Author Archives: garyjamesfootballarchive

From My Collection: MEN Football Special 1982-83 and Its Predictions!

Here’s a few images from the 1982-83 football special publication produced at the start of the season by the Manchester Evening News. Back then the newspaper tended to produce a preview for the season each year. David Meek (United) and Peter Gardner (City) would write features on the two local top flight teams and then there’d also be features on Oldham, Bolton, Stockport and Rochdale. Both Meek and Gardner would also predict what the season would be like for United and City. Typically, Meek would say that the new season was likley to be the one that ‘finally’ brought the League title back to Old Trafford while Gardner would often try to be upbeat about City’s chances in some way. In 1982 Gardner took a different approach though and basically said it would be a difficult season – he was right! – but Meek stuck to the usual approach and said that 1982-83 could be the year the League title returned to Old Trafford for the first time since 1967 (City had won it in 1968).

United didn’t win the title for another decade and if you’d like to know exactly what happened to City, you can read all about the 1982-83 season for the Blues in this 3,500 word subscriber feature. Enjoy (well, if you know the outcome of this season you can enjoy this memory refresh while reflecting on the modern day successes of the Blues!).

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From My Collection: Boxing Day 1988

Two items of interest here both connected with a Boxing Day game. First, Heidi’s photo taken at Stoke in 1988. We travelled down and she took quite a few photos that day but this one was always the special one. It’s been used in a few of my books.

Next, here’s a newspaper cutting from the same day at Christmas 1988. It shows the Boxing Day fancy dress game at Stoke which saw over 12,000 Manchester City fans fill half the stadium. As I mentioned earlier, I was there that day and there were some surreal sights. I won’t mention the score (you can see that from the report!) but this was one of those crazy days when fans injected humour. There was some coverage but not a great deal. My own photos from that day have appeared in a few of my books and when I get chance to dig them out I’ll aim to post some on this site.

Action From Boxing Day 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 at Hyde Road on Boxing Day 1913. 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.

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100 Years Ago Today: Highest Christmas Day Score

On Christmas Day 1925 Bury FC defeated Manchester City 6-5 in an extraordinary top flight game. This was the highest scoring Christmas Day game Manchester’s Blues ever played in. As this was over the Christmas period detailed match reports are rare but this cutting gives a brief idea of the scorers. On Boxing Day the two teams met again with Bury beating the Blues 2-0 at Maine Road before 50,168 (the Gigg Lane attendance had been 23,621)

On This Day: Christmas at Manchester City

Had your Christmas dinner yet? If not then spare a thought for those days when professional football in England would take place on Christmas Day. In the modern era the thought of playing League football on Christmas Day is totally unacceptable, but in years gone by games were played on consecutive days over Christmas, including Christmas Day, and these were often the best attended matches of the winter.  

The last Christmas Day game featuring Manchester City took place in 1957 when the Blues were defeated 2-1 at Burnley.  The City team for that landmark game was:  Trautmann, Leivers, Little, Barnes, Ewing, Warhurst, Barlow, Kirkman, Johnstone, Hayes, and Fagan.  Fionan Fagan was the last City player to score on Christmas Day

The following day City defeated Burnley 4-1 at Maine Road in front of a crowd of 47,285.  The only change to the line up was Ron Phoenix, who replaced Bobby Johnstone. 

The First Noel

The first League game ever played by City on Christmas Day was at Christmas 1896 against Newton Heath (present day Manchester United).  The game was played at Bank Street, Clayton (roughly across the road from the Etihad, the site of the BMX centre behind the present Velodrome) and was attended by 18,000 – a figure described by the Athletic News as being huge for Newton Heath:  “The crowd was an enormous one and I never saw so many lads at a football match.  They were really the cause of the encroaching in the first half, for they were continually creeping under the rails, and as a natural consequence their elders were bound to follow if they were to get a glimpse of the game.”  

Fans streamed on to the pitch on several occasions and the game was almost abandoned at half time:  “Mr. J. Parlby, one of the League Management Committee, told the crowd point blank that if they did not keep beyond the touchline, the game could not proceed, and the Newton Heath Club would have to suffer the consequences.”

Parlby, was actually a City director, and his words may have been influenced by the fact Newton Heath were the better side that day!  The game ended 2-1 to the Heathens.

The two sides met on two further occasions on Christmas Day, the last (1902) ended 1-1 at Clayton before 40,000 with Billy Meredith scoring for the Blues.

Highest Christmas Crowd

City tended to be away from home on Christmas Day, but the best Maine Road crowd on the 25th was 56,750 in 1930 when City faced Arsenal.  The following day a mere 17,624 attended the return game at Highbury.

The previous year a crowd reported as 70,000 watched Aston Villa beat City 2-1 on Boxing Day at Maine Road.  This is the highest Christmas crowd at a City League game.

Christmas Thriller

Perhaps the most entertaining – if disappointing – game ever played by the Blues on Christmas Day was the 6-5 defeat by Bury at Gigg Lane in 1925.  

Debuts

The following players made their Manchester City League debuts on Christmas Day:

1946 – Peter Robinson (V. Plymouth Argyle)

1933 – Frank Swift (V. Derby County)

1902 – Johnny Mahon (V. Manchester United)

1909 – George Wynn (V. Bradford Park Avenue)

From My Collection: Merry Christmas

Here’s an image I’ve rediscovered in my collection of Manchester City manager Billy McNeill and his assistant Jimmy Frizzell. McNeill was City boss from 1983 until 1986 and was followed by Frizzell, who then remained at Maine Road in one capacity or another for many, many years. I liked Billy McNeill but was devastated when he chose to leave City for Aston Villa in 1986. Years later when I interviewed him he told me it had been a big mistake leaving Maine Road. He was right! Both City and Villa were relegated at the end of the 1986-87 season and I can’t help thinking Billy would have found success at City had he stayed.

Fancy Christmas Day in an Armchair at United v City?

It’s Christmas Day 1902 and these were the ticket prices for the big Manchester Derby match played at Clayton (the present day BMX site next to the velodrome). The game ended in a 1-1 draw. It’s so strange to think today that many of us would have headed off to a ground on Christmas Day in years gone by. Notice the seats that you could have at United – arm chairs! That’s right. It’s Christmas Day so I’ll hold off making any funny comments but imagine if Old Trafford advertised ‘arm chairs’.

Merry Christmas to all. I hope it’s a safe, comfortable and enjoyable few days for you all wherever you are.

The 1960s: Neil Young’s First League Goal

On this day (23 December) in 1961 Neil Young scored his first League goal for Manchester City. It came in a 3-0 victory over Ipswich Town. The other scorers were Peter Dobing and Joe Hayes. 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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Manchester City Stars in Pantomime

Happy Christmas! Here’s a great image of Tony Book, Francis Lee and Mike Summerbee participating in the annual pantomime at Manchester City. These were the days before Peter Swales took the panto theme too far and turned running the club into one great big pantomime.

City’s pantomimes involving star players took place for many, many years and became part of the regular Junior Blues calendar of events. This image was published in January 1971 and shows the three players in the 1970-71 Cinderella show at the City Social Club.

40 Years Ago: ‘We Want Wham’ (SWFC v MCFC)

Forty years ago today (21 December in 1985) the humour of Manchester City fans was in evidence at Sheffield Wednesday. That day I was stood in the away section behind the goal and Wednesday led 3-1 at half time. City had taken the lead via Mark Lillis in the 13th minute but Wednesday had equalised a minute later (Thompson) then taken the lead (future Blue Gary Megson, 25 mins & Sterland 42 mins). It didn’t look like it was to be City’s day but City fans were in good spirit overall. As the players trudged off the guy running the PA system put on ‘Last Christmas’ by Wham. The song had been released the previous year. A few City fans began moving to the music and there was a bit of laughter. Then the music stopped on the PA as the announcer began reading out the half time scores. City fans immediately began booing.

Then the chant ‘We want Wham!’ started to boom out from the Leppings Lane End and the boos and chanting grew louder and louder. It was one of those surreal football moments. When he’d finished reading out the half times the PA announcer, still drowned out to some extent by our chant of ‘We want Wham!’ said: ‘And now, just for the Man City fans it’s back to Wham and Last Christmas!’

The away section cheered and then what had been a small group of fans bopping along to the song initially was now a significant part of the away section.

I don’t know who the PA announcer was but he certainly ‘got’ the mood of the day and helped create one of those odd, surreal football fan moments that rarely get reported.

The game ended 3-2 to Wednesday after Neil McNab scored City’s second in the 66th minute before a Hillsborough crowd of 23,177. Here’s my programme from the game:

If you’d like to know more about Manchester City at this time, here’s a 2,500 word subscriber feature on the 1985-86 season. Enjoy!

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