Maine Road’s Early Football History
Years before Manchester City created the Maine Road stadium and housing filled all sides of the street a field on the road was used for football and other sporting activity. The area was quite rural in the 1860s and 1870s but gradually housing and industry swamped the area. Maine Road itself was originally called Dog…
Great Photo of Manchester City fans in 1909
Here’s a great cutting from the Daily Mirror from 23 August 1909 showing City fans at Hyde Road for the public practice match that season. really atmospheric. The other images show first choice ‘keeper Walter Smith in action. THe 1909-10 season was a good one for City and you can read a review of that…
Hyde Road – More Cover Than Old Trafford
In 1913 the Edinburgh Evening News included this on City’s Hyde Road ground within a feature on the club. There are some interesting comments in this about the Hyde Rd Ground. I”ve argued for years that City’s old stadium was actually better than is often claimed and this article tends to back that view up.…
The Oldest Manchester Club
Here’s a brief cutting from October 1912 which mentions that Manchester City FC was the ‘oldest’ Manchester club. At the time there were plenty of people around who had been involved with the establishment of both Manchester Football League Clubs and so it seems logical to me that we listen to these views. Both clubs…
This is Your Life Joe Mercer
Broadcast live on 25 March in 1970 was the This is Your Life TV episode with Manchester City boss Joe Mercer as the subject. Here are the details plus a special recording which supporters of all the clubs Joe was involved with could be interested in. This Is Your Life was viewed at the time as…
Women’s Football Interviews and Videos
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: We start with…
Jeremy Monga signs for Manchester City on five-year deal
Manchester City have announced a new signing. Here’s the press release: Manchester City is delighted to announce the signing of Jeremy Monga. The highly rated 17-year-old winger joins the Club after emerging as one of the brightest young talents in English football, having already gained significant first team experience despite his age. The England youth…
Frank Soo Blue Plaque
I was delighted to be one of the guests today when a Historic England blue plaque was unveiled for groundbreaking footballer Frank Soo. Soo was the first player of Chinese heritage to play for England and he was born in Buxton. HIs dad was from China, his mum was from Manchester. The unveiling today took…
70 Years Ago: Trautmann in Neck Brace
Here’s an image from 70 years ago this month (July 1956) showing Manchester City goalkeeper Bert Trautmann in Germany with his wife during his recuperation from his ‘broken neck’ injury in the FA Cup Final. Notice he’s still bandaged and has a brace on his neck and back.
Billy Meredith at 49
Here’s an image of Billy Meredith from March 1924 supposedly from Manchester City’s game at Cardiff City, though personally I think it’s actually from the FA Cup tie at Brighton a couple of weeks earlier. Regardless of which game it’s from Meredith was 49 at the time.
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Gary James' Football Archive 