Following in my Dad's Footsteps: Ex-Manchester City midfielder reflects on the added pressure of joining his father's old club

Before achieving their current billionaire status and benefiting from the genius of Pep Guardiola, Manchester City accomplished a significant feat by winning the First Division, FA Cup, two League Cups, and the European Cup Winners' Cup back in the day.

Managed by duo Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allisson, Manchester City's key players included Colin Bell, Neil Young and Mike Summerbee - the later of whom played 452 times for the club across a decade. A club legend, his son, Nicky Summerbee, ended up signing for City in 1994 from Swindon Town.

Manchester City sign Nicky Summerbee, 20 years after Mike Summerbee left

For Nicky, following in his father's footsteps proved more difficult than he expected, though he loved the experience of pulling on the sky blue shirt his dad did two and three decades beforehand.

"You asked earlier if having Mike Summerbee for a father affected me and I said no, but I certainly didn’t do myself any favours by joining his old club," Nicky Summerbee tells FourFourTwo.

"He was a hero there, so, in hindsight, I should have expected added pressure when I signed. It was a turbulent time for the club and we were relegated on the final day of my second season. We just weren’t good enough. It was a tough one to take, especially given my family’s history there, but I’d still do it all again."

His dad being a legendary figure at Manchester City felt normal for Nicky while growing up, however. That continued when he started out in the game at Swindon, knowing full well that people would attempt to find the similarities between his game and his dad's.

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"I didn’t know any different really, but being brought up in Manchester and going to watch City as a youngster, it was clear how much he meant to the supporters," Summerbee adds.

"I’d always had that in my life, so it came as no surprise to me, as I made my first steps in the game, that comparisons were drawn between us. That was always going to happen and I just had to accept it – I tried to not let it affect me either way."