A Look At Career Of Brian Kidd, A Manchester City Great

Earlier today, we reported on Brian Kidd leaving Manchester City after 12 years with the club, but his association with the blues goes back much further than his time with Roberto Mancini, Manuel Pellegrini and Pep Guardiola.

A former blues striker, he lit up Maine Road in the mid to late 70’s and has a place in a unique club that have played for, and worked on the staff at both City and United. Here, we take a look at his career in a bit more detail.

Born in Collyhurst, East Manchester, the same area that produced Colin Barlow, Stan Bowles and Nobby Stiles, as well as comedian Les Dawson. Kidd joined United in 1967, where he spent seven years. He scored as a 19 year old in the 1968 European Cup final and made over 203 appearances for the Old Trafford side, scoring 65 goals. Kidd scored against City at Maine Road, when he put United 2-0 up in November 1971. City hit back and the match finished 3-3.

Upon United’s relegation in 1974, Kidd left Old Trafford to join Arsenal for the princely sum of £110,000. He spent 2 years at Highbury, making 77 appearances for the Gunners and scoring 30 goals. He scored on his Arsenal debut, then hit a brace against City in his first home match of the season.

To stop him scoring against the blues, manager Tony Book brought Kidd back to Manchester for £100,000. The blues had just won their last trophy for a while, but had qualified for the UEFA Cup. He made his debut for the club at Leicester, as he had at Arsenal, but didn’t find the net in a blue shirt until Juventus arrived at Maine Road and Kidd’s goal gave the blues a 1-0 win.

He scored his first league goal for City in a 2-0 win over Norwich at Carrow Road, and hit a brace as City defeated Derby 3-2 at Maine Road. The striker hit four in a home match against Leicester City as the blues thrashed the Foxes 5-0 and he finished his debut season with an impressive 23 goals.

Kidd was top scorer the following season with 20 goals, the first coming in a League Cup tie at Chesterfield, when City won 1-0. His first league goals of the new season cam in a 3-1 at home to United. The striker scored again against the Reds at Old Trafford as City drew 2-2 in Stretford.

Kidd’s final season at Maine Road came in the 1978/79 season. He made 33 appearances for the blues, scoring 14 goals before his £150,000 transfer to Everton. His final goal for the blues came in a 3-0 away win at Coventry City, while is last home goals were in January 1979, when he scored a brace in a 4-2 FA Cup win over Rotherham. He started his last City game when the blues drew 1-1 in a UEFA Cup tie with Borussia Monchegladbach.

Kidd spent a year at Everton, before finishing his playing career in America, starring for Atlanta Chiefs, Fort Lauderdale Strikers and finally with Minnesota Strikers.

The striker started his coaching career at Barrow in 1974, before moving to Preston in 1986. He then returned to Old Trafford as Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant in 1988, spending 10 years at the club, enjoying the success that United brought.

He left to take on the manager’s role at Blackburn Rovers after Roy Hodgson was sacked, but he failed to keep them in the Premier League. After being dismissed by Rovers in 1999, Kidd became assistant at Leeds United for four years, before working with Sven Goran Erikssen in the England set-up between 2003 and 2004. He joined Sheffield United as Neil Warnock’s assistant in 2006 , spending 2 years at Bramhall Lane, then became assistant at Portsmouth in 2009. Kidd spent just six months at Fratton Park before returning to Manchester, where he became Technical Development Manager in at City in September 2009. In December, Kidd was promoted to become Roberto Mancini’s assistant, and he was part of the team that won the FA Cup in 2011 and the Premier League in 2012.

Kidd took charge for City’s final 2 games of the 2012/13 season when Mancini was dismissed, but remained as assistant when new boss Manuel Pellegrini arrived, and also stayed in the post under Pep Guardiola until 2021.

Although Kidd lifted little silverware in his playing days, he more than made up for it as an assistant with huge amounts of success with both City and United. He will no doubt be missed around the training ground and we wish him every success for the future.