Category Archives: 2026-27

Another Record Attendance at Manchester City Set Today

For the third successive home game Manchester City have established a record attendance for a football game at the Etihad Stadium. The four highest football attendances at the stadium are:

60,765 Manchester City vs Coventry City 5 September 2026 (photo is my image of the Pep Guardiola Stand during today’s game)

60,645 Manchester City vs Bournemouth 23 August 2026

60,332 Manchester City vs Aston Villa 24 May 2026

54,693 Manchester City vs Leicester City 6 February 2016

Congratulations on today’s 1-0 win over Coventry City. This was not only the Etihad’s record attendance today, it was also City’s highest home attendance since 6 November 1971 when 63,326 attended a City league game v United. Capacity restrictions from 1971 meant that attendances could not be higher than 60,000 until the last game of the 2025-26 season.

City v Coventry

It’s Manchester’s Sky Blues against Coventry’s today for the first time in the League for over 24 years. There was a time when City-Coventry games were a regular fixture so, depending on your age, it’ll be interesting to see how you feel about Coventry’s historical status. As with many clubs they found it difficult to compete with the riches that came to certain clubs in the years that followed the introduction of the Premier League.

There are plenty of stories on this website that mention Coventry. HEre’s a link to some of the articles tagged ‘Coventry City’. Enjoy!

https://gjfootballarchive.com/tag/coventry-city/page/2

Who Said City Couldn’t Play Chant

It looks like the 1894 group at Manchester City’s are hoping fans will re-adopt the 1930s classic song Who Said City Couldn’t Play? It’s City’s earliest recorded chant (there were earlier ones but this is the first we’ve found sound/film recordings of). Here’s a sound recording from the 1930s:

The tune used is the bit from Knees Up Mother Brown that goes: “Oh my, what a rotten song,
What a rotten song,
What a rotten song,
Oh my, what a rotten song,
And what a rotten singer too-oo-oo!”

If anyone at City wants to get the music played then dig out an instrumental version of that section of the song and get it played prematch. Just like the Viking chant it would be great to get it used in club material.

Record Attendance at Manchester City

Congratulations on your 2-1 victory today over Bournemouth in Enzo Maresca’s first League game but also on establishing a new record crowd for the Etihad Stadium. The crowd was 60,645 and this was not only the Etihad’s record, it was also City’s highest home attendance since 6 November 1971 when 63,326 attended a City league game v United. Capacity restrictions since then have ensured attendances could not be higher.

City v Bournemouth

It’s the start of the Premier League season this weekend and Manchester’s Blues are at home to Bournemouth. My programme articles today include a Memory Match between the clubs. If you get chance to see that I hope you enjoy it. If you want more on Bournemouth and City there are several articles on this site that mention them. The following links to a few mentioning Bourenemouth: https://gjfootballarchive.com/?s=Bournemouth

Jeremy Monga signs for Manchester City on five-year deal

Manchester City have announced a new signing. Here’s the press release: Manchester City is delighted to announce the signing of Jeremy Monga.

The highly rated 17-year-old winger joins the Club after emerging as one of the brightest young talents in English football, having already gained significant first team experience despite his age.

The England youth international, who joins from Leicester City, has signed a five-year deal that will keep him at the Etihad Stadium until the summer of 2031.

Born in Coventry, Monga joined Leicester City’s Academy at Under-9 level and progressed rapidly through the ranks. His outstanding performances at youth level saw him become the youngest scorer in Premier League 2 history at the time of his goal against Aston Villa in November 2024.

He went on to earn opportunities with Leicester’s Development Squad before breaking into the first team while still only 15 years old. Monga made history in April 2025 when he became Leicester’s second-youngest appearance maker and the second-youngest Premier League debutant in history after appearing against Newcastle United.

Monga arrives at the Club having already made 37 senior appearances for Leicester City, including seven in the Premier League.

On signing for City, Monga said: “When I became aware that Manchester City were interested, I knew instantly this was the right choice for me.

“For any young footballer, to become part of this amazing club is a dream come true. This has been the best club in England over the past 10 years. And it has also handed opportunities to players from the Academy like Phil Foden and Nico O’Reilly which shows that the pathway is there.

“It is a privilege to be here, and I’m delighted to have joined.”

Director of Football Hugo Viana added: “Jeremy is an exciting player who has already made huge strides in his young career.

“We were already very aware of him as a Club and we have seen his ability first-hand from his time at Leicester. At 17-years-old we feel he is only going to continue to improve and that this is the correct next step in his career.

“We look forward to supporting him on every step in his journey.”