Author Archives: garyjamesfootballarchive

Historic Name That Ground – Week 29

The latest ground to identify… Do you recognise this ground? Believe it or not a five years before this photo was taken Manchester City’s new ground at Maine Road was described as being designed to emulate this venue.

On Friday I’ll post the answer. So here goes….

Can you name the ground featured in the image above? This is a 1920s photo of this ground. This remains a major venue today.

Post your answer below in the comments field and I’ll post the answer on Friday.

While you’re here why not subscribe to my site and you can then access every article, interview, audio recording etc. already posted and those that will be posted during your subscription. It costs £20 per year (about £1.67 a month) or you can sign up on a monthly basis at £3 per month (you can cancel at any time, so you could sign sign up for a month, access everything you want and then cancel). You can subscribe below:

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I had planned to run ‘Historic Name That Ground’ only during the close season 2021 as in previous years, but it’s proving of interest so I’ll keep it going for a little while yet. If you have an old image of a ground that you think it’d be worth including in this weekly quiz then please get in touch. They don’t have to be from the 1900s to 1960s – even ground images from the 70s and 80s may prove a challenge to identify these days. You can email me at gary@GJFootballArchive.com Thanks.

Broadbottom 3 Manchester City 0…

Not quite the above headline but it was Broadbottom 3 St Mark’s (West Gorton) 0 on this day (31 December) in 1881. The fact that Gorton only managed to field nine players appears to be the reason why the match was so one sided especially as, only two months later, the home fixture between the two clubs ended 3-0 in West Gorton’s favour.  It is fair to say however that the St. Mark’s men were rather inconsistent! For the record here’s the team:

St Mark’s did eventually evolve into Manchester City (through various other changes) of course!

Historic Name That Ground – Week 28 Answer

Did you recognise this ground? I posted it on Monday and asked: ‘Can you name the ground featured in the image above? This is a 1920s photo of this ground. There really isn’t much left that matches the image seen here but the main stand (top) did have a recognisable feature that has been replicated. Also, that terracing to the left remained the same for decades. I certainly stood on it for a memorable game in the 1980s.’ The answer is…

Notts County’s Meadow Lane. The terracing to the left housed Manchester City fans (as did most of the rest of the ground. County gave City the home terracing and most of the seats) when City went there for what was hoped would be a promotion game in 1985. A barmy day saw the party end and we had to wait for the following game at home to Charlton for the chance to celebrate.

So, this is the last ground quiz of the year. Have a happy New Year and here’s to a great 2022. I know 2021 has been another tough year for most of us, so let’s hope 2022 is much better.

While you’re here why not subscribe to my site and you can then access every article, interview, audio recording etc. already posted and those that will be posted during your subscription. It costs £20 per year (about £1.67 a month) or you can sign up on a monthly basis at £3 per month (you can cancel at any time, so you could sign sign up for a month, access everything you want and then cancel). You can subscribe below:

Subscribe to get access

Read more of this content when you subscribe today.

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I had planned to run ‘Historic Name That Ground’ only during the close season as in previous years, but it’s proving of interest so I’ll keep it going for a little while yet. If you have an old image of a ground that you think it’d be worth including in this weekly quiz then please get in touch. They don’t have to be from the 1900s to 1960s – even ground images from the 70s and 80s may prove a challenge to identify these days. You can email me at gary@GJFootballArchive.com Thanks.

MCFC 20TH CENTURY CHRONICLE SEASON 1969-70

The League Matches

A 4-1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday on the opening day of the season gave many supporters hope that 1969-70 would see the Blues challenge for the League title, however 3 successive defeats followed and the Mercer-Allison side struggled to find consistency.  Nevertheless they did manage to reach 4th place – 9 points behind leaders Leeds – by 18th December, and defeat Manchester United 4-0 on 15/11.

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MANCHESTER CITY – HALL OF FAME: Niall Quinn

“It’s a tremendous honour for me and my wife to be here tonight to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.  When I arrived here I was a kid who couldn’t get in to the Arsenal side, but by the time I left I’d had a wonderful time and had become a full international.  When I left, myself and Francis (Lee) sought to differ that I was getting a little bit too old.  I apologise for all that time Francis, but we were both trying to do our best for the club, and as long as everybody keeps doing that this club will always remain special.  I am very pleased with this award.  Thank you.” Niall Quinn collecting the Hall of Fame award in January 2004

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Memorial Cards: Sledging Rivals in 1912

It is believed the memorial card seen here was printed to mark Manchester United’s 2-0 victory over Manchester City on December 28 1912. Cards like these were popular at most high profile games and in Manchester there was a significant industry behind football funeral cards.

They seem a bit macabre today in our half-half friendship version of professional football but back then cards were used to highlight games frequently. I’ve written and talked a lot on this over the years.

Here for subscribers I’d like to provide an overview of the industry, how it existed, what activities were carried out and provide a potted history of the funeral card business. This is about 3,500 words, so get yourself a brew and settle down to read…

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City Voices Project: More MCFC Fans’ Views Needed

An update on the City Voices project… It’s been over a year since I announced the project which will capture and archive the memories, stories and views of MCFC fans but, due to COVID, I’ve not been able to interview many fans. I’m still keen to gather these stories, which will be archived at MCFC for future generations too! Read on for more information…

Following on from my successful project capturing the stories of the women who played for and the people involved with Manchester City’s women’s team throughout its 30+ years of existence, a similar project was launched more than a year ago to capture the stories of Manchester City’s fans.

I will be capturing the stories of the club’s fans over the next year and you can help contribute to this great project. I’m keen to hear from and interview fans to ensure their stories and experiences are captured and retained for ever.

If you would like to help the project and provide your stories then please complete the questionnaire below and send it to gary@GJFootballArchive.com as soon as you can. Unfortunately, due to time constraints at the moment I will not be able to reply to all emails. I will certainly be reading every questionnaire and those stories will be captured for posterity. 

In addition, I will be interviewing some fans during 2022. Hopefully, this will be via face-to-face interviews may follow. If you would like to be considered for interview then please complete the relevant section on the questionnaire.

Updates on the project will follow over the coming months, including details of how these stories will contribute to our knowledge and understanding of what it has been like to support Manchester City over the decades. 

One important point to note is that I am keen to hear from fans of all ages based in Manchester, the United Kingdom and around the world. The greater the number that respond the better the archive of fans stories will become.

Please help this project and ensure the memories, stories and lives of City fans are captured for posterity. Thanks to those who have already completed the questionnaire – some of you are still on my list for potential interviews (apologies for the delays – COVID has been a bit of an issue for us all of course!).

Here’s the questionnaire:

https://gjfootballarchive.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/city-voices-modelconsent.docx

Thanks,

Gary

Historic Name That Ground – Week 28

The latest ground to identify… Do you recognise this ground?

I’ll post the answer on New Year’s Eve. So here goes….

Can you name the ground featured in the image above? This is a 1920s photo of this ground. There really isn’t much left that matches the image seen here but the main stand (top) did have a recognisable feature that has been replicated. Also, that terracing to the left remained the same for decades. I certainly stood on it for a memorable game in the 1980s.

Post your answer below in the comments field and I’ll post the answer on New Year’s Eve

While you’re here why not subscribe to my site and you can then access every article, interview, audio recording etc. already posted and those that will be posted during your subscription. It costs £20 per year (about £1.67 a month) or you can sign up on a monthly basis at £3 per month (you can cancel at any time, so you could sign sign up for a month, access everything you want and then cancel). You can subscribe below:

Subscribe to get access

Read more of this content when you subscribe today.

Subscribe

I had planned to run ‘Historic Name That Ground’ only during the close season as in previous years, but it’s proving of interest so I’ll keep it going for a little while yet. If you have an old image of a ground that you think it’d be worth including in this weekly quiz then please get in touch. They don’t have to be from the 1900s to 1960s – even ground images from the 70s and 80s may prove a challenge to identify these days. You can email me at gary@GJFootballArchive.com Thanks.

Climbing the Golden Stairs

I’ve always liked this cartoon since finding it during research back in 1989. It represents a game played on Boxing Day between Manchester City and Newton Heath (who later reformed as Manchester United in 1902). Manchester’s Blues won the match 4-0 and the cartoon was captioned ‘Climbing the Golden Stairs’. That caption referred to a promotion challenge.

At the season’s end City were promoted as Second Division champions, becoming the first Manchester side ever to gain promotion and the first to win a national competition of course. Newton Heath finished fourth in the Second Division while near neighbours Glossop were promoted in second place behind City.

Search the archive to read more about 1898-99 and about some classic derby matches too.

A Rare Action Photo From 1913 – MCFC V LFC

Here’s an image I found a few years back while researching Manchester City’s games against Liverpool. I know it’s a poor quality photo and so was unable to use it in the piece I was doing back then. However, I think it’s worth posting here to highlight that there are photos out there that appeared in newspapers of key games involving both clubs.

This photo shows City attacking the Liverpool goal. The game ended 1-0 to City with Fred Howard the goalscorer. Howard had scored two goals against Liverpool the previous day (yes, Christmas Day) at Anfield as well.