If you’re interested in women’s football or in football in Trafford or Manchester here are some video interviews we did as part of the work on the #WEuro2022 Heritage Lottery funded project for Trafford. These interviews are with women who played for Manchester Corinthians, Manchester City, Manchester United, FC Redstar, & Macclesfield:
Also, here’s my talk explaining about the history of women’s football:
This talk on the history of women’s football was staged at the National Football Museum on 1st July as part of my work on a consultancy basis with Trafford local archives. The talk lasts about 47 mins. Enjoy!
There will be a video of the panel discussion mentioned in this talk that will appear as a part 2 later. Maybe next week?
The Trafford Archive website I mention during my talk is available here:
Alongside all the football at Maine Road the 1990s saw a series of major concerts held at Manchester City’s old stadium. On this day (9 March) in 1990 tickets for the following August’s concert by Prince were advertised.
You can find out more about Maine Road and its first concerts here:
Today (8 March) marks the centenary of a record Manchester City set on this- the record is the highest attendance on a club ground! Happy 100th anniversary! The record set in 1924 saw 76,166 attend City v Cardiff. City had moved to their new Maine Road stadium in August 1923. The capacity of the venue was estimated at around 90,000 but was actually approximately 83,000 when the stadium opened (it was enlarged in 1931 and 1935).
In its first season the capacity was tested and, on this day (8 March) in 1924 the largest attendance for any footballing fixture (including three FA Cup Finals) in Manchester gathered to watch the Blues. This was also, at the time, the record crowd for any game played on an English club ground. It was beaten ten years later when 84,569 watched City v Stoke – so It’s 100 years of this record for the Blues!
You can read about the remarkable day in 1924 below:
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Let’s all learn more about the sporting activities of our mums and grans this International Women’s Day. I’ve been researching into the pioneering women who played for Manchester Corinthians and its sister clubs for years and years and their stories are quite remarkable. BUT some of them had previously kept quiet because of reactions they may have had or assumed others were simply not interested in their incredible exploits. In fact, during my research, I have met women who had not told their families that they played football and so asking the simple question ‘Did you play football, Nan?’ will sometimes bring out a wonderful aspect of your nan’s life. So, I urge you all to ask your mum, mam, ma, mātā, mom, madar, mama, nan, gran, nani, nana, nonna, granny, babushka, grandma (or whatever term of affection you use for your mother or grandmother) about playing sport.
Ask your mam or your nan if she played – you never know what you’ll hear! I have had players talk to me during my years of research into the Corinthians who had kept it quiet from their own families, so granny may well have been one of the club’s pioneering figures – or a leading light at another club whose story needs to be told – but just hasn’t talked about it!
If you find a Corinthian then get in touch. I really don’t want to leave anybody out of my book.
As well as asking your mam or your nan, how about helping the book get published by subscribing to it? You will get a copy of the book (posted before it appears in the shops) and your name will be included in a special roll of honour published within the book if ordered by 31st March 2024 here:
Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History
The story of a pioneering women’s club as told to Gary James by those who were there
£19.95
Opportunities to buy multiple copies, sponsor the book or donate to ensure it’s published to the size and standard the women who played deserve exist. Please email Gary@GJFootballArchive.com for more information on those opportunities.
This book is a must for anyone interested in Manchester or women’s football and will consist of over 300 pages. It will be fully illustrated throughout and subscribers can order it now for £19.95 (including UK postage and packaging). All orders received before 31st March 2024 will have the purchaser’s name included within the special roll of honour at the back of the book. You can order the book for someone else – all details will be checked and confirmed before publication.
The book will be published this summer.
If you live outside the UK then please contact for details of additional postage costs.
You do not need to have a PayPal account to order – use the ‘Pay with PayPal’ button above and it will give you the option to pay by credit/debit card without creating a PayPal account.
The book will include the story of the club as told by the women involved, alongside a significant amount of archive material. Myths will be corrected and the facts of this pioneering club will be told in an easy to read format.
Guided by founder Percy Ashley, the club went on to represent Manchester, football and female endeavour for decades, winning major international tournaments in Europe and South America. The Corinthians are, without doubt, one of the most important football clubs ever to come from Manchester and they were a prominent and pioneering club in so many ways.
As well as the interviews and dozens of archive trips there’s been a concerted effort to compile as comprehensive list as possible on women who played for the club. I’ve managed to compile a list of around 300 women who played for the club. Objects and trophies have also been rediscovered. This is the type of detailed research I enjoy. It’s time consuming, difficult and often frustrating but occasionally you find a little gem that adds significantly to our knowledge. There have been quite a few of those.
The Hebden Bridge talk when the campaign for a Blue Plaque and other tributes was publicly announced, December 2021
I’m still keen to hear from any former player who can add their voices to the history of the club, though the research and writing stage will be ending soon, so please get in touch as soon as possible. Please email Gary@GJFootballArchive.com with your name, rough dates you played and contact details.
Those subscribing to the book will receive a copy signed by author Gary James and posted out to subscribers before it appears in any shop or is distributed to any retailer. This is the ONLY way to guarantee your copy.
Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History will include interviews with players from every era of the club from a founding player back in 1949 through to those playing for the club in its final days over 40 years later (yes, that’s right – over 40 years later!). The book will finally tell the story of the club from start to finish via the voices of the women who played. Via these voices the entire history of the club will be explained with the key figures identified and remembered. There’s a remarkable trail of women linking the first game with the last.
The book will be published to a similar style and quality to the acclaimed Manchester City Women: An Oral History and is destined to be another landmark publication on a major, pioneering women’s football club. Dozens of former players have been interviewed for this book and their remarkable stories and memories will be supported with an amazing array of photographs, newspaper articles, match programmes, trophies and other items of memorabilia from every era of the club’s existence.
Alongside chapters chronicling the history of the club there will also be features on founder Percy Ashley, who dedicated his life to promoting women’s football, and on Gladys Aikin (a key figure not only with the Corinthians but also with the early years of the Women’s Football Association) and George Aikin, who continued to take the Corinthians on tours into the 1980s. There will be special features on the major tours of the 1950s and 1960s when Percy Ashley led the Corinthians to major international success.
The cover of the book will be worked on by the designer over the coming months but following feedback from former players the maroon has been replaced with a darker blue, more reminiscent of the colour most frequently worn by the Corinthians (based on the reports, programmes and other material found so far and the majority of comments from players). This may still change of course (‘The Authorised History’ will probably change colour too). The back will contain later images and wording.
If you’d like to purchase my earlier book on women’s football then a limited number of copies, signed by me, are still available. You can order that and other books here:
The series of articles covering Manchester City in the 1990s continues with a game against near neighbours Oldham Athletic on this day (8 March) in 1997. The Blues had been unbeaten in 8 consecutive League games since the arrival of Frank Clark in December. There had also been 2 victories in the FA Cup during that time (plus a frustratingly controversial 1-0 defeat at home to Middlesbrough) and so Clark was actually restoring some positivity to the club after a dismal start of the season had seen two permanent managers (Alan Ball and Steve Coppell) precede Clark. There were also temporary managerial spells by Asa Hartford and Phil Neal which lasted longer than Coppell’s permanent role! I’ll save all of that for another day! In the meantime more on the game with Oldham…
The match was watched by 30,729 – the third highest crowd of the day and only about 8,000 less than title challengers Arsenal (the best crowd of the day). Not bad for a second tier team that was struggling overall!
Uwe Rosler scored the only goal of the game but was booked afterwards for an over enthusiastic celebration. Oldham boss Neil Warnock wasn’t happy, claiming the goal should not have been allowed. Oh the days before VAR and the ability of both managers to be absolutely certain that what they say is the truth (wait a minute… VAR hasn’t resolved that even when the cameras prove the truth!). Here’s the match report….
For more on the 1990s why not subscribe and see everything I’m posting? You can start with this 1,300 word article on the end of the 1989-90 season. It is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!
Subscribe to get access – Monthly
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) to access everything posted since 1 October 2022 or there’s a special annual rate below which gives greater access and works out much cheaper.
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (above) or £20 a year (here) to access everything posted since the site was created in December 2020. This special rate works out about £1.67 a week and gives access to everything posted, including PDFs of 3 of my books.
I’ll be talking more about fan loyalty in future weeks but today’s feature on the 1990s is a nice reminder of how City fans were viewed during the mid 1990s. Today certain rival fans or people within the media portray the supporters of Manchester City in negative ways. It’s bonkers but I guess that goes with the territory of being a strong, successful club. They can’t criticise the success so they focus on fans, even when that is misplaced. Ah well!
This cutting is from January 1996 when Premier League City were struggling but still selling out game after game. Of course, things got worse that decade but support actually went up as a series of temporary stands were added. The lower City dropped the more determined fans became it seems.
Why not use World Book Day to help get the story of a pioneering women’s football club published once and for all? For years I’ve been researching the incredible Manchester Corinthians. Why? It matters to me personally for a variety of reasons and I’ve been trying to ensure these incredible women get the recognition they deserve for years. We managed to get a blue plaque and other tributes erected last year and now, after dozens of interviews, years of research and a lot of time and effort, the authorised history of the Manchester Corinthians will be published this summer.
You can help by ordering the book now (before publication). Every pre-publication order helps enormously and buyers will get their name included in a special roll of honour published within the book if ordered by 31st March 2024 here:
Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History
The story of a pioneering women’s club as told to Gary James by those who were there
£19.95
Opportunities to buy multiple copies, sponsor the book or donate to ensure it’s published to the size and standard the women who played deserve exist. Please email Gary@GJFootballArchive.com for more information on those opportunities.
This book is a must for anyone interested in Manchester or women’s football and will consist of over 300 pages. It will be fully illustrated throughout and subscribers can order it now for £19.95 (including UK postage and packaging). All orders received before 31st March 2024 will have the purchaser’s name included within the special roll of honour at the back of the book. You can order the book for someone else – all details will be checked and confirmed before publication.
The book will be published this summer.
If you live outside the UK then please contact for details of additional postage costs.
You do not need to have a PayPal account to order – use the ‘Pay with PayPal’ button above and it will give you the option to pay by credit/debit card without creating a PayPal account.
The book will include the story of the club as told by the women involved, alongside a significant amount of archive material. Myths will be corrected and the facts of this pioneering club will be told in an easy to read format.
Guided by founder Percy Ashley, the club went on to represent Manchester, football and female endeavour for decades, winning major international tournaments in Europe and South America. The Corinthians are, without doubt, one of the most important football clubs ever to come from Manchester and they were a prominent and pioneering club in so many ways.
As well as the interviews and dozens of archive trips there’s been a concerted effort to compile as comprehensive list as possible on women who played for the club. I’ve managed to compile a list of around 300 women who played for the club. Objects and trophies have also been rediscovered. This is the type of detailed research I enjoy. It’s time consuming, difficult and often frustrating but occasionally you find a little gem that adds significantly to our knowledge. There have been quite a few of those.
I’m still keen to hear from any former player who can add their voices to the history of the club, though the research and writing stage will be ending soon, so please get in touch as soon as possible. Please email Gary@GJFootballArchive.com with your name, rough dates you played and contact details.
Those subscribing to the book will receive a copy signed by author Gary James and posted out to subscribers before it appears in any shop or is distributed to any retailer. This is the ONLY way to guarantee your copy.
Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History will include interviews with players from every era of the club from a founding player back in 1949 through to those playing for the club in its final days over 40 years later (yes, that’s right – over 40 years later!). The book will finally tell the story of the club from start to finish via the voices of the women who played. Via these voices the entire history of the club will be explained with the key figures identified and remembered. There’s a remarkable trail of women linking the first game with the last.
The book will be published to a similar style and quality to the acclaimed Manchester City Women: An Oral History and is destined to be another landmark publication on a major, pioneering women’s football club. Dozens of former players have been interviewed for this book and their remarkable stories and memories will be supported with an amazing array of photographs, newspaper articles, match programmes, trophies and other items of memorabilia from every era of the club’s existence.
Alongside chapters chronicling the history of the club there will also be features on founder Percy Ashley, who dedicated his life to promoting women’s football, and on Gladys Aikin (a key figure not only with the Corinthians but also with the early years of the Women’s Football Association) and George Aikin, who continued to take the Corinthians on tours into the 1980s. There will be special features on the major tours of the 1950s and 1960s when Percy Ashley led the Corinthians to major international success.
The cover of the book will be worked on by the designer over the coming months but following feedback from former players the maroon has been replaced with a darker blue, more reminiscent of the colour most frequently worn by the Corinthians (based on the reports, programmes and other material found so far and the majority of comments from players). This may still change of course (‘The Authorised History’ will probably change colour too). The back will contain later images and wording.
If you’d like to purchase my earlier book on women’s football then a limited number of copies, signed by me, are still available. You can order here:
The series of articles covering Manchester City in the 1990s continues with a story from the opening months of 1990. On 3 March in 1990 City lost 1-0 to a controversial goal from Nottingham Forest’s Gary Crosby. Was it fair? Watch the highlights here and see what you think:
The debate rumbled on for weeks. Here are a few newspaper headlines from the weeks that followed, starting with one from this day (6 March) in 1990:
Oooh, it was one of those haunting footballing moments that lived with goalkeeper Andy Dibble for years and was something us fans could not forget whenever we went to Forest!
For more on that season, have a read of this 1,300 word article on the end of the 1989-90 season. It is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!
Subscribe to get access – Monthly
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) to access everything posted since 1 October 2022 or there’s a special annual rate below which gives greater access and works out much cheaper.
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (above) or £20 a year (here) to access everything posted since the site was created in December 2020. This special rate works out about £1.67 a week and gives access to everything posted, including PDFs of 3 of my books.
The series of articles covering Manchester City in the 1990s continues today with an on this day (5 March) from 1991 when the Blues defeated Luton 3-0 with goals from Niall Quinn (2) and a penalty from Clive Allen. Here’s an interesting clip from the old Saint and Greavsie show which showed the action as part of their preview of the City v Liverpool game. It’s interesting as it’s clear from this that City WERE seen as a potential challenger that season (so many people try to claim otherwise!). The 1990s was not all bad!
Here’s the clip:
The 1990-91 season had included a shock managerial departure which could have disrupted the club but ultimately the Blues finished 5th, 3 points ahead of Manchester United. Here’s a 2,700 word article on that season:
Subscribe to get access – Monthly
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) to access everything posted since 1 October 2022 or there’s a special annual rate below which gives greater access and works out much cheaper.
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (above) or £20 a year (here) to access everything posted since the site was created in December 2020. This special rate works out about £1.67 a week and gives access to everything posted, including PDFs of 3 of my books.
This series of articles and features will run throughout March with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. There will be flashbacks to great games, players and more. Every day in March will offer something to enjoy.
Subscribers will get access to everything, while some on this day material will be free for all to view.
If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:
Manchester City Football Club can today announced that Gareth Taylor has signed a new three-year contract.
The 51-year-old was appointed Head Coach of the women’s first team in May 2020, and has overseen 97 wins from 131 games in all competitions to date.
Having won both the FA Cup and Continental Cup during his tenure so far, City’s continued push for silverware this campaign has seen them reach the FA Cup quarter-finals and Continental Cup semi-final.
Taylor’s side currently boast the best defensive record in the Women’s Super League, and a 12-match winning run in all competitions – which has included statement victories on the road against title rivals Arsenal and Chelsea, dealing the latter a first defeat at Kingsmeadow in more than three years.
Speaking about his new contract, Taylor said: “I’m very happy to be able to commit to City for another three seasons. I think what we’re doing here and trying to achieve is a build and a long-term project of sustainability and success.
“Our ambition was always to be right at the top and we’ve done that. It’s taken a lot of hard work from a lot of people behind-the-scenes. The players have really bought in to what we’re trying to do and achieve.”
Highlighting the importance of both Women’s Managing Director Charlotte O’Neill and Director of Football Nils Nielsen in City’s strong season so far, Taylor added: “Nils has helped in a number of ways. His experience of having been a head coach previously in the women’s game is really helpful as well because you’re not talking to someone who has not been there.
“Charlotte I’ve worked with previously in the Academy. What she’ll do is be really clear in our objectives and really clear in what we are capable of doing.”
Director of Football Nils Nielsen added: “I am very pleased that Gareth has agreed to continue his great work in our programme for the coming years.
“We have a clear strategy on how we want to move forward, and securing Gareth to lead the team is a key factor in this.
“Now we can all focus on finishing this season in style and prepare for the next few seasons by following the plan.”
Manchester City Women Managing Director, Charlotte O’Neill, added: “We’re very pleased to have Gareth continue his journey with City for another three years.
“Gareth is someone who has embraced the City Football Group approach from day one and shares our ambition to push the envelope in the women’s game and build a squad full of talented and ambitious players.
“Nils and I are very much looking forward to continuing our work with him for the rest of this season and beyond alongside this amazing group of players. I’m confident the future is very bright at this Club.”
The photo is of Nils Nielsen and Gareth Taylor of Manchester City signing a contract extension at Manchester City Football Academy on February 29, 2024 in Manchester. Photo by Declan Lloyd/Manchester City FC.
Gary James' Football Archive 