Author Archives: garyjamesfootballarchive

Jesus’ First

Today (1 February) in 2017 Gabriel Jesus scored his first Manchester City goal as the Blues defeated West Ham 4-0. The goals were from De Bruyne (17), David Silva (21), Jesus (39) and Toure (pen, 67) at the former London Olympic Stadium. Attendance 56,980. A few stats and reports from that day/the game here:

  • Gabriel Jesus became the first player to both score and assist a goal on their first Premier League start for Manchester City.
  • Jesus also became the second youngest Brazilian player to score his first Premier League goal (19yrs 304days), after Rafael for Manchester United in November 2008 (18yrs 122days).
  • David Silva scored his third away Premier League goal against West Ham – his highest tally of away goals against another opponent in the competition.
  • Yaya Toure has scored all 11 of his Premier League penalties – the best 100% record in the competition.
  • In his 50th Premier League game, Kevin de Bruyne recorded his 30th goal involvement in the competition (11 goals, 19 assists).
  • City have scored nine goals in two games in all competitions at London Stadium – just half the number West Ham have (18) in 17 games there.

Fifteen Points Clear

On this day (31 January) in 2018 Manchester City moved 15 points clear of their nearest rivals in the Premier League title race. You can watch highlights of the game with WBA (which City won 3-0) below:

https://www.mancity.com/citytv/match-highlights/2018/january/man-city-west-brom-video-highlights-extended

The scorers were Fernandinho, Aguero and De Bruyne. I was one of the 53,241 at the Etihad that day. Were you also at this match? If you were why not leave your memory as a comment or email it to me for possible future use on this website?

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Free Online Presentation on the Origins of MCFC – Tomorrow

I’ve increased the number of tickets for tomorrow’s free online talk to the absolute maximum possible. The talk focuses on the origins of Manchester City FC, focusing on St Mark’s & the club’s development prior to its re-birth as Ardwick AFC. It takes place at Wednesday 1 February at 6pm (UK time) and these final few tickets can be booked below.

During the hour long presentation I will discuss the origins and will explain how the club was born and developed. There are lots of myths out there, so come and listen to the facts. This hour will include the opportunity to ask questions as I’m keen to hear your thoughts on the birth of the club.

The event will be live on Zoom on 1/2/23 at 6pm and a link will be sent to all those who have registered for the event beforehand (probably about 1 hour before we are due to start). To sign up for this online Zoom talk please register via this link:

Register on Eventbrite

You must register here if you want to get involved. If you’d like an example of what the talk will be like take a look at:

Video of my online talk on history of MCFC Support/Match Day at Maine Road

The talk will last about 1 hour and will be online on zoom, so you should be able to access it anywhere.

This is the third and final time I have increased capacity. Tickets have continued to go quickly so please book today if you want to listen and watch the presentation.

You can see posts about other History Talks here:

https://gjfootballarchive.com/tag/history-talks/

Manchester City v Bradford Park Avenue: A Record Breaking Day!

On this day (30 January) in 1946 the second leg of the fourth round FA Cup tie with Bradford Park Avenue occurred. The competition largely followed the style of the War Cup with rounds played on a two legged basis.  In the third round City had defeated Barrow 8-4 on aggregate, and had managed to defeat Bradford 3-1 at Park Avenue in the first leg.  The two goal margin was believed to be enough for the Blues and the match programme included the line:  unless something extraordinary happens this afternoon City should be in the hat for the fifth round draw.

Something extraordinary did happen as Bradford cancelled out the Blues’ lead with goals in the 21st and 23rd minutes. Cardwell had regained the aggregate lead in the 36th minute but the second half saw Bradford in blistering form.  They made it 4-4 on aggregate three minutes after the break and then netted three times in nine minutes to make it 6-1 on the night.  The Blues pulled a goal back after 78 minutes but Bradford came back again netting a penalty five minutes from time and their eighth in the 87th minute.

The Blues had endured their record home defeat in the FA Cup.  Logically there was no reason why it should happen on that day.  The weather wasn’t great and Cardwell was injured during the match, but City’s team should have been more than capable of at least holding back Bradford.

Future England boss Ron Greenwood had played in both games.

True Blues – Lawrence Furniss

Lawrence Furniss was a key figure behind the development of Manchester City for 60 years and his achievements should never be forgotten.  His contribution to the City cause was total.  He was given (and thoroughly deserved) the accolade of being City’s first Life President. You can find out why this man was such an important figure in Manchester City history below (there’s also some film of him at Maine Road in the 1920s:

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The full series of True Blue profiles will feature:

Lawrence Furniss, John Allison, Joshua Parlby, Walter Chew, William Sumner, Tom Maley, St Mark’s community leaders, Billy Meredith, John Chapman, William Beastow and James Moores.

Remember When City Scored Ten?

Manchester City have scored ten goals or more on a few occasions since formation, most famously in 1987 against Huddersfield Town when the Blues won 10-1. Today (29 January) is the anniversary of another 10-1 victory. This came in 1930 when the fourth FAC tie played by City in 18 days ended in a 10-1 victory over Swindon Town. Subscribers can read reports of the game below.

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Starting Monday: True Blues

Starting Monday and running each Monday for nine weeks I’m doing a new weekly series of profile articles on some of the earliest figures behind the development of Manchester City. Some of these will be players or managers, while others will be directors, chairmen or other figures associated with the club in some way. Some of them will be fairly unknown while others may still be recognisable names today. All deserve to be remembered.

The people featured are:

Lawrence Furniss, John Allison, Joshua Parlby, Walter Chew, William Sumner, Tom Maley, St Mark’s community leaders, Billy Meredith, John Chapman, William Beastow and James Moores.

Don’t worry if you’ve not heard of them – you soon will. I’ve been obsessed with the origins of football in Manchester for decades now. In the 1980s I first started researching the early years of City and spent many, many hours every week in libraries and other locations trying to piece together the club’s story, particularly its formative years in West Gorton, Gorton and Ardwick. I also contacted various churches, local history groups and more in the desperate hope they had something – anything – of interest. From a St Mark’s perspective this included contact with Emmanuel Church in West Gorton (who took over from St Mark’s as the local church when St Mark’s was demolished; sadly in the early 1990s they told me all St Mark’s records had either been destroyed or had been passed on to Manchester Cathedral) and later with Manchester Cathedral.

In the early 1990s I also tracked down the son of the 1950s editor of the St Mark’s parish magazine as in a feature the former editor had written he discussed the original parish magazine, published in the 1880s, and explained that he had copies of every issue in front of him. I was convinced these would hold clues as to the development of the football club. Sadly, despite considerable effort on his part his son came back to me with the news that the magazine had been disposed of when his father either moved or died. Unfortunately, this sort of thing happens a lot.

Anyway, these True Blue profiles are only one small glimpse into those early years. If you’d like to read more then please let me know and I’ll try and share as much as I can from my archive of material, researched continuously since the mid-1980s.

So, watch this space! These ‘True Blue’ profiles will be available to subscribers. See below for details of how to subscribe either monthly (cancel anytime) or annually.

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Annual subscribers can access all the articles, talks, books and interviews posted since December 2020 for an annual subscription of £20 (works out about £1.67 per month).

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Monthly subscribers can access all the articles, talks, books and interviews posted since 1 October 2022 for a monthly subscription of £3 (cancel any time).

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Expunged – Law’s 6!

On this day (28 January) in 1961 Denis Law’s six goals against Luton in the FAC were wiped from the records when the game was abandoned due to fog.  Manchester City were winning 6-2, and lost the replay 3-1 (Law scored City’s consolation).

Subscribers can read a report of the game and more on Law & this game below.

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £20 a year (here, works out about £1.66 per month) or £3 per month (below). Annual subscribers access everything posted to the site including PDFs of 2 out of print books and 100s of articles/interviews etc.

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £20 a year (above) or £3 per month (here). Monthly subscribers access everything posted to the site since 1 October 2022 and can cancel anytime, so why not try it for a month?

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A Strange FA Cup Defeat!

On 27 January 2008 Manchester City were knocked out of the FA Cup at Sheffield United in unusual circumstances. It was a difficult time for the Blues and you can read about the game here:

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Ipswich Town 1 Manchester City 4

On 27 January 2002 Manchester City’s fourth round FA Cup tie at Ipswich saw Kevin Keegan’s side thrill live on TV. City impressed the nation with their spectacular 4-1 fourth round cup demolition of Premier League side Ipswich Town. It is worth remembering that City were in the second tier at the time, hoping for promotion. Many of us felt that the Blues were not only good enough to find success in the League but also stood a genuine chance of FA Cup success (mind you, some of us felt that every season – nine years later it finally happened!).

The City scorers against Ipswich were Eyal Berkovic, Shaun Goater (2) and Darren Huckerby.

After the Ipswich match Keegan said: “Our fans know we can play but I think we showed the rest of the country that we are a good team. I believe the FA Cup needed a game like our tie with Ipswich where the atmosphere was tremendous and both sides picked their strongest available sides and really set out to win.” 

In the fifth round, Keegan’s Blues travelled to Newcastle for another thrilling performance against the manager’s old club. The media hype focused on Keegan, but the match ended with national recognition that the Blues were clearly a force. Although City lost the match 1-0 after Richard Dunne had been sent off, the general view was that ten-man City were more than a match for the Geordies. City impressed the nation once again.

The Newcastle tie, like the Ipswich game, came at a time when many were questioning the status of the FA Cup. City’s performance in both ties were seen as major boosts for the competition. According to Henry Winter of the Daily Telegraph: “Keegan returned with his magnificent Manchester City side whose spirited, defiant football sent the heart rate soaring among Newcastle’s nervy support. Making light of Richard Dunne’s dismissal and Nolberto Solano’s goal, City scared the black-and-white life out of those who still cherish Keegan’s name. Shaun Wright-Phillips was marvellous, Eyal Berkovic and Kevin Horlock not far behind with outstanding displays as City narrowly lost a Cup-tie but won countless admirers. If they build on this, they will surely keep the Blue Moon rising and head back to the Premiership, where their noisy supporters belong.” 

Here are highlights of the Ipswich tie:

Manchester City’s owner Sheikh Mansour has bought the oldest surviving FA Cup trophy at auction. The trophy, which was the first major trophy won by Bury, City and United, will be on display at the National Football Museum. To understand more of that trophy’s significance to Manchester check out my earlier posts:

FA Cup success, football infrastructure and the establishment of Manchester’s footballing identity – FREE DOWNLOAD FOR LIMITED PERIOD

And:

https://gjfootballarchive.com/2021/01/08/manchesters-first-great-season/

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This was a brief sample of the content available on GJFootballArchive.com. If you would like to view the much longer articles and everything else on this site then please subscribe. It works out about £1.67 a month if you take out an annual subscription (£20 per year, here) or £3 a month (below) if you’d like to sign up for a month at a time.

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Subscribe to get access

This was a brief sample of the content available on GJFootballArchive.com. If you would like to view the much longer articles and everything else on this site then please subscribe. It works out about £1.67 a month if you take out an annual subscription (£20 per year, above) or £3 a month (here) if you’d like to sign up for a month at a time. Why not sign up for a month, see what’s here and then cancel if you don’t think it’s appropriate for you?

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