City to rear its head.

“They got promoted the next season, with that famous game at Blackburn and you thought ‘we might be going places here’. But you’re still waiting for things to go wrong, you really are. You’re never totally convinced it’s going to turn out right.

“That feeling has gone now. But weirdly I miss it. I miss that I don’t feel like that anymore because it was part of being a City fan to me. I quite liked having that City syndrome of always having my glass half empty.

“I always felt we were on the verge of messing things up right up until Sergio Aguero against QPR and then that was the turning point. After that, I thought we may be able to shake these things off.

“Up until then, I always felt we were on the verge of cocking things up.”

Tony Pulis was waiting patiently for the first question in an interview to discuss the 1999 Play-Off Final.

Before it had left the lips of this journalist, the former Gillingham boss jumped in: ‘I’ll sum it up for you, we deserved to win the game over the 90 minutes!”

It showed that while time may have passed – 25 years today in fact - the pain of defeat still lingers for the Welshman.

When we did get into the interview, Pulis spoke of good preparation thanks to a change of scenery for his players on the eve of the Wembley clash and a big confidence in camp, despite the feeling in the football world that Gillingham would get beaten on the showpiece day.

“We went up to Villa Park. John Gregory was manager of Aston Villa at the time. I knew John and I asked him if there was any chance we could use the training ground for three days prior to the game because I didn’t want the players hanging around all the circus at Priestfield.

“We went up there, watched videos of City play and we actually prepared really, really well. 

“We were obviously massive underdogs but personally inside the club we were very, very confident that we could turn City over.”

Despite delight in how his Gills squad readied themselves for the clash, Pulis revealed that he has one regret when he looks back.

He revealed he had City watched in training in the build-up to the big game – but not when the Blues practiced penalties. Pulis believes that could have swayed things his way on the day.

“The only thing I didn’t do and the one thing I regret was – and they talk about Marcelo Bielsa watching opposition training – we actually watched Man City train and what they were doing and what they weren’t doing.

“We went into the game really prepared. The only thing I didn’t ask the people doing certain things for me, I didn’t ask about Nicky Weaver and penalties because I think City had practiced them.

“I think Weaver dived to his right most times. If I had done my job properly, we would have gone and won it, I think. I blame myself. Not the players. The players were fabulous.

“With the penalties, I blame myself, I really do. That was my responsibility.”

As for the game itself, Gillingham were 2-0 up with 87 minutes on the clock.

Pulis said he was confident at that point and even saw Joe Royle getting pelters from departing City fans as they began coming to terms with another potential season in Division Two.

“Looking back, it was such a disappointment. We were 2-0 up and pretty comfortable.

“I think we missed a great chance just before City scored their first to make it 3-0.

“I can remember City fans leaving the ground. We were sitting on wooden benches then at Wembley and I can remember Joe Royle taking a hell of a lot of stick from supporters on the left hand side of us.

“Then, out of nowhere, City get the goal that’s deflected into the path of Kevin Horlock and that was the only time in the game when our players looked a little bit nervous.

“When you’re 2-0 up and you see one get pulled back when you’re comfortable, as I have seen in my years managing, players do get uptight and they do get nervous.

“Then City get the second one in injury time and then beat us on penalties.

“I was comfortable with the game. We had defended so well and been so resolute in what we were trying to achieve that I had no problems.

“When five minutes gets added on, that’s when you get a little nervous – more for the players than for yourself.

“Then City get another goal back and we go into extra-time. At that point, I just said ‘we have done it once, now we are going to have it do it again’.

“I told them ‘I don’t want to see anyone take a step back, let’s get out there again and do what we’ve been doing for 90 minutes’.

“If I’m honest, I can’t remember a lot going on in extra-time. Then the penalties arrived and City beat us.”

Looking back, that afternoon was a seminal moment for Manchester City as it heralded 25 years of incredible success with 24 major trophies won, including the Treble.

Despite his frustration at how things played out at Wembley, Pulis is full of admiration for what City have become in the years since.

“City would have spent another year in Division Two if Gillingham had won that day. I’m sure that Joe Royle would have done it the second year. But it was the stepping stone for City to get promoted the following season and end up being where they are.

“Obviously City have gone from strength to strength from that point on. It was a massive turning point in City’s history, no doubt.

“If you’d have told me before that Wembley final that in 25 years time City would go and do what they have done, I’d never have believed you. I don’t think anyone would!

“Look at the stadium now, the infrastructure, they have one of the greatest managers in world football, they have some of the greatest players in world football, it’s like a different planet now to what they were in 1999.”

Marcus Buckland has made his name as one of the best live sports presenters in the business.

He enjoyed 21 years at Sky Sports, anchoring more than 500 football matches before a career switch to Amazon Prime to front their tennis coverage.

One of those 500+ games was the 1999 Play-Off Final between Manchester City and Gillingham as he fronted the coverage alongside pundits Clive Allen and Alan Buckley, Allen chosen for his ties to City as a player and Buckley selected because he’d won the previous season’s Play-Off Final with Grimsby.

Looking back, the 1999 Play-Off Final coverage, Buckland insists, was a huge moment in his career as one of his first forays into live sport.

And, equally, he thinks it was a huge moment for Manchester City and our evolution into the club we’ve since become.

“I think City were a little bit like my team, Tottenham, growing up – a big, big club with so much potential but unless you went a certain distance into the dim and distant past, it was an unfulfilled club.

“I remember speaking to a lot of Manchester City fans in the build-up to this game and they were adamant they were going to make life difficult for themselves and screw it up.

“The fact that City pulled it back from the brink, I wonder if that gave everyone associated with the club a feeling that ‘we can be winners’ - and obviously since then they have become serial winners.”

Buckland reveals his main memory of the day itself, other than the prestige of taking charge of coverage of a major cup final, was the passion of the Manchester City fans there at Wembley.

“I vividly remember the incredible support of Manchester City. I don’t want to dismiss the Gillingham fans either because it’ll have been an unbelievable experience for them right up until just before the end of normal time.

“It’s bizarre to go back 25 years and think about where Manchester City were then compared to where they are now. I have a 20-year-old son who simply cannot believe we are talking about Manchester City in a Second Division Play-Off Final.

“That whole year I just remember the passion of the City fans and that day, how the emotions ebbed and flowed in the most extraordinary manner.

“City looked doomed. I remember a few City fans nearby who said: ‘Typical of City’. And then it all changed around in the most incredible way.

“It reminded me of the previous year when I hosted the Sunderland v Charlton final which was also amazing. There were definite similarities between the two.

“I had a sneaky feeling before the game that we were going to watch something special. I sensed it was going to be dramatic and it was clearly.

“I had only been doing that role for a couple of years so a cup final, especially with a team of Manchester City’s profile, was always going to be significant for me.”

As for the coverage itself, Buckland said he was thrilled to have been involved in such a dramatic game, looking back 25 years, but stressed that at the time he ‘had my blinkers on’ to deliver a ‘slick show’ for those watching at home.

As full-time approached and the show running as smooth as silk, the runsheet was dramatically ripped up as City produced the most almighty of comebacks.

“You already have your analysis stacked up. You have your talking points ready to go. This was going to be an incredible day in the history of Gillingham. You’re starting to angle the post-match show that way while at the same time coming to terms with what’s happened to Manchester City.

“And then, there’s panic in your ears when the two goals go in and that’s what I love about live television, that’s what it’s all about, it’s about reacting to the situation. You have to bend with it because you never quite know what’s going to happen next.

“I remember with that game, you sometimes become aware while you’re working hard on your job ‘oh my god, this is dramatic, this is amazing.’ Then you have to maintain your level of concentration to ensure you’re across all key incidents and goalscorers in the game. Because if you allow yourself to just be a football fan, you will forget something really important and not do justice to the analysis afterwards.

“The one thing I’ll never forget in the post-match, though, IS Nicky Weaver running around the pitch after he saved that crucial winning penalty. He was like the Pied Piper.”

The quintessential day from the original Soap Opera Club.

That’s the affectionate summary of Wembley ’99 from Rob Hawthorne, the man charged with the weighty responsibility of describing all the drama as it unfolded in his role as Sky commentator that memorable afternoon.

Over the course of more than three decades, Rob has carved out a deserved reputation for being one of this country’s most distinguished, experienced and respected commentators.

In almost 30 years at Sky, Rob has covered hundreds upon hundreds of big games from all around the world and was at the microphone for several of City’s key games in our 2023/24 historic campaign that ended in a fourth straight Premier League title.

However, a quarter of a century on, City’s incredible feat in coming back from the dead to defeat Gillingham on 30 May, 1999 and so kick-start our recovery back from the brink still stands as one of his ultimate all-time favourite commentaries.

Not least for the manner of the most dramatic comeback – but equally for what it meant for a slumbering giant of the game who back then had never been at such a low ebb.

“Whenever I’m asked about my most memorable games to cover, City v Gillingham in May ’99 is right up there in my all-time top three,” Rob recalls.

“The three that I always look back on for various reasons are Liverpool winning the Champions League because obviously it was a massive trophy and the way they did it in Istanbul in 2005 was remarkable.

“The 1998 League One Play-Off final between Charlton and Sunderland is another. That ended 4-4 with Charlton winning 7-6 on penalties.

“But City v Gillingham is right up there too for the manner of their comeback after having looked dead and buried at 2-0 down.

“It was such a special memorable game and so enjoyable to cover. Back in those days, the play-offs were held over consecutive days at Wembley so we would decamp there for a long weekend and there were so many fascinating sub-plots to that game.

“We had the close personal friendship between Paul Dickov and Vince Bartram, the Gillingham ‘keeper, in the fact that they were best friends and godparents to each other’s children and their connection obviously turned out to be such a key element to the game.

“The City manager Joe Royle was always great with me as was the Gillingham boss Tony Pulis too. Obviously, City were the bigger club, but Gillingham in their own way would have been a good story too as they would never have reached that level of football before had they gone up as far as I recall. So, either way, it was going to be a big, big story.

“There was also something about the old Wembley that just had more theatre about it. You know, the Twin Towers, the long walk from the dressing room, the whitewashed tunnels down there, the fact that the teams used to come out with the managers at the head of the line.

“The other things I do remember about that day itself was that it was actually a cloudy, rainy day – it was more like Mancunian weather – so maybe I should have read that as an omen, plus the fact that opera singer Russell Watson performed pre-match.

“That was the first time I had ever seen him sing and because he was a Manchester United fan, he got a fair bit of stick from the City fans because they realised where his true allegiances lay!

“I recall he tried to do some kind of classical piece and involve the crowd. Nobody was really having it and I wasn't sure whether it was because the City fans knew he was a United fan or whether it was just because it was classical music… you know that's not exactly sing-along stuff!

“So, there is quite a bit I do remember from the day as well as the match itself and obviously the iconic moments that everybody recalls.”

Another memorable vignette from Wembley ’99 for Rob was the larger than life presence of his co-commentator that original Super Sunday.

For perched alongside Rob in the Wembley commentary eyrie helping call all the shots that day was the one and only Alan Brazil.

Nowadays TalkSport Radio’s very own award-winning Bon Viveur, back then the former Ipswich, Manchester United and Scotland striker was an acclaimed and perceptive co-commentator who had struck up a hugely popular double act working alongside Hawthorne for a number of seasons.

The pair’s natural chemistry and capacity for a memorable turn of phrase was never more evident than that day as they charted the fairytale story of City’s comeback for the ages.

“I would describe Alan as a maverick co-commentator,” Rob says looking back.

“He was kind of unpredictable and you were never quite sure where he was going to go. Probably in the same way that his radio career works now, because he's very much an on the hoof man.

“But I think from that point of view, it worked quite well as a partnership because I would probably be the one who would, by virtue of the job, go into it well prepared, whereas Alan would turn up and probably be a little bit more unpredictable in what he said.

“It was all very much spontaneous, but I think it worked well.”

As regards the main event itself, for 81 absorbing, tension-filled minutes, the two sides served up a thrilling encounter that was only lacking in a clinical finish.

But with time ebbing away, it was Gillingham who prised open the door and looked to be headed for the promised land of promotion.

“When Carl Asaba scored the opener for Gillingham, that probably eased a bit of the tension from my point of view as a commentator because the last thing you want is a 0-0 draw that then goes all the way to penalties,” Rob says.

“Then Bob Taylor doubles their lead with three minutes left and I remember saying: ‘It will take a superhuman effort from City to turn this around now’ – and that’s exactly what they did!

“Even at 2-0 down I thought something still could happen in this game, just because of the kind of club that Manchester City were.

“Ironically, I think Vince Bartram was then named man of the match and almost immediately Kevin Horlock scores and the whole complexion of the match totally changes.

“The board then goes up to signal five minutes of added time, and I think I said: ‘Would you believe it?’ with Alan adding ‘Well, well, well…

“You're soaking in the aftermath of all that and thinking ‘Right, this really could happen now.’

“Then we have the Paul Dickov goal which was probably the Sergio Aguero goal of its era and such an iconic moment in City and Wembley history.

“I mean the pictures that we got of him with the knee slide celebration kind of summed up that whole day, because it was a great strike at the perfect time.

“In the preamble to that goal I’d described Manchester City as the original Soap Opera Club and that last few minutes just epitomised why.

“I don't know if I was basing that on Coronation Street and everything else Mancunian, but I did always feel that, you know, from the mid-90s, when we'd been through the Alan Ball era, the Brian Horton era and the turmoil that seemed to be around the club at the time.

“You had Frannie Lee then coming in as chairman and I don't think really fancying Brian as a manager and then Steve Coppell had come in for a very short spell and then Frank Clark had been there who again had looked a steady, safe pair of hands.

“All these managers had come in with good reputations behind them and who I felt might be able to turn it around, and yet somehow it seemed that the problems at the club at the time were bigger than any manager could solve.

“So, it fell to Joe Royle, who was a former City player of course and such a big character and who was for me, ideally suited for the job. But when they lost at York earlier that season, at that stage I was thinking God, even he might not be able to do anything about this.

“But then they went on that brilliant run to get to the final and at the back of my mind even at 2-0 down to Gillingham I thought something still could happen in this game, just because of the kind of club that City were.”

The drama though wasn’t just contained within the hallowed surrounds of Wembley.

For some Blues, the sight of Gillingham’s second goal had proved all too much to bear and persuaded them to embark on the long trudge back North, or so they thought.

“I did hear reports later that some City fans were already on the Tube when the comeback happened,” Rob smiles today.

“In fact, somebody once said to me - and this has never been corroborated - that some were even pulling the emergency cables to stop the Tube, in order to get back to Wembley!

“I'm not sure whether that was true or not but it’s a great story!”

Given the extraordinary denouement of the match itself, once extra time – and subsequently the drama and lottery of penalties trundled into view – for Hawthorne there was only likely to be one outcome.

“I kind of thought that Gillingham's best chance had gone once Dickov had scored that equaliser because the play-offs themselves generally are all about momentum,” Rob recalls.

“If there's been a late turnaround in the game, and if it does go to penalties, the team that came back is the one that you would immediately install as favourites.

“And I think taking penalties at the end where your fans are, as City did that day, always helps too.

“That said, the irony of it was that Paul Dickov, the man who'd come up with the big moment in the game, missed his kick and was the only City player not to score from the spot.

“But with two Gillingham players having already missed, Nicky Weaver then was the hero saving Guy Butters’ spot kick and proceeded to serve up the other iconic image from that day at the end when he's basically inviting all his team-mates into a race and beckoning them over.

“I think some people said Nicky had never run so fast before or since! But it was an amazing moment for him and led to those fantastic images and memories of what it all meant. It was a dream to commentate on.”

Apart from his horror at the fact such a pivotal occasion was 25 years ago – ‘that’s terrifying – it won’t be long before we get to the diamond anniversary!’ – Rob also has no doubts as to where Wembley ’99 sits in the pantheon of all-time defining City landmarks.

“I think it was such a hugely significant moment in Manchester City’s history,” Hawthorne declares.

“It kind of showed and reminded everyone what a big club they were.

“From a personal point of view, I'd always felt that City had a big club feel about them.

“And a year on from Wembley, I then covered another of their iconic games at Blackburn in May 2000, which again I have a lot of great memories of, with the City takeover of Ewood Park, as they got promotion back to the Premier League.

“That was another major City event and I think the last game I did with Alan Brazil.

“In retrospect, Wembley ‘99 was such a dramatic day, but it was just the way that Manchester City always seemed to do their big moments.

“They had to take the long way round rather than the scenic route!”

A day and a season to be endured – not enjoyed.

That’s Kevin Cummins’ sobering reflection on the experience of living through both Wembley ’99 and that whole season in Division Two as a City fan.

Across the best part of six decades, Cummins has become synonymous as one of this country’s most acclaimed photographers – principally for his stunning music photography – with his iconic images forming the bedrock of a myriad of newspapers, magazines and books as well as adorning countless exhibitions and retrospectives.

Alongside music and photography however, Cummins has also carried with him a lifelong passion for City, following the Club home and away, through the good, the bad and the indifferent.

Kevin also chronicled the Club’s final season at Maine Road in 2002/03, via an era defining book entitled ‘We’re Not Really Here’ while he remains a regular and popular contributor to our digital monthly magazine.

Cummins was one of those band of Blues who loyally attended every game – home and away – through the rollercoaster ride of that remarkable 1998/99 campaign that ended in such drama beneath the Twin Towers.

But, as far as he is concerned, you can forget any notion of romance or glamour.

Reflecting back 25 years, Cummins recollections are as stark and eye-catching as his photography.

Above all, he remembers that nerve-shredding Gillingham victory as one borne out of sheer necessity and desperation rather than one providing any cause for celebration.

“I don't think anything from that day or season was a favourite memory. It was simply something that we had to endure you know… we just had to get that whole season out of the way,” Kevin says today harking back a quarter of a century.

“Halfway through the season, it looked like we were going to be stuck down there again.

“But they kind of dragged themselves up really by the bootlaces, I guess. I've spoken to several of the players from that game as I've done several features for the programme with them and I think they said at first, they didn't realise how tough it would be and that there was a massive hangover from getting relegated the season before.

“And then they thought, ‘God, you know, unless we do something here, we're going to be stuck.’ And so we did have a much better second-half of the season.

“I didn't miss a game that season. Home and away, I went to every single one, but the football was bad. The trains were bad.

“I particularly remember the away game at Lincoln which we drove to rather than going by train because it was a midweek game. And as we turned into the street near the stadium to park, my gear stick came off in my hand and it kind of summed the whole season up, really.

“But going to play Gillingham for a Second Division play-off final wasn't anything that I ever thought City would be involved in… and we've seen some pretty bad days.

“You know most City fans of a certain age, will always say typical City about loads of mishaps. And of course, that was the attitude that day. We were 2-0 down and 90 minutes had gone, and we just thought, ‘what's the point of this’, and obviously so many had left.

“I was with my daughter, who was 13 then and it was the first time she'd have seen City at Wembley, so she was quite excited about it.

“But we both knew we just had to get out of that division and the last few minutes, then the time added on and then the penalty shoot-out… it all kind of defied belief, really.

“After what had gone on pretty much all season, we simply could not lose to Gillingham at Wembley because it would have been the end of the club as we know it.

“But going 2-0 down… I didn't for one second think we could salvage anything from that game.

“I was just sat there thinking: ‘This is the end of our club.’

“It was a game that we had to win and there was no enjoyment that we had from it at all.

“So suddenly we turned things around, we got through at Wembley and we were back in what is now the Championship. Great, but you know, we shouldn't even be there.

“And that's not arrogance. It’s just that we're a better club than that.

“We're historically a top division club, with a European title, we'd won the Football League, FA Cups.…we were a top division club.

“We should not have been there, and we had to get out of it.

“We went to the pub afterwards with our friends and we were there for ages. Then we got home and my daughter insisted on staying up half the night watching the whole game again on telly.

“She was buzzing, but you know, I just thought we've got through this and that's all that that was needed.

“I'm not being miserable about it. I just don't think we should have been in that position.

“So, for me, getting out of it that day wasn't an exciting moment… it was just perfunctory.”

Kevin’s strident feelings and memories about the day and the season may be one thing but he also recognises the historic impact, importance and meaning behind what occurred that Sunday afternoon.

To paraphrase the legendary words of former NASA Apollo flight director Gene Kranz, failure was simply not an option.

“Yeah, it's the most significant occasion in our history though there's a difference between it being a great occasion and a significant occasion,” Kevin points out.

“It's inconceivable for us to think that we would have lost that game, though we were so close to losing it, and it's the most important game in City’s history.

“I will say that if we hadn't got through that day then we wouldn't be in the position we're in now.

“We'd still be going to watch us play Gillingham. We'd be in the first round of the FA Cup, we'd be a team and be a Club who people would look at and think, God, they used to be a big side didn't they once?”

City and Wembley, of course, have become familiar bedfellows over the past decade or so with the Club making numerous visits to home of English football as we have accumulated a catalogue of silverware and moments to savour.

Back in 1999 though a trip to the Twin Towers was a somewhat novel experience for a generation of Blues who had loyally followed the Club through some lean, mean times.

Remarkably 30 May, 1999, was City’s first visit there since we contested the 1986 Full Members’ Cup final against Chelsea.

And for Cummins the opportunity to also witness the occasion through the eyes of his daughter was something he did cherish.

“We first got there in my lifetime in 1969 when we won the FA Cup and I've been to every City game, at Wembley since,” Kevin adds.

“Until then though, I think I’d actually seen Stockport County at Wembley more often than City because they were often there in play-offs or lower league finals.

“Though I think we've kind of made-up for it since!

“But my daughter, she loved it. She was dancing on her seat at the end of the game. And she had a great time, you know, and she was just the same when we were in Istanbul last June.

“She just burst into tears when we won and said ‘We've won the Champions League’. And that was like 24 years on from ‘99. We've gone on that incredible journey.”

In retrospect Cummins’s somewhat ambivalent feelings about the events that May day and the year as a whole are even more understandable when you factor in just what he had to contend with on a personal level.

For, other much more important factors were also at play in colouring Cummins view through the lens of 1999 as a whole.

“You know, it was very different days and there were quite dark days,” Kevin reflects. “I mean, one of the things that I think partly explains why that season was a particularly difficult one for me personally was because my mum was in hospital for about six months, dying of cancer.

“So, I was going to see her, and I was going to see City and I kind of equated the two. I thought I'm going to see my club who are dying and I'm going to see my mum who's dying.

“I was having this kind of parallel life with football and my own personal life, and I always remember the night when we were at Wigan for the play-off semi-final first leg.

“We were outside, and I was waiting for a very close friend, Rob Gretton, who was a massive Blue and the manager of New Order.

“Someone came up to me and said ‘Oh, have you heard about Rob?’ And I thought: ‘Oh why isn't he coming? And he said ‘Rob died this morning’…

“So, you know, I think I kind of mix everything in together and it was a fairly terrible year on a personal perspective, to be honest.”

All Mark Halsey wanted to do in the hotel bar after the 1999 Play-Off Final was wind down with his fellow officials before a good night’s sleep.

Enter jubilant Manchester City fans, who clocked the referee and promptly brought him one drink after another in the aftermath of the famous comeback victory at Wembley.

“I remember I had dinner after the game in Wembley Hilton and there were hundreds of City fans in the hotel.

“What happened? It was a good night!

“We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in the hotel bar. There was some talking about the game, chatting about decisions and there was some singing involved.

“There were a few drinks flowing, no-one misbehaved, it was all good fun, everyone just had a good time.

“That’s what football is all about – and dare I say that’s what life is all about. Referees are part of the football family alongside managers, players and fans. People forget that.

“I think people forget, too, that we are also human.

“We had been appointed to a major cup final, me and my team had achieved something in officiating that cup final, we were allowed to go out and enjoy ourselves and let our hair down.”

It may have been a long night for the referee as he partied with the City faithful but the game itself – a proud moment in Halsey’s career - ‘went by in a flash’.

“Being at Wembley is everyone’s dream. It is as a player and it’s the same as a referee.

“It’s a big thrill when you get the phonecall to say you’re refereeing a major final. I remember how much I was looking forward to it.

“I always remember walking out before the game, checking the pitch, the stadium was filling up and I was nervous as I was before every game.  And then coming out with the teams with a full-house at Wembley, it made the hair stand up on the back of your neck. It was unbelievable. The atmosphere was electrifying.

“The match seemed to go so quick. It flew by. You start it and then before you know it, it’s all over.

“Obviously, towards the end Gillingham are 2-0 up and you do think ‘that’s it, it’s all over, Manchester City looked dead and buried’.

“But then the history books get re-written. Kevin Horlock scores. I was thinking ‘2-1, oh no, it could be extra-time, I’m knackered’. Then Paul Dickov gets the equaliser and everyone goes mad.

“I know Gillingham fans still give me a bit of stick. But it was a great day out, great weekend for me and my team, it was a privilege to referee the final and it was a great honour to be there and represent the Football League.”

The Gills fans – as well as Tony Pulis – were clearly not happy with the stoppage time that Halsey added on at the end of the 90 minutes, as City bagged two late goals on their way to a memorable Wembley win.

Halsey, though, maintains the five minutes plus of stoppages were more than warranted.

“There was time wasting, cautions, substitutions, that’s where the added time came from.

“As we see today, you can sometimes play 96, 97, 98, 99, 100 minutes.

“So it was what it was. Teams have to defend for 90+ minutes. They know that.

“I remember when City won the shoot-out, Nicky Weaver went off and celebrated in one direction and I ran off in the other direction with Tony Pulis chasing me down the tunnel.”

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