He played in 447 games for the team scoring 36 goals before transferring to Everton where he was a key figure in their First Division title win in the 1986-87 Football League season.
In his first player of the year winning season, City went to Wembley to play Tottenham Hotspur in the 100th FA Cup Final.
In the 1984–85 season, he led City to promotion under Billy McNeill, beating Charlton Athletic 5–1 at Maine Road on Saturday 11 May 1985.
He played in a total of 52 games in the 1986-87 season, winning the league title, and earning a major trophy in his 34th year.
His first team chances were more limited in the 1987-88 season, when Everton finished fourth under new manager Colin Harvey after the departure of Howard Kendall to Atletico Bilbao, and at the end of the season he retired to join the club's coaching staff.