Man City great Neil Young dies aged 66

Neil Young, a striker in Manchester City's trophy winning teams of the late 1960s and early 1970s, has died aged 66 from cancer, the English Premier League club announced on Thursday.

Young, who scored the winning goal in the 1969 FA Cup final, was also a member of the City side that won the English Championship in the 1967/68 season and was also on target when the club won the European Cup Winners' Cup final in 1970.

The forward joined the Blues, the club he supported as a boy, in 1959 as an apprentice and made his senior debut as a 17 year old.

Young was City's top scorer, with 19 goals in 40 appearances, as a talented team featuring the likes of Colin Bell and Mike Summerbee under the management of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison were crowned champions of England in 1968.

He scored twice as City won 4-3 away to Newcastle on the final day of the campaign to secure the title.

But perhaps Young's most celebrated performance came when he scored the only goal of the game as Manchester City beat Leicester 1-0 in the 1969 FA Cup final at Wembley.

The following season Young helped City to continental glory, scoring one goal and winning a penalty, netted by Francis Lee, in a 2-1 victory over Polish club Gornik in the European Cup Winners' Cup final in Vienna.

Yet for all his club success, Young never won an England cap.

As first team opportunities became more limited, Young left City in 1972 having scored 107 goals in 412 appearances for the club and joined Preston before seeing out his playing days with Rochdale.

"He will be sadly missed by his wife Carmen, family, friends and everyone connected with Manchester City," said a statement on City's website.