When did the fever start?

[kushiro]

Thinking constantly about the run-in. Endlessly going over fixtures and permutations in your mind. Staring at the league table for longer than is healthy. 

 

But what's your earliest / strongest memory of this sickness? It could be chasing promotion or escaping the drop - or even going for the title (I know some on here remember 1963).

 

Mine is a promotion race I rarely hear anyone talk about anymore: 1981/82. People do talk about the cup run, but the league that year was crazy. It was Lineker's breakthrough season - he'd been on the fringes for a few seasons, but suddenly he moved up about two gears. Because of the cup and loads of postponements, at one stage we had FIVE games in hand on our promotion rivals, and were about 10 points off a promotion place (this was the first season of three points for a win). The permutations were doing my little teenage head in.

 

With a week or two to go, we'd pretty much caught up and were well-placed to get the 3rd promotion spot, even though Martin O'Neill had inspired Norwich to a 4-1 win at Filbert Street in early April. In the end, we blew it, and Norwich took the last spot.  

 

I was trying to find some footage of that run-in. Nothing City-related came up, but there is this amazing clip of Norwich on the last day of the season at Sheff. Wed. It's really worth watching all six minutes of this - crazy scenes, and a flavour of the way thing used to be. At the start of the video, the Norwich fans suddenly start celebrating - they've just found out that City have failed to beat Shrewsbury, and now can't catch them.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KePrHPkxZzY

 

 

[Stadt]

Burnley away in the Championship, I was really nervous before the game but after I felt as though we were invincible.

[biggs]

The doc let me know late last year I've got this rare fever but I'm thinking he screwed up and it started almost 50 years ago. Might have to sue him for malpractice.....all the lows and not so highs has been mind boggling. Anyway all is good now as the drugs he's given me this year appear to be working. Thanks for asking!!!

[Spudulike]

I was only talking to my Dad yesterday about how stressed we got during the 1929 campaign.

[Vacamion]

Jock Wallace's spell in charge and promotion as champions in 1980.

9 year old Vac spent spare time drawing pictures of the players, the badge etc, copying photos from the Mercury and Shoot.

Mark Wallington and Alan Young were my heroes.

[sdb]

The promotion season in 02/03. I'd stare at the table for hours. Last 2 seasons have been similar. This season I don't look in case it's not real, but i do spend approximately 23 hours a day thinking about the rest of the season and next game especially. 

[weller54]

The promotion season in 02/03. I'd stare at the table for hours. Last 2 seasons have been similar. This season I don't look in case it's not real, but i do spend approximately 23 hours a day thinking about the rest of the season and next game especially.

What are you doing for the remaining 1 hour?

[HighPeakFox]

1991/92 for me. Absolute agony.

[johnny the fox]

My fever started after I kipped down with a bird from Highfields...

[sdb]

What are you doing for the remaining 1 hour?

 

 

thinking about the last game

[ealingfox]

The promotion season in 02/03. I'd stare at the table for hours. Last 2 seasons have been similar. This season I don't look in case it's not real, but i do spend approximately 23 hours a day thinking about the rest of the season and next game especially. 

 

Those bloody 2 games in hand that Sheffield United had! Excruciating.

[sdb]

Those bloody 2 games in hand that Sheffield United had! Excruciating.

 

 

And the potential points deduction for going into administration! 

[Corky]

The relegation battles in the Championship were the first signs of nerves and a horrible feeling. I expected us to struggle in the Premier League and we had some brilliant seasons before that but looking at the bottom six of the second division wasn't pleasant and we were teetering on the brink before we went. Four years where we weren't safe until the last three or four games and in one case were never safe.