Although on City's books as a schoolboy, it was Ipswich who signed the versatile left sided defender as a trainee in 1994 .
Tony moved quickly through the ranks at Portman Road quickly breaking into the first team where he began to catch the eye of several bigger clubs - including City - and after a much publicised transfer saga he joined the Blues for a fee of £1,350,000 at the end of the 1996/97 season.
Despite making a good showing in his first pre-season games, Tony struggled to secure a regular place in the first team at the club. However an impressive run of form towards the end of the season saw Tony establish himself in Joe Royle's plans and with the club lacking balance on the left side of the defence Tony starts the new season with a great chance of entrenching himself in the side.
With the arrivals of Andy Morrison, Danny Tiatto and Danny Granville, Tony found himself not even on the bench for long periods. In the 1999/2000 season he went on loan to Cardiff and then Nottingham Forest who signed him on a permanent basis for 350,000 in March 2000, a loss of 1 mill. in 58 games for the team he rated as his favourite on arrival.