These days, Manchester City are one of the best teams in world football, but that hasn’t always been the case. Just over 20 years ago, City found themselves in the Second Division, the third tier of English football, for the first time in their history.
Pre-season expectations on Joe Royle and his squad of players, therefore, were high with promotion very much expected. But despite being favourites to go straight up, City finished below Fulham and Walsall sending them into the play-offs.
After squeezing past Wigan Athletic 2-1 on aggregate in the semis, City faced Gillingham in the final and found themselves 2-0 down after goals from Carl Asaba and Rob Taylor.