Man City have been blessed with some top goalkeepers throughout the years.
Premier League players admire Man City’s current number one Ederson, while the likes of David Seaman, Peter Schmeichel, Joe Hart and Shay Given have all lined up between the sticks in Manchester since the turn of the millennium.
Heading into the 1996/97 campaign, goalkeeping duties were shared between Martyn Margetson, Andy Dibble and Tommy Wright, however, things could have looked a lot different.
With Steve Coppell managing Man City at the time, the English coach had a good idea of who he wanted as his number one that season, but he walked away after just six games as City would not move for the player he wanted.
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Steve Coppell wanted Mark Schwarzer at Man City
During the summer of 1996, Mark Schwarzer was keen to leave Germany where was playing for Kaiserslautern and had his heart set on a move to England.
Speaking on the The Fulham Fix Podcast, the Australian has shared how he went on trial with Man City that summer and having impressed Coppell, the goalkeeper was ready to sign for the Manchester club, however, things did not go to plan.
“I went on trial, and I went on trial to Manchester City, believe it or not,” Schwarzer said. “And that was a very, obviously, very different Manchester City. Steve Coppell was in charge of Man City at the time. He’d only just signed at the beginning of the season.
“He just promised all this money. And I apparently was about the third or fourth player that they wanted to sign permanently. And I was 155,000 pounds.
“And then I trialled with them for one week and then did well, played a game behind closed doors. They were happy with me. But they said, ‘look, we want to see you in a reserve game’.
“And I said, and I said, ‘yeah, sure. I’m like, whatever, let me know when you want me. I’m ready. I’ll come tomorrow, next week, whatever’. And they’re like, ‘look, there’s one in a couple of weeks. We’ll get you back’.”
“And true to their word, they did. And I came back and played in a reserve game away at Bradford at Valley Parade. And the story goes that Phil Neal was the assistant of Manchester City under Steve Coppell went into the office where Chris Kamara sitting at his desk and said, ‘have you got a strong team out today?’
“And he said, ‘well, yeah, actually we do. We’ve got about five players that have come back from injury and some that haven’t been playing games. So we’re going to have a lot of first team players in it. So yeah, it’s going to be a pretty strong team’. He says, ‘oh good’. And he goes, ‘why’?
“He says, ‘well, we’ve got this goalkeeper who’s done pretty well and we want to really test him. And this is a great opportunity to test him’. And this is all obviously unbeknownst to me.
“So I played this game for Manchester City, which we win the game 1-0 and I play really well. And straight after the game, I get a phone call sitting out in the bus outside the stadium from the agent who brought me over saying, you must have played well. Cause he didn’t even come to the game, right?
“He goes, ‘you must have played really well’. And I went, ‘well, yeah, I did, all right’. And he goes, ‘well, cause I said, why is that?’
“And he said, ‘Chris Kamara, Chris Kamara has just been on the phone. He wants to sign you on loan’. And I went, ‘well, A, I’m not going anywhere on loan cause I want to get out of Germany’. And I said, ‘B, I’m here with Man City. So that’s like, that’s my priority, right? That’s the right thing to do.
“He says, ‘yeah, that’s what I told them. That’s not a problem, but they’re definitely keen. Anyway, long story.
“Man City, Steve Coppell wants to sign me Manchester City, then tell him, no, you can have him on loan. And he apparently walked out of the club.”
“Steve Coppell at Man City. He walked out of the club because they wouldn’t let me, wouldn’t let him sign me for 155k. So he walked out.”
Schwarzer would go on to sign for Bradford City that summer, but it would only last one season, before the Australian would join Middlesborough ahead of the 1996/97 campaign.
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Mark Schwarzer’s impressive career in England
Schwarzer previously stated that he rates Liverpool’s Alisson over Man City star Ederson and although the Australian goalkeeper never reached the Brazilian duo’s level, he still had an impressive career in England.
Having failed to secure a move to Man City in 1996, the Aussie shot-stopper spent the majorty of the following years at Middlesbrough, where he played for 11 years between 1997 to 2008.
Fulham would be Schwarzer’s next destination between 2008 and 2013, and it was at these two clubs where the goalkeeper would make a name for himself.
Despite this, Schwarzer would experience some big highs at Chelsea and Leicester City, where he finished his career, as the former Fulham star would be part of two Premier League winning campaigns as a number two goalkeeper.
Overall, Schwarzer played in 514 Premier League games, keeping 152 clean sheets a long the way. The 52-year-old had an impressive career in England and it is why to this day, the majority of English football fans remember his name.
