The 100th Post – Why, What and When?

Thanks for reading this my 100th article/post on gjfootballarchive.com. I wanted to take the opportunity of this 100th post in 3 days to thank everyone interested in my work and to explain why I’m doing this; what the archive consists of and how often it will be added to.

First – why? For some time people have been asking me when I’d be doing my own blog and over the years I’ve always been pleased with the responses to my guest appearances on podcasts, vlogs and blogs. The feedback has been excellent but I’ve always had so much more to say. I care passionately about ensuring football’s history is properly researched & recorded and feel there’s always a place for detailed, quality research.

The idea of creating this blog and archive came because I wanted to create new content, based on the research I’ve performed over the decades, while also setting up an archive of my past work. Much of my writing is now out of print and it matters enormously to me that books like Manchester A Football History should be available (subscribers will be able to access the full 2010 edition of that book soon).

I am a self employed historian and spend all my working week writing, researching and publishing my work. I am not an employee of any organisation (I know some think I’m employed by a football club but I’m not an employee nor am I an official club historian of any club). I am independent of any organisation and care passionately about the quality and accuracy of my work. As so much of this is out of print I am keen to create this archive for my work and add to it as time goes by.

Next – what? So what is my football archive? It is a place where already after less than three days 99 posts/articles/features have been posted. These include new material, interviews, profiles, past articles, book sections and more. Some of this material was written some time ago or is based on interviews performed many years ago (including interviews with players who have since died). Most of the material posted so far is connected with Manchester City but there are articles of interest to Manchester United and other teams, including England. Further articles on Manchester’s clubs will follow.

Some articles are free to download but most of the material is available to subscribers only. As mentioned earlier, my research and writing is something I strive hard to ensure is of quality. No one employs me to research or write (I lost my only regular income when physical match programmes stopped being produced last season) but my commitment to those who read my work is that I will always seek to maintain the highest standards. I am eternally grateful to those who purchase my books or subscribe to my work.

To see what articles have already been published go to the search page (using the links under the banner at the top of this page) and either search on a key word or have a look at the categories listed there.

Next – when? There are already 99 posts/articles live and this will increase significantly over the coming weeks. By the middle of February every chapter (that’s over 30) of the 2010 edition of Manchester A Football History (PDFs of the actual pages including illustrations) will be available to subscribers. Over time my biography of Joe Mercer and other books, such as Farewell To Maine Road, will also be available in this archive. I’m keen to hear from subscribers which books, articles, interviews they’d like access to here. I want this to develop into a community of readers whose views absolutely matter.

A limited amount of content will always be free for anyone to read but those subscribing will have access to everything on this site for as long as they subscribe. For subscribers I will post a minimum of 4 new articles alongside adding material from my archives each month. To subscribe costs £3 a month or £20 a year (the 2010 edition of Manchester A Football History which will be posted a section/chapter a day for subscribers from Saturday 9th January 2021 cost £24.95 when published and is now out of print).

If you’re uncertain whether to subscribe or not then why not subscribe for a month at £3 and see if you’re getting value for money. The £20 annual subscription works out about £1.67 a month for a guaranteed 4 new articles per month and access to everything else posted in the archive.

Thanks for reading this. If you’d like to subscribe then please do so below. I really appreciate the support and I promise I’ll continue to add content that informs, entertains and has been researched to the highest standards.

Happy new year (surely it can’t be as bad as the last?). Best wishes, Gary