Author Archives: garyjamesfootballarchive

100 Years Ago Today: Hyde Road’s Last

Today (28 April) in 1923 Hyde Road staged its last League game as Manchester City drew 0-0 with Newcastle United.

The match was watched by a crowd of around 20,000.  On the same date Wembley Stadium, built by the same people who were building Maine Road, hosted its first FA Cup final and, because of the extraordinary scenes, very little space was given over to the City game in the national ‘papers.  Instead they concentrated on Bolton’s performance and the exploits of Billy, the white horse, in clearing the Wembley pitch. 

Three months after the last Hyde Road League match, on 18 August, the last ever game, a practice match, was staged on the pitch.  Afterwards the goal posts and a few turnstiles were taken from the old ground and erected at Maine Road – about 6 were still at Maine Road in 2003 when it was demolished. Attempts were made to keep one of the oldest (from 1896) and re-erect it in a public area at the new stadium. Sadly, the day before it was to be removed the external wall was smashed and the turnstile was stolen.

One of the Hyde Road stand roofs was dismantled and sold to Halifax Town to be re-erected at the Shay. 

The Shay had opened approximately twelve months before Hyde Road’s last League match, and a stand had already been constructed.  When this stand was extended it coincided with the demolition of City’s ground.  Basically, it appears that the metalwork from one of City’s multi-span roofs was dismantled and re-erected along the touchline at the Shay.  It was linked to the existing roof, and formed one traditional style roof.  The roof still exists at the Shay today, although during the early 1990s it was re-clad.

The front stanchions look suspiciously like those at Hyde Road, while my investigations in the late 1990s highlighted that the metalwork matched that of similar roofing at a factory in Sale.  That factory’s roof was also a former stand roof from Hyde Road.  Both the Shay roof and that in Sale were so similar that it seems likely they had previously been erected at Hyde Road.

The Sale factory was dismantled and sections of the roof given to Manchester City for possible re-use in a City museum.  Sadly, by 2002 the metalwork had vanished from Maine Road and its whereabouts unknown.

A page from Charles Thurrell’s copy of Hyde Road’s last league game match programme v Newcastle, 28 April 1923
Charles Thurrell’s copy of Hyde Road’s last league game match programme v Newcastle, 28 April 1923

A Decisive Derby

On this day (27 April) in 1974 Manchester United hosted Manchester City at Old Trafford for a high profile derby match. A lot has been said about the game over the years with lots of myths and twisting of stories but if you want to know the true story of the day take a look at this:

Law’s Last League Game

A Title Decider? MCFC v Arsenal

Tonight Manchester City and Arsenal face each other in what some are suggesting is a title decider. Of course, regardless of who wins it definitely isn’t a title decider as there are games to play and points to be won and lost, but it is a significant match in the season. Way back in April 1937 the two clubs met in very similar circumstances. Back then Arsenal were top and Manchester City were second and their Maine Road meeting was also promoted as a potential title decider. So what happened next?

Here for subscribers is the story of that game…

Subscribe annually to get access to the entire site

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. £20 for a year to access to ALL posts, books, interviews, talks etc. posted (site created in December 2020).

Subscribe

Subscribe Monthly

You can subscribe on a monthly basis for £3 (cancel any time). Monthly subscribers get access to all posts, interviews, talks etc. posted since 1 October 2022.

Subscribe

FA Cup Final Ticket Woes

This is an odd article for a few reasons from today (25 April) in 1955. Basically the Manchester City manager Les McDowall was getting inundated with requests for FA Cup final tickets from fans, friends, former players and others. Some were turning up at his house…. So what did the Manchester Evening News do? It included the name of the street McDowall lived on! Surely that would’ve added to his woes?

Monthly Football Articles – Oldham, Rochdale, City & United

A few months back I started writing a series of articles on football in the Manchester region for the Manchester Confidential website. If you’ve missed the and are interested here are links to them:

Oldham:

https://confidentials.com/manchester/oldhams-green-shoots

Rochdale:

https://confidentials.com/manchester/dale-drop?id=641c3189d2891

City:

https://confidentials.com/manchester/when-will-manchester-city-achieve-european-champions-league-glory?id=63ef59984ff4e

United:

https://confidentials.com/manchester/manchester-united-looking-backward-to-push-forward?id=63c9274f540ba

There will be a new article each month.

Haaland’s Strikes

Tomorrow Manchester City face Arsenal in the League and there’s the possibility that national goalscoring records could be broken once again. A few weeks back I calculated that if Erling Haaland maintained a goal a game ratio in the remaining League fixtures for Manchester City he would better Tommy Johnson’s 38 goal tally by a goal. Since then Haaland, who is already City’s seasonal record scorer in all competitions, has indeed kept up that ratio – in fact he has surpassed it – and has now broken another barrier: 30 League goals in a season.

To celebrate this I’ve put together a feature comparing every player who has scored 30 goals or more for City, plus those Premier League goalscorers whose achievements could be bettered by Haaland this season. Here goes….

Subscribe to get access – Monthly

This article is available for subscribers. It costs £3 a month (here) or £20 a year (below) to access this and other articles on the site, including books, videos and 100s of articles. Why not try it for a month?

Subscribe

Subscribe to get access – Annual

This article is available for subscribers. It costs £20 a year (here) to access this and everything else on the site, including books, videos and 100s of articles.

Subscribe

The 2000s: This Week 2001-02

Continuing the weekly series on Manchester City’s seasons from 1999-2000 through to 2008-09. Each week I’ll be publishing here the story of a different season of that remarkable ten-year period. Today we have a 5,400 word article on the 2001-02 season (below) which saw City win the old League Championship trophy. City’s manager was Kevin Keegan.

Subscribe to get access – Annual

This article is for subscribers to my website. It costs £20 a year to access everything on the site since creation in December 2020. That includes articles, history talks, videos, interviews & more. There’s also a monthly option below.

Subscribe

Subscribe to get access – Monthly

Monthly subscription costs £3 per month to access everything on the site since 1 October 2022 (cancel anytime). All subscribers access all new material until their subscription ends. Why not give it a try for a month?

Subscribe

Wembley Finals

The FA Cup helped establish Manchester’s footballing identity – more on that in a minute. On this day in 1948 Manchester United appeared at Wembley for the first time to win the FA Cup. Manchester’s 1st FAC success came in 1904 (City). Before 1948 the Blues had appeared in 3 Wembley finals. Utd’s 1948 success meant 2 FA Cups each.

More on 1904 here:

Manchester’s First Major Trophy Success

United beat Blackpool 4-2 in the 1948 final wearing blue.

Restored 2011: The All-Manchester FA Cup Semi Final

The closest Manchester City and Manchester United have got to playing each other in a Wembley FA Cup final were FA Cup semi finals in 1926 and 2011. I wasn’t around in 1926 but I definitely was in 2011. So a couple of years ago I made this special audio recording talking about the years building up to the semi and the day itself.

Restored 2011: The All-Manchester FA Cup Semi Final is a special 1 hour audio recording looks at the game and the years between the 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. I’ve produced videos/talks like this highlighting key points in Manchester City’s footballing history which subscribers can watch. 

Subscribe to get access – Annual

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. 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. Annual subscribers 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).

Subscribe

Subscribe to get access – Monthly

It costs £3 a month to subscribe a month at a time. Why not give it a try! Monthly subscribers get access to everything posted since 1 October 2022 for as long as you subscribe.

Subscribe

Match Stats for the 2011 FA Cup Semi-final

City 1-0 United (HT 0-0)

Yaya Toure 52

City: 25 Hart 04 Kompany (yellow card), 05 Zabaleta (yellow card), 13 Kolarov, 19 Lescott, 11 Johnson (Wright-Phillips 79), 18 Barry, 21 Silva (Vieira 86), 34 De Jong (yellow card), 42 Y Toure, 45 Balotelli (yellow card). Substitutes 12 Taylor, 38 Boyata, 07 Milner, 08 Wright-Phillips, 24 Vieira, 10 Dzeko, 27 Jo

United: 01 Van der Sar, 03 Evra, 05 Ferdinand, 15 Vidic, 22 O’Shea (Fabio Da Silva 84), 13 Park Ji-Sung, 16 Carrick, 17 Nani, 18 Scholes (red card), 25 Valencia (Hernandez 65), 09 Berbatov (Anderson 74). Substitutes 29 Kuszczak, 12 Smalling, 20 Fabio Da Silva, 08 Anderson, 28 Gibson, 07 Owen, 14 Hernandez

Referee: Dean

Attendance: 86,549

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

The Faroe’s First

On this day (24 April) in 2010 Gunnar Nielsen became the first Faroe Islander to play in the Premier League. The goalkeeper came on for the injured Shay Given in the 76th minute and kept a clean sheet as City drew 0-0 at Arsenal, watched by a crowd of 60,086.

You can watch highlights here:

https://www.mancity.com/citytv/match-highlights/2010/april/arsenal-away-full-highlights