Michael George Summerbee (born 15 December 1942) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

, who played in the successful Manchester City side of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Club career

Summerbee was born in Preston,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, and raised in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, he attended Naunton Park Secondary Modern School where he was influenced by sports teacher, Arnold Wills, with whom he was publicly reunited 50 years later when Summerbee was Guest of Honour at the 150th anniversary celebrations of Cheltenham YMCA, to which both had belonged in their youth. Summerbee made his league debut playing for

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

in 1959 at the age of 16. He made more than 200 appearances for the Wiltshire club, scoring 38 goals. In 1965 Manchester City manager

Joe Mercer Joseph Mercer, OBE (9 August 1914 – 9 August 1990) was an English football player and manager. Mercer, who played as a defender for Everton and Arsenal in his footballing career, also went on to manage Aston Villa, Manchester City and Engl ...

signed Summerbee for a fee of £35,000. In his first Manchester City season Summerbee started every match, the only Manchester City player to do so that season. Playing on the right wing, Summerbee was one of the most influential players in the Manchester City side which won four trophies in three seasons from 1968 to 1970. Something of a practical joker, Summerbee (or "Buzzer" as teammates nicknamed him) was also known for a fiery temperament, a trait described by teammate Francis Lee as "retaliating first". Summerbee left Manchester City in June 1975, moving to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

, for a £25,000 fee, after making more than 400 appearances for City. Summerbee signed for Blackpool on Christmas Eve 1976. The transfer had been the Blackpool chairman's idea, not that of manager Allan Brown. Summerbee later admitted that he should not have joined the club. He made just three League appearances for the Seasiders. Summerbee ended his footballing career at

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

, where he was player-manager in the 1978–79 season. In 1980, he returned to the game for a single match, playing for non-League

Mossley Mossley (/ˈmɒzli/) is a town and civil parish in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, in the upper Tame Valley and the foothills of the Pennines, southeast of Oldham and east of Manchester. The historic counties of Lancashire, Cheshir ...

in their single goal FA Cup defeat of

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

International career

Over a five-year period, which encompassed the 1970 World Cup Summerbee played for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

eight times. He made his international debut against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

in front of 134,000 spectators at Hampden Park on 24 February 1968, and helped to secure a 1–1 draw to clinch

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

UEFA Euro 1968 The 1968 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Italy. This was the third UEFA European Championship, an event held every four years and organised by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 5 and 10 June 1968. It ...

Later life

Off the pitch, Summerbee has been involved with a number of business ventures with varying degrees of success, including a period where he co-owned a menswear business with

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A highly skilful dribbler, Best is regarded as one of the greatest p ...

. Summerbee is now the Club Ambassador for Manchester City. Summerbee also starred in the cult film ''

Escape to Victory ''Escape to Victory'' (stylized as ''Victory'') is a 1981 American-British-Italian sports war film directed by John Huston and starring Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Max von Sydow and Pelé. The film is about Allied prisoners of wa ...

'' alongside Sylvester Stallone,

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English actor. Known for his distinctive Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films in a career spanning seven decades, and is considered a British film ico ...

and Pelé. Summerbee's son, Nicky, was also a professional footballer, who followed in his father's footsteps by playing for both Swindon Town and Manchester City before joining Sunderland. His father,

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

, and uncle,

Gordon Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

, were both lower-division players whose careers were affected by the outbreak of war.

Career statistics

As a player

Source:

As a manager

Source:

Honours

Awards * Swindon Town F.C. Player of the Season: 1964–65 *

Manchester City F.C. Manchester City Football Club are an English football club based in Manchester that competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's (West Gorton), they became Ardwick Association Football ...

Player of the Year:

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

Hall of Fame: 2004 (inducted) *

English Football Hall of Fame The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum in Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and man ...

: 2013 (inducted) *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

third place:

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

Manchester City *

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

champions: 1965–66 * First Division champions: 1967–68 *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

winners:

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

winners:

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...

winners:

* FA Charity Shield winners:

Summerbee was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to association football and charity.

References

;Specific ;General *James, Gary – Manchester – The Greatest City * {{DEFAULTSORT:Summerbee, Mike 1942 births Living people Footballers from Preston, Lancashire Association football wingers Association football forwards English footballers England under-23 international footballers England international footballers English Football League representative players Swindon Town F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Mossley A.F.C. players English Football League players UEFA Euro 1968 players English football managers Stockport County F.C. managers English Football League managers English Football Hall of Fame inductees English businesspeople English autobiographers FA Cup Final players Officers of the Order of the British Empire