On this day (12 February) in 1966 Manchester City and Grimsby met in the FA Cup with City winning 2-0 before 37,918 at Maine Road. Mike Summerbee scored and the other was an own goal. 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.
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Continuing the series of features on the 1960s, on this day (11 February) in 1961 Colin Barlow (photographed) scored twice as Manchester City defeated West Bromwich Albion 3-0 at Maine Road. The other scorer was Barrie Betts. Subscribers can find out more on Manchester City during the 1960-61 season by reading this 1200 word article, plus all other articles on the site (see below).
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I think we all anticipated it’d be Manchester City v Plymouth Argyle after their victory. Here’s the draw in full:
Preston v Burnley Aston Villa v Cardiff City Doncaster or Crystal Palace v Millwall Manchester United v Fulham Newcastle United v Brighton Bournemouth v Wolves Manchester City v Plymouth Argyle Exeter or Nottingham Forest v Ipswich
Ties to be played between 28 Feb – 3 March.
City and Plymouth have met before in key cup games of course such as:
Doing anything next Wednesday (12 February)? I’ll be doing a free talk on the Manchester Corinthians at Tameside Local Studies and Archive Centre, Cotton Street East, Ashton-under-Lyne, OL6 7BY at 2pm. Anyone can attend but, the Tameside archive centre encourage attendees to book in advance by either emailing archives@tameside.gov.uk or calling 0161 342 4242. If people decide to attend on the day, that is absolutely fine of course.
Here’s the blurb about the event:
The pioneering Manchester Corinthians women’s football team was established during 1948-49. They toured the globe promoting the sport, Manchester and female endeavour at a time when women’s football was banned by the Football Association. Many Corinthians were from Tameside and several still live in the borough today.
Experiencing tours to Portugal, Germany, South America, North Africa, Italy, France and Spain during the 1950s to 1970s, the Corinthians also played a significant role in overturning the FA ban, establishing the Women’s FA and creating regular competition domestically and internationally.
Gary James will be discussing their history, talking of the challenges they faced and the club’s achievements during a 40+ year existence. In 2019 Gary established a campaign to erect permanent tributes to the players and his authorised history of the club was published in January 2025. He has been attending and researching women’s football since the 1980s.
Gary has captured the stories of women who played for the Corinthians throughout its history, including three women in their 90s who were there at the start in 1948-49. A couple of the Corinthians are anticipated to be present at the talk.
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:
It wasn’t worn that often and was captured in photos/film even less, but here’s Manchester City winning away at Tottenham on this day (10 February) in 1973, wearing a classic kit. It was royal blue with red & white diagonal stripe. The game ended in a 3-2 City win at Spurs with goals from Rodney Marsh and Francis Lee (2). You can watch it here:
If you want to know more on this season or this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read the following article and all others on the 1970s? You could even subscribe for a month and see what you think. The following 1,700 word article is on the 1972-73 season and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!
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Also, doing anything on Wednesday afternoon at 2pm? Why not come to Ashton-under-Lyne and see the talk I’m doing on the history of the club? These are the details:
Tameside History Club Events 2025
Please note that the following talk will take place at Tameside Local Studies & Archive Centre, Cotton St East, Ashton OL6 7BY. To book your free place email archives@tameside.gov.uk or call 0161 342 4242 during our opening hours- Tues, Weds & Thurs 10-5pm & Sat 10-1pm
Wednesday 12th February, 2pm
Manchester Corinthians: A Revolutionary Team Discover the incredible story of the Manchester Corinthians, a pioneering women’s football team, as told through the voices of the players themselves. Dr. Gary James will bring their legacy to life, sharing firsthand accounts of the challenges, triumphs, and impact of this iconic team. Don’t miss this fascinating insight into a trailblazing chapter of football history!
I’ll have copies of the book available on the day. More on the book here:
Continuing the series of features on the 1960s, here’s a story involving Colin Bell and Harry Dowd it’s always worth telling… On this day (8th February) in 1964 Manchester City and Bury drew 1-1. It hardly sounds a remarkable game but it was for two reasons – this was Colin Bell’s Bury debut (and he scored!) AND City’s goalkeeper Harry Dowd scored the Blues equaliser.
This was City’s first point of 1964. The Blues were losing 1-0 to a debut goal from Bury youngster and future Blue Colin Bell at Maine Road when Dowd suffered a broken finger in the 54th minute. He was unable to continue in nets but stayed on the field and reverted to centre-forward – a role he’d often played as a youngster.
Scottish forward Matt Gray replaced Dowd in nets and the game continued with the regular ‘keeper keen to impress in attack: “I was restless enough to give it all I’d got. I felt just like a colt on its feet for the first time, pushing and shoving my way through and going for the every ball – many of which I hadn’t a hope of getting. But the moment of glory wasn’t far away, and it seemed the fans were loving every minute of the action.”
“I got the chance to slip the ball to Derek Kevan, his shot hit the bar, and as it bounced down I went lunging in to turn home the equaliser. The newspapers said some very kind things the next day.”
With Dowd’s efforts up front and a fine performance in goal from Gray the Blues secured the point. Gray had managed to keep a clean sheet, although Dowd’s amazing exploits prevented him from receiving the kind of credit that other emergency City ‘keepers Doyle, McDonald, Gleghorn, Quinn and Walker would over the decades that followed.
This game was probably Dowd’s highlight of the season as later on, he found himself dropped with Bert Trautmann returning to the side for three games before even he gave way to Alan Ogley for the final five matches of the season.. At one point Dowd asked for a transfer, but he remained at Maine Road, playing a significant part in the successes that followed under manager Joe Mercer.
If you’re a subscriber you can read the following article on Manchester City during the 1963-64 season. If you’d like to read this 1700 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.
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Today marks the latest game between City and Orient. They first met in 1909 when Orient won 3-2 on 18 September. The first FA Cup tie between the clubs came on 10 January 1920 when City defeated Orient 4-1 with goals from Ernie Goodwin (2), Horace Barnes and Billy ‘Spud’ Murphy (see report). The most recent match between the teams came on 7 May 1966 when a Second Division game ended 2-2 (City scorers were Colin Bell and an own goal from Sorrell).
City had guaranteed promotion three days earlier at Rotherham.
Mancunian Dave Wagstaffe was a Manchester City and Wolves star who made his City debut in September 1960. Fifteen years ago I interviewed Dave and spent a really enjoyable afternoon chatting with him about every period of his career. This was a for an article on his time at City and the 3000 word article that eventually came out of that can be read below.
Sadly, Dave died in 2013 after a heart attack. He was only 70.
The following interview is available to subscribers to the site and is published here as it was written back in 2010 with Dave’s words written as he said them.
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Continuing the series of features on the 1960s, here’s a subscriber article on Manchester City during the 1960-61 season. If you’d like to read this 1200 word article, plus all other articles on the site, then please subscribe (see below).
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I’m absolutely delighted to say I’ve received messages from three of the founding/original Manchester Corinthians who were there in 1948 (yes, 1948!) when the club was first established. They’ve each got the book and were interviewed and their comments have really pleased me. They – and the hundreds of women who played for this remarkable, pioneering and important club – are the reason I wanted to push and promote this club’s history.
The three I’ve heard from are Dorothy Allcock, Maureen Charlton and Flo Cloake (the names they played under). When I started researching in detail the club I was told frequently I’d never track down a player from the club’s opening season, so it was wonderful when these three came forward to be interviewed.
Their comments now that they’ve seen the book are deeply satisfying and I am so grateful that they – and the other 50+ Corinthians interviewed for the book – allowed me to tell their stories.
Flo lives in the States now and sent this text:
I just thought I would let you know my book arrived today. I haven’t finished reading it yet, but Gary what an amazing job you did, absolutely perfect about the history of the Corinthians… It’s about the whole team over the years and how they progressed. An amazing book… lots of love and hugs Flo.
Maureen’s son sent the following email:
A fantastic job Gary, amazing! Mum is delighted, and especially the picture of her and dad, and poem excerpt, a few tears… Mum is enthralled with the details, many memories coming back… Mum was delighted to see some of her photos, especially the corinthians badge.
Dorothy’s son sent a nice email too and says she’s still watching her football, tennis and snooker, alongside reading the book of course. It was an absolute pleasure meeting Dorothy, Maureen and Flo and it was wonderful to spend time with them talking about events from almost eighty years ago, when they were teenagers and first playing football. Their stories are of course featured in the book and over the coming weeks and months. I’ll be talking at some events about them and the other Corinthians. There will also be articles.
The book consists of 356 pages. It is illustrated throughout and you can order copies signed by me below for £25 (including UK postage and packaging).
If you live outside the UK then please contact for details of additional postage costs. Note: It may be worth checking your national Amazon website as they do claim they can send copies across Europe and North America (for example) at reasonable costs. I cannot vouch for their service but do suggest checking locally.
To order direct from me, you do not need to have a PayPal account – use the ‘Pay with PayPal’ button below and it will give you the option to pay by credit/debit card without creating a PayPal account.
UK ONLY – Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History
The story of a pioneering women’s club as told to Gary James by those who were there. This will be published in late December 2024. This is UK only at £25 (incl UK postage and packaging). Outside UK contact for additional postage costs.
£25.00
If you want a taste of what’s in the book then watch this wonderfully produced video, filmed at the Corinthians reunion in December. A few former players talk and I explain a little about the club too. For details of the video and to watch it see:
If you’ve issues watching the video there (youtube may ask you to sign in) you can also watch it here (click on the ‘Watch on Youtube’, bottom left if your link doesn’t work):
I’d like to thank all at Imprint Films for doing the video. In the spirit of Percy Ashley himself, they have funded the production of this video themselves and have the desire to see the Corinthians story spread widely. This is, of course, something I totally believe in myself. We need to spread this story and let the entire world know about the Corinthians.
Please share the video and, while you’re at it, spread the news about the book too. Both are self funded and we need help to spread the word.
Gary James' Football Archive 