Here’s a great cutting showing Manchester City players in February 1910 training. How things change! Subscribers can read more on the 1909-10 season (when the Blues returned to the First Division as champions after a one season absence) below.
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On July 20 in 1965 Malcolm Allison was formally interviewed by the Manchester City board to be manager Joe Mercer’s assistant. Mercer had wanted to bring Allison in since he took the job earlier in the month. Here is a feature I did on Allison back in January 2005.
I first interviewed Malcolm in 1991, and, using material from several conversations with him, and in 2005 I took the opportunity of a MCFC v Crystal Palace game to remind everyone of his significance. Today, for subscribers, I’m posting it here.
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2025 marks the 140th anniversary of the first final of the Manchester Cup (later known as the Manchester Senior cup). The Manchester Cup was the first competition either Manchester United (as Newton Heath) or Manchester City (as Ardwick) won and was a hugely significant competition at the time of their first victories. In many ways it was more important locally than the FA Cup. The final was held on 25 April 1885 and you can read a match report of the game here and then my own words on the final:
The first season of the Manchester Cup proved to be very exciting with games involving Hurst and Newton Heath grabbing much attention in the local newspapers. In fact the two sides competed in the first Manchester Cup final. This was played at Manchester FC’s Whalley Range ground and had an attendance of approximately 3,500. The Ashton club won 3-0 and at the end of the match all the Hurst players were lifted shoulder high by their fans and there was tremendous excitement on the pitch. It was perhaps the first time a Manchester side had experienced success that actually meant something. Hurst could rightly claim to be the best in the area, and after the game finished the President of the Manchester FA, Mr. Colbert, presented the cup to J. Ingham, Hurst’s Captain. The Reporter newspaper then described the fantastic parade that took place all the way back to Ashton: ‘All the way from Whalley Range the victors kept cheering and the band playing, the cup being held up in front of one of the carriages in which the journey to Ashton was made. On arriving in town their cheers were redoubled and they received a great ovation in the streets.
‘The victors crowded into the Pitt & Nelson, and Mr. Joseph Fletcher, holding in his hand the cup which was filled with liquor, and addressing the captain of the club, said he had great pleasure in presenting to Mr. Ingham the cup on behalf of the Hurst Cricket & football Club.’
Joseph Fetcher was the landlord of the Pitt & Nelson and according to the Reporter he made a speech saying that he: ‘had lately been in Blackburn and he could assure them that the fame of the Hurst club was well known in that district and he was certain that the next season they would be called upon to play with teams from that district, the Mother of the Game.’
This was undoubtedly the finest moment for any of the Manchester clubs at this stage in history, and Hurst were worthy recipients of the praise. Hurst had done more than most to encourage the game to develop and, as well as entering the FA Cup, they also tried to arrange fixtures with teams beyond the Manchester boundaries. In March 1885 they had welcomed Welsh side Rhyl to Hurst and the Ashton side won 8-1 before 3,000 fans, then on Good Friday they played their return match and, according to reports from the period over 750 fans travelled from Ashton for the game which Hurst won 4-0. Considering the nature of travel, working conditions, and the state of the game at the time this was a major achievement.
You can find out more about the origins of football in Manchester in my book Manchester A Football History. The book is long out of print but PDFs of the entire 2010 edition is available to subscribers to this site.
This is the Introduction for the 2010 edition of the book Manchester A Football History (Gary James, published by James Ward). As with everything else on this site copyright laws apply. The book is published here for the personal use of subscribers to this site. For any other use please email the publishers at info@manchesterfootball.org
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Sorry to hear the news of the death of former Bolton, City, United and Stockport forward Wyn Davies. At Bolton he had a good attacking partnership with Francis Lee and it was Lee who suggested to Malcolm Allison (first and then manager Joe Mercer) to sign the player for City in 1971. Coincidentally it was this week in 1971 when Newcastle (Davies’ club at the time) agreed a fee with City.
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Davies made his City debut on 14 August 1971 at Maine Rd v Leeds. His last City game on 9 September the following year, shortly before he became one of a relatively small group of players to transfer directly between the Manchester clubs.
At City and, presumably his other clubs, the chant ‘you ain’t seen nothing like the mighty Wyn’ was frequently sung. Years later the same chant was resurrected for Niall ‘the mighty’ Quinn.
Paul Power signed as a full time professional for Manchester City on this day (17 July) in 1975. He had previously been a youth player, signing as a part time professional in December 1974 (while studying a law degree). You can find several articles that mention Paul throughout this website. Start looking here:
On July 16 in 1986 Queen played Maine Road. This was often considered to be the first major concert at Manchester City’s old stadium. However, it wasn’t. The first was actually a concert by David Cassidy in May 1974. This feature takes a look at that concert and the one by Queen which set the tone for legendary music performances at Maine Road.
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It’s worth comparing this image from recent years, showing the housing and school now built on Maine Road, with this 1940s image of the Maine Road site. The boundary lines are visible, demonstrating how the site changed usage.
This 1971 aerial image shows the stadium from another angle, looking west.
Maine Road aerial 1971 from Farewell To Maine Road
If you’d like to read more on the history of Maine Road, take a look at Farewell To Maine Road, which can be downloaded from this page:
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Here’s an advert from the official Manchester City and Newton Heath match programme, published in September 1899. It demonstrates a period when football clubs looked to raise money however they could. Here ‘business men’ could advertise on almost any part of City’s Hyde Road ground or United’s Bank Street ground. I always find it funny when people try to claim that football has only become a ‘business’ in recent decades… Ever since the game became professional it has been a business and those owning clubs have looked at ways to increase income or profitability.
More on the 1899-1900 season elsewhere on the site. Why not search for features?
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