Yesterday Manchester City’s final home game of the season saw the Etihad stage its record crowd for football (any sport actually). It was also City’s highest home attendance for 54 years. The attendance was 60,332 and next year the capacity will increase again as some hospitality areas will then open. The game was also the final emotional match for manager Pep Guardiola, Bernardo Silva and John Stones.
MCFC photoMCFC photoMCFC photo
I posted the following the other day, but here is the last home crowd of 60,000+ City attracted at Maine Road (ignoring the Charlton 1985 promotion match which many think was around that figure). There’s also a little bit of history of capacities at City.
The last 60,000+ crowd was for the Manchester Derby on 6/11/1971 and was 63,326. These images are from that game (lots changed since then – the MCFC badge has been redesigned 3 times; Brian Kidd became a Blue, then a Red coach then a Blue coach)
The last 60,000+ home cup attendance was 60,844 v Newcastle on 29/1/1969.
For those wondering about home attendances over 75,000, the last one of those was 76,129 for City ve Everton in the FA Cup on 3/3/1956.
For the first 49 years of its existence the capacity of Maine Road was over 60,000, with the record attendance at the old place being 84,569 (see the story of this elsewhere on this site). Stadium developments, alongside safety changes and legislation, reduced the capacity from that high to about 63,000 by 1967. The Ibrox disaster of 1971 caused a reconsideration of stadium safety and a further reduction and City took the decision to seat the one year old North Stand. That meant the capacity from 1972 was approximately 52,600 (there was an attendance of over 54,000 in 1972-73 which I’ll explain about another day based on an interview – and admission – by the then club secretary Bernard Halford!).
The capacity of Maine Road (based on official records and announcements) over the years is:
1923 – 84,000
1931 – 86,000
1935 – 88,000
1946 – 84,000
1953 – 76,500
1957 – 77,000
1963 – 64,000
1972 – 52,600
1989 – 48,500
1992 – 39,359
1994 – 19,150 (first game of the season; increased gradually throughout the season)
1995 – 31,458
1997 – 32,147
1999 – 34,026
2000 – 34,421
2002 – 35,150
You can read more about Maine Road’s record crowd here:
This weekend’s final Manchester City home game of the season will see the Etihad stage its record crowd for football (any sport actually) and the club stage its highest home attendance for over fifty years. The new capacity is expected to be over 60,000 with a further capacity increase at the start of 2026-27. Detailed below are the last home crowd of 60,000+ City have attracted plus a little bit of history of attendances at City.
The last 60,000+ crowd was for the Manchester Derby on 6/11/1971 and was 63,326. These images are from that game (lots changed since then – the MCFC badge has been redesigned 3 times; Brian Kidd became a Blue, then a Red coach then a Blue coach)
The last 60,000+ home cup attendance was 60,844 v Newcastle on 29/1/1969.
For those wondering about home attendances over 75,000, the last one of those was 76,129 for City ve Everton in the FA Cup on 3/3/1956.
For the first 49 years of its existence the capacity of Maine Road was over 60,000, with the record attendance at the old place being 84,569 (see the story of this elsewhere on this site). Stadium developments, alongside safety changes and legislation, reduced the capacity from that high to about 63,000 by 1967. The Ibrox disaster of 1971 caused a reconsideration of stadium safety and a further reduction and City took the decision to seat the one year old North Stand. That meant the capacity from 1972 was approximately 52,600 (there was an attendance of over 54,000 in 1972-73 which I’ll explain about another day based on an interview – and admission – by the then club secretary Bernard Halford!).
The capacity of Maine Road (based on official records and announcements) over the years is:
1923 – 84,000
1931 – 86,000
1935 – 88,000
1946 – 84,000
1953 – 76,500
1957 – 77,000
1963 – 64,000
1972 – 52,600
1989 – 48,500
1992 – 39,359
1994 – 19,150 (first game of the season; increased gradually throughout the season)
1995 – 31,458
1997 – 32,147
1999 – 34,026
2000 – 34,421
2002 – 35,150
You can read more about Maine Road’s record crowd here:
Each year, following the end of the UEFA football season I update the UEFA European Span of Success table. What is this? It’s a list of those clubs who have won two or more (sorry Palace) major UEFA tournaments showing the span between their first UEFA success and their most recent. The list may surprise some who think that football is all about those perceived as European giants with ‘history’. This is how the table stands today (19 May 2026). Chelsea and Tottenham have moved up the table in recent seasons.
UEFA European Major Trophy Span of Success 2025
I can imagine a few Arsenal fans looking at this and saying ‘Why aren’t we on there?’ They won the Fairs Cup in 1970 and the ECWC in 1994 BUT the Fairs Cup wasn’t a UEFA tournament and had some odd entry rules over the years! For your benefit here’s a table including the Fairs Cup lower down on this page. The above table includes the four major UEFA tournaments: European Cup/Champions League; European Cup Winner’s Cup; UEFA Cup/Europa League & the Europa Conference League. It does not include non-UEFA tournaments such as the Mitropa Cup and Fairs Cup. Nor does it include the Intertoto Cup or similar.
So why are they excluded… I recognise that the Mitropa Cup had some significant clubs competing in it. However, it was predominantly an East European competition and participants were not spread over the entire continent.
With the Fairs Cup… It is true that this was later transformed into the UEFA Cup and I have included all UEFA Cup finals in my analysis. But the Fairs Cup had an odd series of entry rules at times. Cities, rather than clubs, often entered with Barcelona beating London in one final for example. It was set up as a friendly type of competition with cities that had staged trade fairs playing each other. As time wore on entry came via the League Cup or League position in England, which added significance to it. But two teams from the same city were not allowed to participate, which meant that teams finishing way down the table could be (and were) included if those above them were multiple clubs from the same city.
In 1970 Manchester City’s Mike Doyle joked that by winning the League Cup he was satisfying his aim of ‘keeping United out of Europe’ (he joked about creating car stickers with that slogan!) because it appeared at that time that United’s only chance of Europe had gone with City’s qualification for the Fairs Cup.
City went on to win the ECWC that season, meaning that Fairs Cup place was opened up to League position, but United had finished lower down the table anyway and qualified for the Watney Cup instead. Actually, the Watney Cup is one worth talking about, but I’ll save that for another day. In 1970 Fourth placed Derby County qualified for the Watney Cup, while 5th to 7th (Liverpool, Coventry and Newcastle) all got a Fairs Cup place, alongside 12th placed Arsenal (Fairs Cup winners). I’ve not investigated this fully but it does seem odd that the Watney Cup took precedence over the Fairs Cup.
Arsenal’s 1970 Fairs Cup success was their first European trophy but is not included in the span, neither are those Fairs Cup wins of Barcelona. However, as quite a few Arsenal fans seemed to get a bit upset when the table was posted the other year I’ve decided to include the Fairs Cup in the following version of the table. So this table is the winners of the main UEFA competitions I mentioned earlier plus the Fairs Cup with its odd rules:
Club
First Major European trophy won
Span
First Major European success
Most Recent Major European trophy won
Real Madrid
EC
68
1956
2024
Tottenham
ECWC
62
1963
2025
Roma
Fairs
61
1961
2022
West Ham
ECWC
58
1965
2023
Barcelona
Fairs
57
1958
2015
Atletico Madrid
ECWC
56
1962
2018
Chelsea
ECWC
54
1971
2025
Bayern Munchen
ECWC
53
1967
2020
Manchester City
ECWC
53
1970
2023
Manchester United
EC
49
1968
2017
Liverpool
UEFA
46
1973
2019
Inter Milan
EC
43
1964
2007
Valencia
Fairs
42
1962
2004
Eintracht Frankfurt
UEFA
42
1980
2022
AC Milan
EC
40
1963
2003
Feyernoord
EC
32
1970
2002
Real Zaragoza
Fairs
31
1964
1995
Borussia Dortmund
ECWC
31
1966
1997
Paris Saint-Germain
ECWC
29
1996
2025
Arsenal
Fairs
24
1970
1994
Ajax
EC
24
1971
1995
Porto
EC
24
1987
2011
Juventus
UEFA
19
1977
1996
Sevilla
UEFA
17
2006
2023
Dynamo Kyiv
ECWC
11
1975
1986
PSV Eindhoven
UEFA
10
1978
1988
Anderlecht
ECWC
7
1976
1983
Parma
ECWC
6
1993
1999
Borussia Moenchengladbach
UEFA
4
1975
1979
Leeds United (BOTH FAIRS CUP)
Fairs
3
1968
1971
Benfica
EC
1
1961
1962
Nottingham Forest
EC
1
1979
1980
Obviously, neither table shows the number of major trophies won, but it does indicate trophy-winning longevity for those who obsess over ‘my cup’s bigger than yours’ and similar debates. Personally, I think we should all be proud of our club’s achievements and not worry about what a rival has won.
Hopefully, those Arsenal fans who were somewhat upset last year will now be happy. Note that both Roma and Barcelona have moved up the table. Both ‘Rome’ and ‘Barcelona’ won the Fairs Cup when it was city based and not club based, adding to the questionable nature of including the Fairs Cup. ‘London’ once competed in it!
Arsenal are now 20th in this combined table, behind their fellow English clubs Tottenham, West Ham, City, Chelsea, United and Liverpool. But they could move up, as could Aston Villa.
As an example of the odd qualification rules in place for the Fairs Cup at times it’s worth looking at the 1969 qualification via the English League system.
In 1969 champions Leeds entered the European Cup. The ECWC place went to FA Cup winners Manchester City and the Fairs Cup places went to: Arsenal (4th), Southampton (7th) and Newcastle (9th). Swindon had won the League Cup, beating Arsenal in the final, but the Fairs Cup organisers wouldn’t allow them to participate as they were not a top flight club! This adds to the reason the competition is usually excluded. It is certainly not a UEFA competition in any case.
Similarly, Everton (3rd), Chelsea (5th), Spurs (6th) and West Ham (8th) who all finished above Newcastle were denied because of the rule that only one club from each city be allowed. So Liverpool and Arsenal’s inclusion meant their rivals stood less chance of winning the trophy than Newcastle simply because there were multiple clubs in their cities.
That rule does make me wonder what would have happened if both Manchester clubs had qualified for the competition as City are within the city of Manchester boundaries and United are not. Would the two clubs have challenged any decision not to include one of them based on the age old argument of Manchester’s boundaries?
Maybe I’ll post more on the odd rules of football competitions and tell the story of some of those long forgotten competitions.
If you’re interested in the wider span of success for English clubs (listing those who have the longest span between their first trophy and most recent, not simply European trophies) then take a look at this I posted Sunday:
If you enjoy all the free material on my website and would like to support my research and keep this website going (but don’t want to subscribe) then why not make a one-time donation (or buy me a coffee). All support for my research is valued and welcome. It allows me to keep some free material available for all. Thanks.
Every year, once the domestic season ends I update the table showing the English clubs’ span of success – i.e. the number of years between a club’s first major success (FA Cup, League, League Cup, major European trophy) and their most recent. Here’s the table as it stands today (17 May 2026) after Manchester City’s success in the FA Cup. Obviously, there’s a chance for Arsenal (currently 11th), Aston Villa (7th but could be top if they win their European final) and Crystal Palace (just on the table following last year’s FAC success but could rise above those other ‘one major trophy’ clubs) to move up the table this month.
2026 Span of Success (as of 17/5/26, after FAC final)
Even if Arsenal do win the League or Champions League this year they’ll only rise to ninth as they didn’t win a major trophy until the 1930s.
For comparison purposes here’s the table after the 2023-24 season ended (see below). Notice the moves up the table of Spurs and Newcastle in recent seasons:
As I always say, the span of success does not show how many trophies each club has won nor does it show how frequently that club has experienced great eras of success, but it does demonstrate how wrong those people are who believe certain clubs were unsuccessful until recent years, or those who think certain clubs have always been giants. The column on first major success helps to show when some clubs first became trophy-winning significant (often after transformational investment too!).
I know clubs focus on their financials but winning a trophy has longevity, gaining the odd Premier League place provides a bit of extra cash now but no long term kudos. Winning a trophy attracts new fans and brings money-spinning opportunities too. Look at how winning the FA Cup has helped Palace this last year or so.
If I was a supporter of any of the major clubs who have not found significant success in recent decades then I would absolutely want my team to go for whichever cup competition seems the most likely to win. That’s what I always wanted from Manchester City before they were able to compete for the League again. Winning the FA Cup in 2011 helped everything that followed happen – it gave confidence and a trophy winning mentality.
While you’re here why not take a look at the wide range of articles available on this site? Such as the 100 day series of features on Maine Road:
If you enjoy all the free material on my website and would like to support my research and keep this website going (but don’t want to subscribe) then why not make a one-time donation (or buy me a coffee). All support for my research is valued and welcome. It allows me to keep some free material available for all. Thanks.
Last night (14 May 2026) Manchester City found FA Youth Cup glory for the second time in three years with a 2-1 derby victory over Manchester United at the Joie Stadium.
Having taken over as the Under-18s Lead Coach in the summer of 2024, German coach Oliver Reiss oversaw back-to-back Youth Cup Finals with 2026 seeing the young Blues win 2-1 in the Manchester derby. In what was Club’s 14th appearance in the Final, the result meant City’s youngsters had won the famous trophy twice in the previous three years.
This was the fifth time City had won the FA Youth Cup in total, following the successes in 2024, 2020, 2008 and 1986.
Goals from Floyd Samba (40 mins) and Reigan Heskey (87 mins) helped secure the trophy at the Joie Stadium, in what was only the second all-Manchester FA Youth Cup Final. The United scorer was Godwill Kukonki (42nd minute).
This victory over Manchester United came just 12 days after the City youngsters were crowned as the Under-18 Premier League North title winners for a second successive season, with an Under-18 Premier League National Final still to come.
Academy Director Thomas Kruecken said: ‘Winning the FA Youth Cup is always a key target for us at the start of each season, so to see the team lift the trophy is a momentous occasion and an achievement everyone in the Academy should be immensely proud of. Our results throughout the competition have shown how much the FA Youth Cup means to Oliver, his staff and the players. They have been superb.
‘They have shown the importance of performing when it counts, in a final, in front of 8,000 people. We are incredibly proud of the players and staff for facing the challenge head on and we believe it will prove to be an important experience in our player’s journey to become a professional footballer one day. It is an unbelievable achievement to be in the final three times in a row. It shows a consistent high level of dedication, passion and a success that has been built over years of tireless hard work.
‘It has been a pleasure to watch the team grow and play football that mirrors our ethos here at Manchester City – we aim to play the same style of football across every age group at this football club.
‘But this moment would also not be possible without the hard work of everyone connected to the Club. So many people have worked closely with the squad throughout their progression up the age groups, providing the best environment possible for our players to develop not just into fantastic football players, but amazing people also. I am so proud to not only lead the Academy, but to work with so many talented people at City.’
First Team Manager Pep Guardiola, who was there watching, added: ‘I want to congratulate Oliver Reiss, his staff, the players and everyone working in our Academy on winning the FA Youth Cup. Success in this competition is another example of how good this Club is at creating a winning mentality and producing top young players. Every season I am so impressed by the talent that we produce here at the CFA – I see it when the young players train with us. I hope everyone in the Academy enjoys this achievement because it is a reward for all the hard work and commitment not just from this season, but years of hard work.’
You can read about the first all-Manchester final here:
Today (14 May 2026) marks the 15th anniversary of Manchester City’s 2011 FA Cup final success over Stoke. There are so many angles to that first major success of the modern era for Manchester City and it is impossible to cover them all here. Elsewhere on this website I talk about the 2011 FA Cup run, especially that semi-final win over Manchester United. If you’ve not heard it have a listen to this:
Today I’ll focus on the final itself with a lengthy article on the final below. This is a subscriber article. It costs £3 a month to subscribe OR take out an annual subscription at £20 (works out about £1.67 a month). All subscribers get full access to everything throughout their subscription.
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70 years ago today (5 May 1956) Manchester City defeated Birmingham City 3-1 in the FA Cup final with goals from Bobby Johnstone, Jack Dyson and Joe Hayes. The final became known for Bert Trautmann’s exploits and during the night I was on Talksport about 2am talking with Paul Ross about Bert’s life. I also, briefly, mentioned Bert’s role with the Manchester Corinthians. You can listen here (my part starts around 1 hour 17 minutes into the show):
Subscribers can read more on the 1955-56 season below…
Here for subscribers is a 3,900 word article on the 1955-56 season when City won the FA Cup final (nowadays known as the Trautmann Final) and Bert Trautmann was FWA Footballer of the Year (presented in the days before the final). Enjoy!
You can read the article by subscribing below.
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On 4 May 1976 and for the second consecutive League derby at Old Trafford, a meeting between United and City was cut short when thousands stormed the pitch before its natural conclusion. Home fans invaded the pitch before the 90th minute with United leading 2-0. Afterwards it was reported that the police had signalled to the referee to blow the whistle while fans were on the pitch. Referee Roy Capey told reporters: ‘My only concern was for the linesman who had to run from the far side of the ground. But he got into the dressing room safely.’
Screenshot
Derek Wallis, writing for the Daily Mirror, explained that United fans had raced on to the pitch: ‘ahead of time last night – nearly three minutes by my watch – and diplomatically referee Roy Capey promptly blew for time.’
A few days earlier United had been defeated by Second Division Southampton in the FA Cup final and United reporter David Meek started his Manchester Evening News report of the derby with this interesting line (his emphasis): ‘”WE’D RATHER win the derby than the Cup,” sang the Stretford enders as Manchester United sailed to a 2-0 win over Manchester City at Old Trafford last night.’
A year ago today (4 May 2025) we managed to take a small group of Manchester Corinthians to the WSL Manchester Derby at Old Trafford as guests of United. They were taken pitchside and also had seats in the Directors Box. Players from the 50s to 90s were there, such as Linda Hallam, who scored the only goal against Juventus when the team won a major tournament in 1970. Margaret Whitworth, who participated in the tour of South America was also one of our party. Others, like Wendy Crossland, had been significant players during the club’s first league successes – back when the Corinthians became champions of the highest league available to them. Here are a few photos from the day, plus images of the match programme article I wrote for United. It talks about the full history of the club of course and mentions Maureen Charlton, one of three original players in 1948 (yes, 1948 not 1949 as is often claimed), who I interviewed for the book:
You can discover more on the Corinthians’ history (the facts not the fiction!) in my new book. Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History. It is a must for anyone interested in Manchester or women’s football and consists of over 350 pages. It is illustrated throughout and you can find out more here:
On this day (April 27) in 1974 Denis law played his last League game on a day that saw Manchester United relegated. Law was in his second spell at Manchester City and, over the years, many myths have developed about his final game and the weeks that followed.
United fans like to say that this game had no bearing on relegation (though pre match United were not relegated and still had a chance of survival) while City fans like to boast that Law’s goal relegated United (mathematically it did not). Many in the media claim Law’s goal was his last in first team football (it wasn’t) and that he retired immediately afterwards (he didn’t). There are other myths about the pitch invasions (there were two not one) and the actions of the ref, so here for the benefit of subscribers is the true story of that day, including quotes from interviews I have performed over the years. Those quoted are Dennis Tueart, Tommy Docherty, Denis law and Willie Donachie.
So get yourself a brew and enjoy this long read on that infamous day:
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Gary James' Football Archive 