Mick McGuire – SkyBlueArchive

Position

Midfielder

Nationality

Place Of Birth

Blackpool

Date Of Birth

September 4, 1952

Age

Games Played

Per Game

Games Started

0.9

Per Game

Minutes

6846

78.7

Per Game

Goals

0.01

Per Game

Assists

0.1

Per Game

Mick arrived at Highfield Road to join the greatest crop of youngsters the club had ever had. He joined players like Dennis Mortimer, Alan Dugdale, Jimmy Holmes, Les Cartwright, Alan Green and Bobby Parker in an exciting period. And they formed the nucleus of the club’s youth team, managed by 1960s Sky Blue star Ron Farmer, which reached the FA Youth Cup Final in 1970, losing in a classic four-match series with an impressive Spurs team that included Steve Perryman and Graeme Souness.

The following year Mick, along with Parker and Dugdale were members of the England Youth team that won the European Youth championship and Mick’s seven youth caps seemed to guarantee a golden future. He had excellent ball control and was a good passer of the ball. If he had a weakness it was that he was sometimes too easily pushed off the ball.

Competition for midfield places in City’s first team was tough at the time and Mortimer and Willie Carr were dominating the centre of the field. Mick however got his chance in August 1971 at West Brom in a 1-1 draw.

Mick’s first league goal (and his only one in a Sky Blue shirt) was not far away; in a home game with Leicester he came on as a substitute and scored a late equaliser. That season City struggled in Division 1 and in February manager Noel Cantwell was sacked. Chief Scout Bob Dennison took over the reins temporarily and knowing Mick’s strengths well, gave him a regular spot in the team.

Following the arrival of Joe Mercer and Gordon Milne, Mick had to prove himself again and his appearances were restricted with the signing of Tommy Hutchison and the superb form of Mortimer. He played in 19 games however and never let the side down. In 1974 he was all set to join Tottenham, along with Jimmy Holmes, but when Spurs boss Billy Nicholson lost his job, the deal was off. City had banked on the £200,000 proceeds from the deal repaying most of the debts incurred by buying Larry Lloyd from Liverpool and when the Spurs deal fell through City were in serious financial difficulty. Some months later Mick joined Norwich City for a derisory £60,000 as City were forced to sell players to survive.

He spent eight years at Carrow Road and in 1976 he was on the verge of England Under 23 honours when he suffered a serious Achilles injury that kept him out of football for two years. In 1982 he captained the Canaries to promotion back to Division One but in March 1983 he signed for Barnsley after 203 appearances in the famous yellow shirt. For a season and a half he was a regular in Barnsley’s Second Division team managed, first by Norman Hunter and later Bobby Collins.

In 1985 Oldham manager Joe Royle signed him and he helped Oldham to the Division 2 play-offs but in 1987 his injuries were catching up with him and at the age of 35 he retired from league football. He played non-league football for Mossley and Grantham before retiring completely in 1989.

Mick has been involved with the PFA for many years, and has been a member of the PFA Management Committee and was second in command to Chief Executive Gordon Taylor.

Football League First Division (England)

1974-1975

450′

1973-1974

1805′

1972-1973

1233′

1971-1972

2121′

1 (0)

1970-1971

0′

5609′

1 (0)

League Cup (England)

1974-1975

70′

1973-1974

360′

1972-1973

0′

1971-1972

60′

490′

0 (0)

FA Cup (England)

1973-1974

270′

1972-1973

135′

405′

0 (0)

The Texaco Cup (England)

1973-1974

162′

1972-1973

90′

1971-1972

90′

342′

0 (0)

Totals:

6846′

1 (0)