Football writing, thoughts and more by Gary James
On this day (24 February) in 1940 Denis Law was born. Law who passed away in January, achieved major success in a glittering career for Huddersfield, Manchester City and Manchester United. He would have been 85 years old today.
There are plenty of articles mentioning Law on this site, here are those tagged with his name:
https://gjfootballarchive.com/tag/denis-law/page/2/
On this day (23 February) in 1935 Manchester City established a new Football League record crowd of 79,491. Here’s the story of that day and cuttings. Enjoy!
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It’s the latest City-Liverpool game this weekend. There are lots of articles on my site about games between these two, so why not have a look at these as preparation for the game? Here are a few links:
There are plenty of other mentions of Liverpool on this site so why not use the tabs or do a search.
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DonateIt’s one of those weekends where the Blues and Reds of Manchester and Liverpool meet. Everton v United today and City v Liverpool tomorrow. In terms of football the two cities of Manchester and Liverpool were extremely close for decades but in business and everyday life they have been rivals (bitter at times) for over 150 years. People will talk about all sorts of factors with the main one discussed being about the trade issues Manchester faced because Liverpool basically controlled Manchester’s access to the sea. I don’t want to go on too much about it all but I do want to show these sections from American newspapers which give an indication of what the situation was from another nation’s point of view.
It’s interesting to note that at least one of these articles shows that Manchester tried to ensure the whole of England benefitted from the city’s growing prosperity, suggesting that previously Liverpool only benefitted from this kind of trade.
There are lots of articles on my site about Manchester’s teams and those from Liverpool. Here are details of articles than are tagged ‘Liverpool’:
https://gjfootballarchive.com/tag/liverpool/
Here are articles tagged ‘Everton’:
On this day (21 February) in 1962 Neil Young scored his fifth League goal for Manchester City in only his 11th League game after making his debut earlier in the season. It came in a 3-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion. The other scorers were Peter Dobing and Alan Oakes. Subscribers can read more on City’s 1961-62 season below. The Young photo here is from the start of the following decade of course! If you’d like to read the 1600 word article, plus all other articles on the site, then please subscribe. As with most of the other features in this series it includes words from interviews I have performed with those who were there.
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Continuing the series of features on the 1960s… On this day (20 February) in 1965 Manchester City defeated Southampton 3-1 with goals from Johnny Crossan, Bobby Kennedy and Neil Young. Subscribers can read more on Manchester City during the 1964-65 season below. This was a remarkable season when a City director held meetings, hoping to merge City and United! Plus much more. If you’d like to read this 2350 word article, plus all other articles on the site, then please subscribe (see below). As with most of the other features in this series it includes words from interviews I have performed with those who were there.
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up for a year at the discounted price of £20 per year (works out £1.67 per month). Subscribers access the 1000+ articles posted so far and the others scheduled during the life of your subscription.
On this day (19 February) in 1966 Manchester City defeated Coventry City 1-0, watched by 40,190, in Division Two at Maine Road. Captain Johnny Crossan was the only goalscorer. Subscribers can read more on Manchester City during the 1965-66 season below. This was an important season in City’s development.
If you’d like to read this 4100 word article, plus all other articles on the site, then please subscribe (see below). As with most of the other features in this series it includes words from interviews I have performed with those who were there.
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up for a year at the discounted price of £20 per year (works out £1.67 per month). Subscribers access the 1000+ articles posted so far and the others scheduled during the life of your subscription.
Every year, once the domestic season ends I update the table showing the English clubs’ span of success – i.e. the number of years between a club’s first major success (FA Cup, League, League Cup, major European trophy) and their most recent. I last did this after the 2023-24 season ended (see below). There wasn’t much difference between the 2023 final table and the 2024. Both Liverpool and Manchester City increased their span, as did United. Next month there’s a chance Newcastle can leap from 16th place (just behind Chelsea) to joint second with City. Here’s the table as it stands at present:
As I always say, the span of success does not show how many trophies each club has won or how frequently that club has experienced great eras of success, but it does demonstrate how wrong those people are who believe certain clubs were unsuccessful until recent years, or those who think certain clubs have always been giants. The column on first major success helps to show when some clubs first became trophy-winning significant (often after transformational investment too!).
There’s not much difference between 2023 and 2024 – numbers have changed but not positions. In 2023 West Ham, like potentially Newcastle this year, proved that if you’re a club that hasn’t won a major trophy for a while putting your focus on achieving trophy success ahead of the odd Premier League position can bring significant reward. In future decades no one will remember who finished seventh, tenth or fifteenth but they will remember the trophies. Here’s the previous year’s table for comparison purposes:
I know clubs focus on their financials but winning a trophy has longevity, gaining the odd Premier League place provides a bit of extra cash now but no long term kudos. Winning a trophy attracts new fans and brings money-spinning opportunities too.
If I was a supporter of any of the major clubs who have not found significant success in recent decades then I would absolutely want my team to go for whichever cup competition seems the most likely to win. That’s what I always wanted from City before they were able to compete for the League again. Winning the FA Cup in 2011 helped everything that followed happen – it gave confidence and a trophy winning mentality.
While you’re here why not take a look at the wide range of articles available on this site? Such as the 100 day series of features on Maine Road:
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DonateI was interviewed on this day (17 February) in 2021 about the great Joe Mercer for the ‘esk podcast’ – an Everton podcast. I talk about meeting Joe; about writing his biography; about Joe’s time at Everton, Arsenal, Manchester City and so on. I also tell the story of Norah Mercer insisting that Bobby Charlton phones me to apologize (it was somewhat of a shock at the time)! We also discussed Everton and City in preparation for their game that night (17th February 2021). No matter who you support it’s well worth listening to.
The podcast can be accessed here:
https://play.acast.com/s/1c7cca11-92ad-58f8-b31b-49145958bc80/602d41a1c5f50f5b203f5312
While you’re here why not see what else has been posted on City and Everton: https://gjfootballarchive.com/tag/everton/
You can access other esk podcasts here: https://shows.acast.com/the-esk-podcasts
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DonateI’m delighted to say that on Wednesday 5 March I’ll be doing a talk/event at Manchester Central Library. It’s free to attend but, the library would like to encourage attendees to book in advance. See the following for details:
Oh and if you need an added incentive… Copies of Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History will be available on the day at a discounted price of £20 (RRP £25).
You can find out more on the Corinthians’ book here:
I’d also encourage people to watch this film to get a feel for the story too. It’s been put together by Imprint Films (Luke, John – Dennis Tueart’s son – and their team put together a wonderful 18 minute film, treating the Corinthians with respect throughout):
Gary James' Football Archive 