NICKY WEAVER: My save in 1999 was just as important as Ederson’s in the Champions League final
NICKY WEAVER: Ederson’s save from Romelu Lukaku was said to be the most important save in Man City history…but mine in 1999 was just as important!
The commentator said Ederson’s save from Romelu Lukaku was the most important in Manchester City’s history. Right now it certainly is, but I’d still like to think mine is equally important over time.
The rise of the city is a staggering story. You could say that my penalty save against Gillingham in the 1999 Division Two play-off final was the first piece of the jigsaw and Ederson’s was the last. I am privileged to have played my part; we play football to create these great memories.
Saving a decisive penalty in a shoot-out at Wembley as a rookie 20-year-old to earn promotion is as close as I’ll ever get to scoring a winning goal, but Ederson’s save to win a Champions League and to complete the Treble has started another level.
What I think is great now is that more and more people are recognizing the 1999 promotion as such a turning point. TThe younger generation is used to winning, but fans of a certain age have experienced every emotion with City.
The club was on a low ebb. I probably think about that every day of my life. I played more than 200 games for City, including when we got to the Premier League, but it’s like I’ve only played one game.
It is said that Ederson’s save from Romelu Lukaku in Saturday’s Champions League final was the most important in the club’s history.
Nicky Waver could match that claim after a crucial penalty kick in the 1999 Division Two play-off final
Man City were then promoted to Division One after trailing 2–0 against Gillingham
My parents still have that match shirt and the pictures on the wall of their home in Sheffield. iIf we hadn’t gone up there was talk of the club going bankrupt and the chairman David Bernstein said we wouldn’t have gotten the new stadium.
In December of that season we came 12th in Division Two after losing to York. A few days later we lost to Stoke at home and at half time it started in the dressing room.
Blows were dealt. Jamie Pollock, Andy Morrison, Willie Donachie and Joe Royle. I just sat in the corner watching it all go down, but it sorted us out and we clawed our way back to the playoffs.
Even in that final we were 2-0 down with three minutes to go before Kevin Horlock pulled one back and Paul Dickov equalized in the fifth minute of stoppage time. We had developed a great mind.
We still keep in touch, Lee Crooks joined the RAF, some of the guys moved to America, but we had a reunion three years ago and the bond from that experience is great.
We never had a bus parade because Manchester United won their Treble days before, but I’ll never forget Joe Royle who said ‘What goes around, comes around…and City are coming around’.
He was always good for a one-liner Joe, but I’m not sure even he knew how prophetic it was going to be. Here we look, albeit 24 years later, at one of the greatest English teams ever.
I am now a goalkeeping coach at Sheffield Wednesday’s academy and Albie, my son, is a goalkeeper like me and in the club’s U11s. I took him to look around City and he said ‘you played here, dad?’
That victory 24 years ago was the first step on City’s road to the treble
They were promoted again the following season, winning their first major trophy in 35 years in 2011
Man City sealed a historic treble on Saturday after a Rodri goal in the second half took them to a 1-0 win over Inter Milan
Its magnitude dawned on him. He was incredulous. What they’ve done with the infrastructure, created thousands of jobs in the area. It’s so far from 1999, but magical.
I looked in Turkey on Saturday, only that I was 700 km from Istanbul in a hotel in Belek with my friend Abi, Albie and our daughter Esme. We turned up three hours before kick-off to get our seats in front of the TV.
Like everyone else, I thought Lukaku had scored but it was a brilliant save. Ederson still responded by moving his feet and the image of him on his knees at the end will go down in club folklore.
You can still buy badges and mugs depicting my Wembley party, I’m not sure they sell many these days and why I made that face I’ll never know, but I’m thrilled to be part of the fabric. It’s a great, romantic story to end here.