Author Archives: garyjamesfootballarchive

The 1970s: Series Starts Now!

The series of articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s starts today with the story of the opening months of 1970. By the end of April the Blues would have two major trophies on the shelf, including the club’s first European trophy (won before so many of today’s perceived European giants). This series of articles and features will run throughout January with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. There will be flashbacks to great games, players and more. Every day in January will offer something to enjoy.

Subscribers will get access to everything, while some on this day material will be free for all to view.

If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? The following 5,600 word article on the successes of 1970 is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) to access everything posted since 1 October 2022 or there’s a special annual rate below which gives greater access and works out much cheaper.

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (above) or £20 a year (here) to access everything posted since the site was created in December 2020. This special rate works out about £1.67 a week and gives access to everything posted, including PDFs of 3 of my books.

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Starting Tomorrow: The 1970s

A new series of articles starts tomorrow on Manchester City in the 1970s. There will be a seasonal journey through a truly important decade when Manchester City won three major trophies and challenged for the League. People often claim City has ‘no history’ which is nonsense of course, but this series of features will show how great the club’s history is. For the entire month of January there will be features to make every Blue proud.

Of course, this important decade in the history of Manchester City Football Club does see some lows too, but that’s football. It’s well worth remembering for any Blue who feels bombarded by negativity of the past that in the 1970s City won more major trophies than United; that in the 1970s City won their first major European trophy – years before many other ‘European giants’ won their first including Liverpool and Juventus (even Barcelona didn’t win a UEFA competition until AFTER City! Re-live the highs and lows of that decade.

If you’d like to read this series then please subscribe. Details below:

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The 1980s: New Year’s Eve at Swindon

The series of articles covering Manchester City in the 1980s continues today with a reminder of the day in 1988 when City travelled to Swindon on New Year’s Eve. I’ll give the result lower down but first here’s highlights of the game. The commentary is from Piccadilly Radio’s Brian Clarke:

That game was played on 31 December 1988 and ended in a 2-1 City win with goals from Brian Gayle and Jason Beckford. If you want to know more of the 1988-89 season for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read the following 4,100 word feature on the 1988-89 season. Enjoy!

Subscribe to get access – Monthly

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) to access everything posted since 1 October 2022 or there’s a special annual rate below which gives greater access and works out much cheaper.

Subscribe

Subscribe to get access – Annual

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (above) or £20 a year (here) to access everything posted since the site was created in December 2020. This special rate works out about £1.67 a week and gives access to everything posted, including PDFs of 3 of my books.

Subscribe

If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:

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Tomorrow’s feature is the last on the 1980s as we tell the story of the 1989-90 season. If you missed the earlier features then start here:

The 1980s: 1980-1981 Gow, Hutchison & McDonald

Finishing Today: The 1980s

My series of articles covering the 1980s ends today. I’ve been posting them daily for several weeks now and they’ve ranged from simple ‘on this day’ style flashbacks to 10,000+ word indepth articles on particular seasons. Thanks for reading them and participating in this website. The 1980s was a truly important decade in the history of Manchester City Football Club and you can re-live the highs and lows of that decade for ever now. These articles will be available for as long as this website survives.

The site survives because of the support of subscribers and people who donate. You can find out about the benefits of doing that here:

How To Subscribe

Thanks again for your support and watch out for the next great series of articles as January becomes ‘1970s month’ on the website.

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.

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City v Southampton on New York TV

On this day (30 December) in 1978 if you just happened to be in New York you could watch Manchester City v Southampton in the All Star Soccer programme (or should that be program?) while you waited for Steve Austin, the six million dollar man later that day.

The game actually took place on 9 December, so there’s a good chance you’d have known the result. I won’t spoil it though as you can see highlights of the game here (5m 33secs in to this review of 1978-79):

The 1980s: White Double

Continuing this series of features covering the 1980s for Manchester City… Today it’s back to this day (30 December) in 1989 and Manchester City v Millwall. That day David White scored twice as the Blues won 2-0 at Maine Road in the top flight. Today that first goal would probably get debated at length when VAR eventually brings a decision but back then we just celebrated and enjoyed the moment.

You can watch the goals from this game below. It’s great to see the second goal involves Paul Lake and White seemed determined it would go in no matter what. Enjoy!

If you want to know more about the entire 1989-90 season then become a subscriber and read the following 8,000 word article on that season. Enjoy!

Subscribe to get access – Monthly

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) to access everything posted since 1 October 2022 or there’s a special annual rate below which gives greater access and works out much cheaper.

Subscribe

Subscribe to get access – Annual

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (above) or £20 a year (here) to access everything posted since the site was created in December 2020. This special rate works out about £1.67 a week and gives access to everything posted, including PDFs of 3 of my books.

Subscribe

If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:

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Today’s feature was one of many on the 1980s. I hope you’ve enjoyed them. If you missed the earlier features then start here:

The 1980s: 1980-1981 Gow, Hutchison & McDonald

Three Years Old – Thanks!

Well, it’s survived! This website is now three years old and I’d like to thank all those who have subscribed or donated to keep it going. Like many people I’m self-employed and all my research is funded by myself, or via people buying my books or subscribing/donating to this site. I do occasionally do paid projects with various organisations, but this website has been the main source of my writing for the last three years. It survives because it’s supported by subscribers and I am eternally grateful for their support.

When I set out to create this site in December 2020 I wanted to ensure there’d be good content that was free, alongside PDFs of some of my books, audio interviews, lengthy articles and other features that were available to subscribers. It has become a repository for some of my work and my intention remains to make this a comprehensive record and archive.

For over 500 consecutive days there has been at least one article/feature a day posted, while in total there are over 1300 posts ranging from simple on this day style features to indepth 10,000 word articles and audio interviews of one hour or more. There are video talks on various MCFC related topics too. Over the coming year this will be added to significantly as I intend to publish more indepth articles, starting on New Year’s Day. In fact the month of January will be dedicated to the 1970s as I publish at least one feature each day throughout the month on something from that decade. Like the 1980s features I’ve posted recently there will be indepth articles on each 1970s season plus other features.

If you’d like to read these articles and everything else on the site then why not subscribe? It costs £3 a month (cancel anytime) or there’s a discounted £20 a year offer too. It’s less than the cost of a history book but there’s so much here. You could always sign up for a month and see what you think. You can find out how here:

How To Subscribe

If you are unable to sign up but would still like to say ‘thanks for the free stuff on your site’ then a small donation to help pay tram fare to Central Library or other locations to do my research would be appreciated too:

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.

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Thanks for taking the time and trouble to read this and I really do appreciate your time and support. Ta!

The 1980s: Join the Hamper Club

Today’s 1980s flashback is a brief reminder from the Manchester City match programme for this day (29 December) in 1984 when City defeated Wolves 4-0 (yes, another day of beating Wolves at Christmas) at Maine Road.

The goalscorers were Graham Baker, David Phillips, Gordon Smith and Clive Wilson but today’s reminder isn’t really about the game it’s about this programme advert for the MCFC Hamper Club. That’s right City’s Development Association used to have a hamper club whereby you could save all year and receive an hamper full of items you might just need over Christmas, like a tin of ham or real fruit jellies!

Did you join City’s hamper club? My family used to get one from Park Hampers, not City sadly! Now, back to the football…

You can find out more on this season and the rest of this important decade in the history of Manchester City Football Club by subscribing. The following subscriber article is a 2,600 word feature on the 1984-85 season. Enjoy!

Subscribe to get access – Monthly

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) to access everything posted since 1 October 2022 or there’s a special annual rate below which gives greater access and works out much cheaper.

Subscribe

Subscribe to get access – Annual

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (above) or £20 a year (here) to access everything posted since the site was created in December 2020. This special rate works out about £1.67 a week and gives access to everything posted, including PDFs of 3 of my books.

Subscribe

If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:

How To Subscribe

Tomorrow’s feature is on the 1985-86 season. If you missed the earlier features then start here:

The 1980s: 1980-1981 Gow, Hutchison & McDonald

The 1980s: Wolves Beaten Again

Following on from yesterday here’s another 1980s Christmas visit to Maine Road by Wolverhampton Wanderers and just like yesterday’s reminder, this game also ended in a Manchester City win. This was one year and one day after yesterday’s match and was played on 28 December 1981. This programme cover is not quite as Christmassy as yesterday’s but the Blues did make an attempt at highlighting the festive season.

The previous season’s FA Cup finalists had signed Trevor Francis at the start of the season and he scored, as did Asa Hartford (on the cover of the programme), to help the Blues to a 2-1 victory.

You can read more on Trevor Francis and the 1981-82 season elsewhere on this site. There are lots of articles, many free including an interview I did with Trevor a few years back. Follow the link for more:

https://gjfootballarchive.com/tag/trevor-francis/

How To Subscribe

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.

Choose an amount

£2.50
£5.00
£7.50

Or enter a custom amount

£

Your contribution is appreciated.

Donate