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City generally are under-represented in this team, with some omissions borderline criminal. Here is a run down of the players who made it, and those who really were unlucky to have been left out. 1/
The PFA Team of the Year started in the 1973/74 season, but it was to be some time before a City player featured. Our malaise during the latter half of the 1970s meant that we could have no real complaints, though Wealands and Daniel can maybe count themselves a bit unlucky. 2/
Les Mutrie became the first Tiger in a Team of the Year in 1982/83. Les scored 12 goals that season, but was left out after scoring 27 the season before. God knows what Marwood had to do, scoring 19 goals from the wing, and Iain Hesford was preferred to Tony Norman! 3/
There was no City representation in the heartbreaking 1983/84 season, despite strong returns from Tony, Garreth Roberts, Skip and Brian Marwood (again), who scored 16 goals from the wing, unable to compete with the likes of Trevor Hebberd and Brian Flynn. 4/
The next season, with City promoted, saw Tony Norman and Pete Skipper included in the team. Two players from a team in third isn’t a bad return, but Billy Whitehurst’s 20 goals in 40 games and Stan McEwen’s 11 goals from centre-back surely deserved some recognition. 5/
This was it for City for a bit. At no point were Tony, Jobbo, Garry Parker or Billy Askew considered the best in their positions in Division 2. Crazy. Keith Edwards’ 29 goals in 44 games and goals against Liverpool and Arsenal couldn’t oust David Currie. What a pile of toss. 6/
The 1990s were hellish for City, but Dean Windass was rewarded with a place in the 1993/94 Second Division team for his goalscoring exploits. But who else from the 1990s could claim a place? Dewhurst at a stretch. Fettis maybe. Our lack of representation was deserved. 7/
Three promotions in the 2000s mean that we dominated these teams, right? Wrong. Justin was consistently robbed of his place, though a returning Fettis was bizarrely given a place in the League 2 XI in 2002-03, despite struggling with us. Must have been his York form. 8/
But 2003/04, that great team must dominate the XI, right? Nope. Just Daws at left back. Weale ahead of Boaz. Andy Crosby ahead of Damien. Alex Russell ahead of Ash and Greeny. No Elliott, Price, BBB, Allsopp. Third-bottom Scunny had two players in there, we had one. What kack. 9/
Another promotion in L1 though, so surely better this time around? Think again, poindexter. Just Stuart Elliott after his amazing season. Luton had six players, us one. Chris Coyne better than Leon Cort? Merson better than Barmby? Marlon Beresford better than Boaz? No, no, no.10/
As we settled into the second tier, there was nothing to get excited about until 2007/08, but surely then we’d be represented? Again, no. Danny Shittu somehow edged out Michael Turner. That is possibly the most crazy omission of them all. Fraizer and Ricketts unlucky too. 11/
We were never going to get anyone into the Prem XI, so we move to the 2012/13 promotion season. Again, not a single City player represented despite a 2nd place finish. No Elmo. No James Chester (Mark Hudson kept him out). No Koren. But Tom Ince was in there. This country. 12/
No Prem representation, but what about when we bounced back up in 2015/16? One City player: Michael Dawson. Big Daws was fine for us, but this seems like him getting in on reputation rather than performance (as Peter Beagrie did for fucking years). 13/
Curtis Davies had a better season than Dawson. Andrew Robertson couldn’t oust Bruno. Odubajo was as good as any right-back in the league. Hernandez’s 20 goals couldn’t remove McCormack or Gray. No Snodgrass. 14/
And we’ve not really done enough to warrant a player in the representative teams since, it’s sort of fair to say. Apart from one man: Jarrod Bowen. All those goals, and he couldn’t get in a Championship XI as players from London teams picked up the votes. Yet more nonsense. 14/
So don’t expect much City representation in the League 1 2020/21 team. Honeyman will probably get in, but deserving cases from Ingram, Greaves, Elder, Docherty and Wilks will likely fall on deaf ears. Proving, yet again, that the PFA Team of the Year is a pile of wank. Ends/
