Tommy Hutchison Book (1 Viewer)

I have been fortunate to meet my football heroes at various Legends days Bill Glazier, Ernie Hunt, Willie Carr, Tommy Hutchison. Just to mention a few, still brings back such happy memories of those era's. Have had Tommys (signed) book for Christmas and has someone else has said just reading small portions of it and just reminiscing.
Regarding songs, the one we used to sing in the West End about Hutch, well a small group of us anyway, was as follows.

Hutch the magic winger plays for the Sky Blues. You read about his magic feet in the football news. His boots are made of stardust. His studs are made of gold and if you want to buy him, he cant be f**king sold.
Happy days

69 today,and wife has just given me the book.
Takes the edge off missing travelling to Burnley for the game( I was warned not to go ).
Loved watching Tommy zigzagging up his wing, leaving international defenders sitting on their arses.
So it’s ifollow for me today, a point or three will go will go down well tonight with a good ribeye and a bottle of red.

So are you saying your present was a book or a 69?

Soixante neuf is just a memory at my age.

Tommy will be down in Coventry for the game against Stoke on April 1 as part of Legend’s Day. If you would like to meet up with him and have a chat then he will be in the casino after the game. He will also be signing copies of the book for anyone who would like to buy one. (You don’t have to buy a book to have a chat, Tommy really enjoys meeting people!).
If you can’t make the meeting in the casino but would still like a signed copy of the book delivered to your door, then please use the link below.

Warwickshire lad said:

Soixante neuf is just a memory at my age.

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I bloody hate being 69! Reminds me of happier times! Roll on June! I'll be 70!

joemercersaces said:

Dazzle, Tommy, Dazzle, used to be the cry. He’d pick up the ball on the left wing and usually beat two or three players, often twice. Brightened up many a dreary Saturday afternoon in the 70s. In those days there wasn’t the same degree of transfer business or we would never have kept him.

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We didn’t

Johhny Blue said:

We didn’t

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Had him for 9 years though, but sold him ironically before he was due a testimonial, typical ccfc. When I look back I can’t help wondering where the Scottish stars have gone, in those gays most top teams had great Scottish players a lot where wingers, there was our Tommy, but also the likes of Eddie Gray, Charlie Cooke, Willie Morgan, Willie Johnston, Jinky Johnstone, Bertie Auld, Davie Cooper, Gordon Strachan,Pat Nevin, John Robertson, bound to have missed some all wingers or wide players in todays language, everyone in my opinion would get in todays top teams and thrive and that’s forgetting the Kenny Dalglieshs ‘ and Souness etc etc. A mystery.

We had our own Scot’s besides hutch. Blyth McDonald Hilton Wallace stein brogan . All would have had many caps in todays era

We always had a large group of Scottish players apart from those you have mentioned we had big Jim Holton, Roy Barry arguably our best ever centre-half Ernie Hannigan the underrated Brian Alderson, Neil Martin, Colin Stein, John O’Rourke and my for ever favourite Ian Gibson just imagining him in todays team gives me goose bumps, all in about a ten year period.

slowpoke said:

We always had a large group of Scottish players apart from those you have mentioned we had big Jim Holton, Roy Barry arguably our best ever centre-half Ernie Hannigan the underrated Brian Alderson, Neil Martin, Colin Stein, John O’Rourke and my for ever favourite Ian Gibson just imagining him in todays team gives me goose bumps, all in about a ten year period.

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Plus Willie Carr, Quinton Young, Gary Gillespie and I'm sure others that I've missed. Not sure that O'Rourke was Scottish though - always thought he was English?

DazzleTommyDazzle said:

Plus Willie Carr, Quinton Young, Gary Gillespie and I'm sure others that I've missed. Not sure that O'Rourke was Scottish though - always thought he was English?

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Yes my mistake O’Rourke was English and who could forget Willie Carr and Garry Gillespie, what a signing he was at 17. Jimmy Hill signed Carr from non league Cambridge City another top Scot, one of three great non league signings a Ernie Machin from Nelson and John Tudor from Ilkeston and he also snapped up Dave Clements from Wolves reserves.

slowpoke said:

Yes my mistake O’Rourke was English and who could forget Willie Carr and Garry Gillespie, what a signing he was at 17. Jimmy Hill signed Carr from non league Cambridge City another top Scot.

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A friend of mine was a youngster on City's books in the 60's. He said that the day he knew he wouldn't make it was when a scrawny little red haired kid turned up at training and ran rings round everyone.

DazzleTommyDazzle said:

Plus Willie Carr, Quinton Young, Gary Gillespie and I'm sure others that I've missed. Not sure that O'Rourke was Scottish though - always thought he was English?

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Think he was English

Although with that name he must have had green roots!

Tommy was due to be at Blackpool last weekend. He decided a few weeks ago that it was an event too far, as he has clocked up a lot of miles this past year. Apologies, as I know one or two north west based City fans hoped to see him there.

Also not so much Carr he was only about 16 and at the time had Gibbo ahead of him but Machin, Tudor, Gillespie & Clements all got straight into the first team, nowadays we look at 20/21 year olds as if they were kids.

Here’s our all Scottish forward line from the early ‘70’s It was apparently the first in 85 years

Johhny Blue said:

Here’s our all Scottish forward line from the early ‘70’s It was apparently the first in 85 years

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Wow, a forward line with 5 in it, I must have missed that back in the day.

Johhny Blue said:

Here’s our all Scottish forward line from the early ‘70’s It was apparently the first in 85 years

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From 68 v Chelsea, 2-1 win

COVKIDSNEVERQUIT said:

Wow, a forward line with 5 in it, I must have missed that back in the day.

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Think it was pretty common back in the day to play a 2-3-5 formation.

Sky_Blue_Dreamer said:

Think it was pretty common back in the day to play a 2-3-5 formation.

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Must have been before my time.

Just remember in the season of 67/68, we had a midfield 3 of, Ian Gibson, Willie Carr and Ernie Machin.

Forward line of Bobby Gould, John Tudor and Ronnie Rees. So the formation must have been, 4 3 3.

If my memory serves me right.

slowpoke said:

We always had a large group of Scottish players apart from those you have mentioned we had big Jim Holton, Roy Barry arguably our best ever centre-half Ernie Hannigan the underrated Brian Alderson, Neil Martin, Colin Stein, John O’Rourke and my for ever favourite Ian Gibson just imagining him in todays team gives me goose bumps, all in about a ten year period.

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On his day Ian Gibson was unplayable. Sensational talent.

COVKIDSNEVERQUIT said:

Must have been before my time.

Just remember in the season of 67/68, we had a midfield 3 of, Ian Gibson, Willie Carr and Ernie Machin.

Forward line of Bobby Gould, John Tudor and Ronnie Rees. So the formation must have been, 4 3 3.

If my memory serves me right.

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Way before anyone's time now. 1920's/30's I think - time of Bourton etc.

Forward line was outside left, inside left, centre forward, inside right, outside right.

dadgad said:

On his day Ian Gibson was unplayable. Sensational talent.

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He’d be worth millions today.

Just a reminder that Tommy will be in the casino after the game tomorrow. He will be signing copies of his book for anyone who hasn’t bought one yet. However, if you’re not buying a copy, still come over and say hello and get a photo as he is a really approachable chap.

If you can’t make it into the casino tomorrow but you would like a signed copy of the book, you can have one delivered to your door by using the form below.

The last book selling event (that I know of at this stage) will be at Swansea on Good Friday. I will put details of the day on here later in the week so that any travelling City fans or any of those based in South Wales have a chance to meet the great man and buy a signed book if they want to.

I have to say that wherever he has been in the past few months, be that Alloa, Man City or Blackpool, the reception he has had has been fantastic. However, that reception pales into insignificance when compared to how he is treated at Coventry.

I brought some books to the hotel at the ground for him to sign before yesterday’s Legends Day. We stepped into the lift when we’d finished and a guy followed us in and immediately recognised Tom and started telling him what a great player he had been and how much he had enjoyed seeing him play. After the inevitable photo and hand shake off he went.

We had to drop the books into the casino and I said to Tommy that I wondered how long it would be before he was grabbed again! The answer was about 5 seconds, as a chap outside shook his hand and again regaled him with how good he had been and could he have a photo?
In the fifteen meters from the hotel doors to the Casino doors he was stopped 3 times! (this wasn’t just before the game but 11 am in the morning when not so many people were about!)

In Coventry he is treated like a king! He can’t move without people stopping him to have a chat and a picture. It has been wonderful to see. I knew he’d be popular but the reception he has had has even taken me (and perhaps Tommy himself) by surprise.

When I arrived at the stadium with the books yesterday, car park A was cordoned off, I think for the former players and their families. I told the steward who stopped me that I had books for Tommy Hutchison to sign. He said ‘ if it’s for Tommy on you go mate!’. He shouted to his colleague manning the cones, ‘Open them up, this guy has to see Tommy Hutchison’.

The one downside is that Tommy hasn’t seen a good performance from the team yet, in fact he has watched two defeats. Hopefully at Swansea on Friday it will be third time lucky and we can really turn in a performance and a result for him.

I don’t think we will be ordering any more books. We have about 80 between us still to sell and hopefully these will go at Swansea. However if you would like a signed book, any orders received before Friday will ensure one is delivered to your door. If you would like a signed copy, please use the form below. Sincere thanks to everyone on here who has bought a copy. Between Tommy and myself we have sold over 800 books. While this doesn’t mean I’ll be living in a mansion any time soon, it does mean we have at least broken even on the project. It’s also meant I have had the chance to meet some really nice people, including having a chat yesterday with another hero of mine, Ian Wallace who I’m pleased to say is as down to earth as Tommy is.

Tommy will be the match day guest on Friday for our game against Swansea. The Swans have kindly allowed us to sell the book both in the club shop and in the lounges before and after the game.
We will be in the club shop from 12:30 until 1:15. Any City fans who arrive early or who are based in South Wales will be very welcome to come and have a chat and a photo with Tommy and buy a signed book if they would like. Any City fans in hospitality should be able to come over and say hello and also buy a book if they wish.
Anyone not able to make it to the game can have a signed book delivered to their door by going to the link below. I can only guarantee that books ordered by Thursday night will be available as I don’t know if we will have any left after visiting Swansea.

Anyone who would still like a signed copy of the Tommy Hutchison book can pick one up from Pop’s Hairdresser’s on Wallace Road Radford. Dave Larkin (Pop), the proprietor, is kindly selling a few books for me. He is a big City fan and if you stop by, you can have a chat about all things Sky Blue or football in general, as well as having a good hair cut at very reasonable prices. The club shop are now selling the book, but I think these are full price and are not signed by Tommy.
If you can’t make it to Pop’s but would still like an autographed copy of the book, PM me and I can get one too you as I still have a couple of books left.

Tommy Hutchison on the Sky Blue History podcast this week. Hopefully the link below works. If you haven’t listened before, this podcast is well worth a try with lots of great content that many contributors on here will have lived through.

That was a great listen - Tommy being so genuinely enthusiastic in interview.
Couldn’t help laughing at the ironic request for Tommy to switch a light on at his end after recalling the moaning McDougall story.
So glad I got to see him play regularly for three or four seasons.
I totally understand his desire for a move when it came although I don’t recall the Bobby Mac transfer at the same time as being so amicable.
I still rate Bobby McDonald as the best left back I’ve ever seen in a City shirt (albeit viewed through very young eyes)
But I’m sure the narrative back then was that he forced a moved (basically went on strike to manipulate it)
Man City’s first game back at HR featuring both former players was somewhat mixed as I recall it - Tommy Hutch getting a very warm reception but the former ‘Super Mac’ being greeted with chants of ‘Super Wank’.
Anybody else recall that?

Weirdly I was coached by Tommy in primary school. I live in Bristol and he was part of the Bristol City coaching setup. I arrived in a Coventry City shirt as a 10 year old and he immediately caught it and signed it for me. My Dad arrived after to pick me up as he was his childhood hero and got some photos with him haha. Still won’t forgive him for accusing me of diving in one of our training matches though haha.

oscillatewildly said:

That was a great listen - Tommy being so genuinely enthusiastic in interview.
Couldn’t help laughing at the ironic request for Tommy to switch a light on at his end after recalling the moaning McDougall story.
So glad I got to see him play regularly for three or four seasons.
I totally understand his desire for a move when it came although I don’t recall the Bobby Mac transfer at the same time as being so amicable.
I still rate Bobby McDonald as the best left back I’ve ever seen in a City shirt (albeit viewed through very young eyes)
But I’m sure the narrative back then was that he forced a moved (basically went on strike to manipulate it)
Man City’s first game back at HR featuring both former players was somewhat mixed as I recall it - Tommy Hutch getting a very warm reception but the former ‘Super Mac’ being greeted with chants of ‘Super Wank’.
Anybody else recall that?

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I think when they moved to Man City both Hutch and McDonald were out of the team. Tommy had returned from America, played a few games (including a League Cup tie at Brighton for us which left him Cup tied for Man City’s run to the semi final, losing to Liverpool, we also got to the semi final, losing to West Ham) and then lost his place. I think McDonald being out of the team was stranger than Tommy losing his place. He was an outstanding left back but he was being kept out of the team by the right footed Brian Roberts. I think even ‘Harry’ would agree, outstanding he wasn’t.

jto123 said:

Weirdly I was coached by Tommy in primary school. I live in Bristol and he was part of the Bristol City coaching setup. I arrived in a Coventry City shirt as a 10 year old and he immediately caught it and signed it for me. My Dad arrived after to pick me up as he was his childhood hero and got some photos with him haha. Still won’t forgive him for accusing me of diving in one of our training matches though haha.

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Tommy worked in schools for twenty odd years after finishing as a player, first in South Wales and then for Bristol City in the Community. He loved it, especially when he was working with kids from disadvantaged backgrounds that were similar to his own.

Irish Sky Blue said:

I think when they moved to Man City both Hutch and McDonald were out of the team. Tommy had returned from America, played a few games (including a League Cup tie at Brighton for us which left him Cup tied for Man City’s run to the semi final, losing to Liverpool, we also got to the semi final, losing to West Ham) and then lost his place. I think McDonald being out of the team was stranger than Tommy losing his place. He was an outstanding left back but he was being kept out of the team by the right footed Brian Roberts. I think even ‘Harry’ would agree, outstanding he wasn’.

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Yes the Bobby Mac thing was bizarre. He played the 1st game of the season at Birmingham when the whole team were pants and was then dropped in favour of Brian Roberts, and didn't get another look in until he was sold. If you put him and Hutch into the team that played the League Cup semi final against West Ham I'm sure we would have won.