On 21 April 2021 Manchester City travelled to Aston Villa for a Premier League game that ended in a 2-1 victory, putting the Blues 11 points clear of second placed Manchester United. Pep’s team were closing in on the title. The game had not started so positively with Villa’s McGinn scoring the joint quickest Premier League goal (20 seconds) of the season to date.
City fought back with goals from Phil Foden (22 minutes) and Rodri (40) but then suffered a setback when John Stones was sent off just before the break for a challenge on Ramsey. Villa also had a player, Cash, sent off 12 minutes into the second half after receiving his first yellow card only three minutes earlier. Both challenges were on Foden, who had been exceptional again. After the match Pep commented about Foden: ‘This guy is growing. His influence in our games is massive. He’s becoming a serious player. Phil right now is becoming such an important player. His influence in the final third is so important.’
The away win meant City were the first team to win ten or more games in a row on more than one occasion (previous time straggled two seasons and was 11 in May-December 2017).
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.
A crowd of 1,253 attended the Mini-Com (as the regional athletics stadium next to the City Of Manchester Stadium was dubbed by City at the time) to watch as Manchester City played their first home Women’s Super League game on this day (20 April) in 2014. I was there that day to watch this historic moment (these images are my photos from my seat). Sadly the game ended in a 2-0 defeat to Bristol Academy. Three days earlier City had lost 1-0 away to Liverpool in the first WSL game the club played.
If you’re interested in the history of women’s football then you may be interested in my Authorised History of the Manchester Corinthians. You can get your name in the second edition if you subscribe to it here. All subscribers will get a copy of the second edition book (posted out before it appears in the shops) and your name will be included in a special roll of honour published within the book if ordered before publication:
UK ONLY – Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History (second edition)
The story of a pioneering women’s club as told to Gary James by those who were there. This is UK only at £19.95 (incl UK postage and packaging). Outside UK contact for additional postage costs. This revised and updated second edition will be a paperback edition and contain more pages than the first edition.
£19.95
Opportunities to buy multiple copies, sponsor the book or donate to ensure it’s published to the size and standard the women who played deserve exist. Please email Gary@GJFootballArchive.com for more information on those opportunities.
This book is a must for anyone interested in Manchester or women’s football and will consist of over 360 pages. It will be fully illustrated throughout and subscribers can order it now for £19.95 (including UK postage and packaging). All orders received before publication will have the purchaser’s name included within the special roll of honour at the back of the book. You can order the book for someone else – all details will be checked and confirmed before publication.
The book will be published this October (2026).
If you live outside the UK then please contact for details of additional postage costs.
You do not need to have a PayPal account to order – use the ‘Pay with PayPal’ button above and it will give you the option to pay by credit/debit card without creating a PayPal account.
Maine Road’s highest crowd of the season, 50,439, witnessed a pulsating game against League title hopefuls Liverpool on this day (19 April) in 1976. The game was goalless until the 74th minute when Steve Heighway scored the opener. In the 87thminute, as City searched for an equaliser, the Blues were unlucky when a David Fairclough attempt was diverted in off Tommy Booth and then in the final minute future Blue Fairclough blasted home a Kevin Keegan pass from 14 yards out.
Paul Power came close to scoring a consolation goal a few moments later, as goalkeeper Ray Clemence and Emlyn Hughes scrambled the ball off the line, but the game ended 3-0 to new League leaders Liverpool, who led the table from QPR by a point. The Daily Express report praised City’s performance: ‘City stuck manfully to their job and until Fairclough began to create his havoc they always looked likely to take at least a point.’
You can read more on the 1975-76 season with this 5,320 word article – a season which saw Tony Book guide the club to major success. If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? You could even subscribe for a month and see what you think. The following 5,320 word article is on the 1975-76 season and is available to subscribers below. 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.
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.
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.
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.
I’ll be publishing the second edition of the non-profit making book on the Manchester Corinthians soon. I’m desperate to include the names of as many former Corinthians as possible in the book and so I’m making another call for the names of women who played for the Corinthians at some point during the club’s astounding 40+ years to be identified. As with the first edition of the book there will be a list of all known players included within Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History (second edition). While over 350 names have already been identified, I know there are many other women who played at some point during the club’s history. So please ask your families, spread the news and let me know of anyone who has possibly been missed. If you’ve got the first edition check the list at the back and see if ‘your’ Corinthian is named.
I want to record the names of the players and, where possible, the years they played. So please get in touch. I don’t want anybody to be missed.
It’s worth remembering that some Corinthians had previously kept quiet because of reactions they may have had to playing football in the past. In fact, during my research, I have met women who had not told their families that they played football and so asking the simple question ‘Did you play football, Nan?’ will sometimes bring out a wonderful aspect of your nan’s life. So, I urge you all to ask your mum, mam, ma, mātā, mom, madar, mama, nan, gran, nani, nana, nonna, granny, babushka, grandma (or whatever term of affection you use for your mother or grandmother) about playing sport.
Ask your mam or your nan if she played – you never know what you’ll hear! Granny may well have been one of the club’s pioneering figures – or a leading light at another club whose story needs to be told – but just hasn’t talked about it!
If you find a Corinthian then get in touch. I really don’t want to leave anybody out of my book. But time is short, so please ask now.
As well as asking your mam or your nan, how about helping the book by subscribing to it? You will get a copy of the second edition book (posted out before it appears in the shops) and your name will be included in a special roll of honour published within the book if ordered before publication:
UK ONLY – Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History (second edition)
The story of a pioneering women’s club as told to Gary James by those who were there. This is UK only at £19.95 (incl UK postage and packaging). Outside UK contact for additional postage costs. This revised and updated second edition will be a paperback edition and contain more pages than the first edition.
£19.95
Opportunities to buy multiple copies, sponsor the book or donate to ensure it’s published to the size and standard the women who played deserve exist. Please email Gary@GJFootballArchive.com for more information on those opportunities.
This book is a must for anyone interested in Manchester or women’s football and will consist of over 360 pages. It will be fully illustrated throughout and subscribers can order it now for £19.95 (including UK postage and packaging). All orders received before publication will have the purchaser’s name included within the special roll of honour at the back of the book. You can order the book for someone else – all details will be checked and confirmed before publication.
The book will be published this October (2026).
If you live outside the UK then please contact for details of additional postage costs.
You do not need to have a PayPal account to order – use the ‘Pay with PayPal’ button above and it will give you the option to pay by credit/debit card without creating a PayPal account.
The book will include the story of the club as told by the women involved, alongside a significant amount of archive material. Myths will be corrected and the facts of this pioneering club will be told in an easy to read format.
The club went on to represent Manchester, football and female endeavour for decades, winning major international tournaments in Europe and South America. The Corinthians are, without doubt, one of the most important football clubs ever to come from Manchester and they were a prominent and pioneering club in so many ways.
As well as the interviews and dozens of archive trips there’s been a concerted effort to compile as comprehensive list as possible on women who played for the club. I’ve managed to compile a list of over 350 women who played for the club. Objects and trophies have also been rediscovered. This is the type of detailed research I enjoy. It’s time consuming, difficult and often frustrating but occasionally you find a little gem that adds significantly to our knowledge. There have been quite a few of those.
The Hebden Bridge talk when the campaign for a Blue Plaque and other tributes was publicly announced, December 2021
Those subscribing to the book will receive a copy signed by author Gary James and posted out to subscribers before it appears in any shop or is distributed to any retailer. This is the ONLY way to guarantee your copy.
Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History will include interviews with players from every era of the club from several founding players back in 1948-49 through to those playing for the club in its final days over 40 years later (yes, that’s right – over 40 years later!). The book tells the story of the club from start to finish via the voices of the women who played. Via these voices the entire history of the club is explained with the key figures identified and remembered. There’s a remarkable trail of women linking the first game with the last.
Over fifty Corinthians have been interviewed for this book and their remarkable stories and memories are supported with an amazing array of photographs, newspaper articles, match programmes, trophies and other items of memorabilia from every era of the club’s existence.
Alongside chapters chronicling the history of the club there are features on founder Percy Ashley, who dedicated his life to promoting women’s football, and on Gladys Aikin (a key figure not only with the Corinthians but also with the early years of the Women’s Football Association) and George Aikin, who continued to take the Corinthians on tours into the 1980s. There are special features on the major tours of the 1950s and 1960s when the Corinthians found major international success.
The cover of the book will be worked on by the designer over the coming months but following feedback from former players the maroon and dark blue options will be replaced with a blue, more reminiscent of the colour first worn by the Corinthians (based on player memories, reports, programmes and other material found so far).
An unlucky away game at Leeds on this day (17 April) in 1976 was noteworthy for a goal by Colin Bell, playing his second comeback game for Manchester City. Journalist Alan Thompson writing for the Daily Express summed up the game well: ‘Leeds were awful for most of the first half, went in a goal down, but they won the match… As Mike Doyle says, “We threw the game away… AGAIN!”’
City’s goal came after five minutes when the ball was swung out to Colin Bell, playing his second comeback game after his devastating injury in the November derby match, on the edge of the box. Bell scored with a magnificent shot which went in off the upright. Sadly, the game ended in a 2-1 defeat after two goals in three minutes from Leeds (McNiven 62nd minute & Harris 64th minute).
You can read more on the 1975-76 season with this 5,320 word article – a season which saw Tony Book guide the club to major success. If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? You could even subscribe for a month and see what you think. The following 5,320 word article is on the 1975-76 season and is available to subscribers below. 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.
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.
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.
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.
Today (16 April) in 1966 Manchester City defeated Bolton 4-1 at Maine Road in the Second Division. The City scorers were Dave Connor, Johnny Crossan, Bobby Kennedy and Cliff Sear. Future PFA chief Gordon Taylor scored for Bolton. Subscribers can read some contemporary match reports from this game below. Were you there that day? If you were please feel free to add your comments.
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You can find out more on Manchester City during the 1965-66 season by reading the following 4100 word article. As with most of the other features in this series it includes words from interviews I have performed with those who were there. This is a subscriber article (see below).
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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.
On 16 April 2011 Manchester City faced Manchester United in the FA Cup semi final. Five years ago I produced Restored 2011: The All-Manchester FA Cup Semi Final and I think it’s well worth listening to today to get a feel for how significant this game actually was. This special 1 hour audio recording looked at the game and the years between City’s 1976 League Cup success and the FA Cup glory of 2011. The 2011 semi-final was a crucial step in City’s journey since the 2008 takeover and I felt it was vital to do a special marking this.
So what’s in this special recording? Well, I’ve included exclusive material from interviews and recordings I’ve done over the years with Garry Cook, Brian Marwood, Roberto Mancini, Peter Barnes and Peter Swales. Why Swales? Well, have a listen and you’ll hear why. Basically though I’m trying to set the tone for why the 2011 FA Cup semi final victory and overcoming Manchester United was so significant.
On Mancini… I include a few words from him recorded in 2011 and at one point he talks about the view that was then being expressed that City were ‘trying’ to buy success (now they say City ‘have’ bought success!). His words are a reminder that City have been having that particular criticism thrown at them for over a decade! Oh well, I wonder how long those criticisms were laid at other clubs who had seen major investment which propelled them forward?
Anyway, get yourself a brew and be prepared to be transported back in time. Here’s the recording:
If you enjoy the recording then please let me know, comment or subscribe to the site. If it’s of interest then, over the coming months and years, I’ll produce others like this highlighting key points in Manchester City – and Manchester’s – footballing history. It costs £20 a year to subscribe (it works out £1.67 a month) or £3 if you’d like to sign up a month at a time to get full access for as long as you subscribe (you can always try it for a month). It’s worth bearing in mind that the 2010 Manchester A Football History cost £24.95 and all subscribers will be able to access all of that for as long as they are a subscriber (plus all the other stuff of course). You can subscribe below.
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On this day (15 April) in 1964 Maine Road staged a remarkable testimonial for legendary goalkeeper Bert Trautmann. You can read about this incredible night, which set an attendance record for testimonials, below.
This article is for subscribers to the site.
Subscribe to get access
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 of £20 which gives access to everything posted since the site was set up in December 2020.
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.
After a surprising defeat in the League at home to Leeds (who were down to ten men throughout the second half) Manchester City’s return leg with Borussia Dortmund on this day (14 April) in 2021, ended with the same result as the first – 2-1. Dortmund had scored first on the night via Jude Bellingham, but the tie ended 4-2 on aggregate. This was a truly impressive victory.
City’s goals coming from Riyad Mahrez (penalty) and Foden. After Foden scored a screamer, he raced towards the manager and the two embraced knowing that City were through to the semi-finals. Afterwards Pep Guardiola told journalists what he experienced at that moment: ‘[Foden] found me. He ran [past] everyone and found me. That’s for all the club, all the people that work so hard to achieve what we have achieved so far. I said, “Well done, good shot, we go”.’
Pep highlighted the task now facing City: ‘We need three wins to win the Premier League. We are in the semi-finals of the Champions League. We are in semi-finals of the FA Cup and the final of the Carabao Cup. It is incredible what we have done. I am incredibly happy for this club, for this chairman and for the fans. Everyone.’
This was shaping up to be a great season.
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.
On this day (April 13) in 2014 Manchester City’s women’s team played its first competitive game after the relaunch. It was a FA Cup tie against Reading played at the Regional Athletics Arena.
Here for subscribers is a section of Manchester City Women: An Oral History discussing that opening game:
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Gary James' Football Archive 