Manchester City fan Jim Glennie of British rockers James picks his fantasy five-a-side team.
Our new feature continues as Jim Glennie of James picks his dream five-a-side team
Manchester City fan Jim Glennie of James picks his dream five-a-side team...
Jim Glennie, longest-serving member of British rockers James, admits being a Manchester City fan has not always been a smooth sailing.
The bassist was brought up a stone's throw from Maine Road and although he now resides in the Scottish highlands - a gruelling eight-hour drive away from the Etihad Stadium - he still regularly makes the trip south to see City in action.
He has only begun to taste success with his boyhood club in recent years, and there's still an air of disbelief as he talks about being in the stands when City clinched long-awaited Premier League title glory in dramatic style last season.
Sky Sports caught up with Glennie, currently promoting James' first boxset, 'The Gathering Sound', as he shared a dream five-a-side team boasting two Manchester City legends and - more surprisingly - one from the Red side of the city.
Bert Trautmann
He was a German prisoner of war in the Second World War and was kept in a POW camp in Lancashire but when the war ended, instead of going back to Germany, he decided to stay. He ended up playing in net for various teams then got signed by City. He was with City for donkey's years and got an OBE and all the rest of it but his true moment of glory was in the 1956 FA Cup final. He went into a challenge with a Birmingham City player, got kicked and was obviously injured, but he carried on for the rest of the game and City won 3-1. Then after the match they found that he'd broken his neck!
Franz Beckenbauer (captain)
You've only got one defender in a five-a-side team, so you need someone who's pretty athletic and who's going to run around a lot rather than somebody who's just going to kick people. Beckenbauer had a very commanding presence and he could play the ball out as well, he wasn't a 'tackle-and-hoof-it' kind of defender. He was very resilient and sturdy but he had a little bit of skill about him as well. A highlight of his for me was him losing to England in the 1966 World Cup final, but I'm not sure that would be his choice. They won it in 1974 so that's probably his.
Colin Bell
He was an amazing powerhouse for City and I think he's still considered to be City's best all-round midfielder, if not player. He was hugely loved by the fans for the amount of work he put in. His nickname was 'Nijinsky' after the famous racehorse because of how much work he did. He was good with both feet and was constantly running at teams, wearing players down. Unfortunately he was injured out of the game at 29, he got a bad knee injury, so his career was stopped prematurely short. He's still the only player to have a stand named after him at City.
Lionel Messi
He's probably the best player that's ever been on the planet, he's just amazing. Saul, one of the other guys in the band, is a huge Barcelona fan, he lived there for many years. Whenever we get together he manages to find a Barca game for us to watch. Messi is just an incredible talent. He's beaten Gerd Mueller's record of most goals in 12 months, which is ridiculous. I remember Mueller - he was an old-school, poaching centre-forward who was always in the right place at the right time after everyone else's hard work. But Messi isn't like that - he creates loads of chances. He's not greedy by any stretch of the imagination. How he manages to score so many goals when he's that type of player I don't know.
George Best
He's an ex-Manchester United player but he's a Manchester legend. Because of the car crash that was his life, with the booze and the high living, and ending his career relatively early, I think he kind of won everyone over in Manchester. I played with him once in a charity match in LA and technically speaking I did actually tackle him. It was a thrill being on the same pitch as him, I'll never forget that. I'm sure it wasn't his most memorable football moment but for me it certainly was. As a player I just remember his cheeky runs where he'd beat four or five players then go around the goalie and slide it into the net like he was in a training match. There never seemed to be any seriousness to the way he played football, it was always relaxed, and I loved that.
Five songs Jim would have on in the dressing room to fire up his side...
New Order - World In Motion
Baddiel and Skinner - Three Lions
The Jam - Going Underground
James - Destiny Calling
Happy Mondays - Step On
James' first ever boxset, 'The Gathering Sound', is out now on Universal. Find out more here.
