Author Archives: garyjamesfootballarchive

Who Said City Couldn’t Play Chant

It looks like the 1894 group at Manchester City’s are hoping fans will re-adopt the 1930s classic song Who Said City Couldn’t Play? It’s City’s earliest recorded chant (there were earlier ones but this is the first we’ve found sound/film recordings of). Here’s a sound recording from the 1930s:

The tune used is the bit from Knees Up Mother Brown that goes: “Oh my, what a rotten song,
What a rotten song,
What a rotten song,
Oh my, what a rotten song,
And what a rotten singer too-oo-oo!”

If anyone at City wants to get the music played then dig out an instrumental version of that section of the song and get it played prematch. Just like the Viking chant it would be great to get it used in club material.

Death of Walter Chew

On this day (31 August) in 1948 the death was announced of Walter Chew, a man associated with the first known season of St Mark’s (though there are serious doubts on whether the 16 year old played in the earliest known game based on his own comments). St Mark’s is vital in the development of Manchester City. Chew was a key figure in the club’s formative years but there are some myths out there about him and that time. His obituary above is from August 1948 which says he was 84 at the time of his death. You can find out more about Chew and the latest research below:

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Gates Closed as Manchester City Beat Aston Villa

Today (30 August) in 1920 Aston Villa were defeated by Manchester City 3-1 with goals from Tommy Browell (2) and Billy Murphy. A crowd officially recorded as 40,000 at the time (it says 35,000 in this report) watched the match at Hyde Road. The turnstiles had to be closed before kick off as the ground was packed.

For more on this season why not read the following 2,350 word subscriber article. If you subscribe (see below) I hope you enjoy it. If you are not currently a subscriber then why not try it for a month (£3 per month or sign up for a year at a discounted £20 per year)?

Here’s the article:

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As well as subscriber pieces this series on the 1920s includes some free articles. Watch out for a daily post.

Adebayor Winner at Portsmouth

On this day (30 August) in 2009 Adebayor scored the only goal of Manchester City’s victory at Portsmouth in the Premier League. A crowd of 17,826 watched this Sunday fixture.

Here’s City’s report of the game: https://www.mancity.com/news/first-team/match-report/2009/august/portsmouth-v-city

A First Three Pointer

The day after Manchester City’s latest three points earned in a game here’s a look back to the first time they earned three points for a win. That came on this day (29 August) in 1981 when City defeated West Brom 2-1. The new points system had been introduced for that season (it’s not that City had gone a decade without a win or anything!). The idea was that 3 points would encourage teams (especially away teams) to play for a win instead of a draw. The old system gave two points for a win and some teams, including several 1970s title winners, went out looking for draws away from home it was felt.

Brian Horton – New MCFC Manager

On this day (28 August) in 1993 Brian Horton officially became Manchester City’s new manager. Subscribers to this website can read all about the appointment and the 1993-94 season below. It was such an important (and at times complicated season) that this article on that season is over 9,000 words long. It’s like a book in itself! It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this extraordinary season? It contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time. In particular this one contains quotes from Peter Swales and Francis Lee which they discussed with me personally.

Here’s the 9000+ word article on that season:

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Sponsorship Arrives

On this day (28 August) in 1982 Manchester City should have played their first League game with a sponsor’s name on their shirt. However the match was televised and in those days TV did not allow clubs to wear sponsors names in televised games. The match was a 2-1 win away at Norwich and City’s first sponsor was the car company Saab.

New signing David Cross scored the opener after 3 minutes and 5 seconds (below) and we all thought this was going to be a great season. I won’t spoil it by saying what happened the following May!

New signing David Cross scoring after 3 minutes and 5 seconds at Norwich, August 1982
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MCFC Create a Bolton Record Attendance

In the week that the Etihad Stadium record attendance was broken I thought it’d be worth highlighting this record crowd established in 1922. The crowd was 66,442 at Burnden Park for the FA Cup tie that City won 3-1 on 28 January 1922. Coincidentally eleven years later a Bolton-City game eclipsed this record. The new record was set at 69,912 and still stands today for a home Bolton game. Interestingly, it was claimed many years ago that the famous Lowry painting Going To The Match was inspired by Lowry’s memory of attending this match.

Lowry was a City fan and the general Going To The Match scene was worked on a few times over the years.

Once A Blue: Bert Trautmann

My first article for Once A Blue, the Manchester City Former Players Association, is now live. It’s about the legendary Bert Trautmann: https://onceablue.com/gary-jamess-city-soundbites-1-bert-trautmann/ Enjoy! Photo is of Steve Fleet, Bert’s understudy, with the Trautmann figure we had made for the old City museum.

The Smart Set – Club Colours in the 1930s

On 28 November 1931 the Liverpool Echo published this George Green cartoon of the kits worn by several leading clubs of the period. I thought I’d post it here to show how these things were often portrayed in the newspapers of the day. Thanks.

While you’re here I’d like to thank you for taking the time and trouble to visit my website. I have been researching and writing about Manchester football for a long time (no wonder I’m going grey!) with my first book published in 1989. I am not employed by anyone and I do not have sponsorship either and so I’ve set up this website to help share my 32 years plus writing and research. The intention is to develop the archive and to provide access to as much of my material as possible over the coming weeks, months & years. Subscribers can already access hundreds of articles/posts including the entire Manchester A Football History book and various audio interviews (including John Bond, Malcolm Allison & George Graham). 

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