Professional Experience

Ian Bishop was a creative midfield player with great passing ability who went on to become one of the most popular ever to don the sky blue shirt in his two spells at Manchester City, being instrumental in helping the club to recover from the lowest point in it's entire history. Born in Liverpool on May 29th 1965 he joined Everton straight from school in 1981, but following a short spell on loan at Crewe three years later he was released by boss Howard Kendall and joined Carlisle United, where he would spend the next four years. He was transferred to Bournemouth in July 1988 and one year later manager Mel Machin paid a reported fee of £725,000 pounds to bring him to newly-promoted City, having appeared in all four divisions of the football league.

His debut could not have been any tougher, a 3-1 defeat by Liverpool at Anfield on the opening day of the 1989/90 Division One season, and after only six games of the new campaign the team were still coming to terms with life in the top-flight and were joint-bottom of the table with only four points. The opposition in the next game was Manchester United at home, and in a never-to-be-forgotten encounter Bishop notched his first goal for the club with a diving header as they dished out a 5-1 hammering to their local rivals. Things improved even more the following week when Ian was once again on the mark in a 3-1 home win over Luton Town, but the elation was not to last. Despite wins in the League Cup over Brentford (5-3 on aggregate) and Norwich City, where Bishop was once again on the score-sheet in a 3-1 win, a run of only one league win over the next two months (which included a 6-0 humiliation at Derby County) had left the Blues in the relegation zone by the end of November.

After a week which saw a 1-0 loss at home to Coventry City in the League Cup and a 1-1 league draw at Charlton Athletic the club decided to part company with manager Machin, and he was replaced by Bishop's old boss at Goodison Park Howard Kendall. With rumors circulating that he was to be allowed to leave the club the fans let their displeasure be known when he was substituted in a 1-0 victory, and two days later their worst fears were confirmed when, along with striker Trevor Morley, he was transferred to West Ham United in a straight swap for winger Mark Ward. He had scored 3 goals in his 23 league and cup appearances in his five months with the club, but what nobody could have foretold was his return to the club nine years later when he would have a much bigger impact, albeit in different circumstances.

After spending nine seasons with West Ham United, during which time he helped them to promotion, Ian Bishop returned to Manchester City in March 1998 when manager Joe Royle signed him on a free transfer. By that time the team was struggling badly in Division One (now the second-tier of English football) and despite Bishop playing in six out of the last seven games the team still needed a win on the last day at Stoke City to have any chance of staying up. In the end a 5-2 victory was not enough as other results went against them and they were relegated to Division Two.

At the start of the 1998/99 season manager Royle decided that the hustle and bustle of lower league football was not suited to Bishop's style of play and it wasn't until the end of October that he got his first game, coming on as a substitute in a 2-1 home win over Colchester United. With the team lying in mid-table and also suffering a 1-0 defeat in a League Cup replay at the hands of Derby County it was obvious that a touch of experience and class was needed, and the following week Ian was chosen in the starting line-up for the game at Oldham Athletic which ended in a 3-0 victory. Over the next few months the crowd favorite would cement his place in the side and was a virtual ever-present for the rest of the campaign. With progress in the FA Cup halted in a 1-0 third round defeat at Wimbledon in January league form continued to improve, the team gradually climbing the table and eventually finishing in third place behind Walsall and Fulham to claim a place in the play-offs. In the semi-final Wigan Athletic were disposed of 2-1 on aggregate, although Ian missed both ties with a hamstring strain, to set up a Wembley showdown with Gillingham. After declaring himself fit for the final he had to be content with a place on the bench, but with the score at 0-0 he came on for Michael Brown after sixty minutes, only to see the team go two down with four minutes to play. After one of the most amazing comebacks in Wembley history Kevin Horlock and Paul Dickov scored late goals to take the game into extra-time, and with the score remaining deadlocked City won the ensuing penalty shootout 3-1 to take the club back up at the first attempt.

Despite a 1-0 loss at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers on the opening day of the following campaign a five-match winning run saw City firmly in the promotion spots, but in the League Cup a 4-3 extra-time replay defeat at Southampton in round two put paid to any hopes on that front. However, when Bishop scored both goals in a 2-1 home win over Port Vale at the beginning of October it set the team off on a streak of eight wins from ten games which took them to the top of the table. Ian was once more on target in a 4-1 win at Chester in the FA Cup third round, and followed that up with a goal against Leeds United in the next round, although it came with the team on the wrong end of a 5-2 score line. After a late-season blip in February and March it again came down to the last day of the season when a draw was needed at Blackburn to secure promotion, and after a nervy beginning Bishop once more came off the bench to orchestrate a magnificent 4-1 win to send the club up as runners-up to Charlton Athletic. His 37 league appearances and 2 goals had played a vital part in taking City back into the top-flight of English football after an absence of four years.

Bishop decided however to try his luck on the other side of the Atlantic and in March 2001 he left Maine Road to sign for MLS side Miami Fusion, having made a total of 117 league and cup appearances in his two spells with the Blues.

In 2004 he went back to the USA to play for the New Orleans Shell Shockers before finally hanging up his boots at nearly 40 years of age and turning his hand to coaching at soccer schools in Florida.