The 1920s: Little Dave

The new series on Manchester City in the 1920s continues today with a subscriber article on the 1924-25 season. 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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The 1920s: Meredith Returns

A new series on Manchester City in the 1920s begins today with a 1,000 word subscriber article on the 1921-22 season. 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:

Subscribe to get access

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 a month (cancel anytime) or sign up for a year at £20 per year. Subscribers have access to the 1000s of articles, features, interviews etc. posted so far and all those posted during your subscription.

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

The Reporting of a Manchester Derby

Here’s an interesting cutting from the Official Programme of both Manchester City and Newton Heath in December 1898. Back then City’s and Newton Heath’s match programme was a joint affair, shared with a couple of rugby clubs too. Reading this gives an impression of how the rivalry was at the time – I’m sure City fans will find the line about referee Jack Lewis’s decision making interesting!

This game was actually played at City’s Hyde Road on Boxing Day 1898 and, as was typical of the period, both sets of fans were vocal and spread around the ground.

The opening paragraph described an infamous passageway that led to the Hyde Road ground and was often muddy. Also, worth noting that Billy Meredith was the biggest name in football and was a popular City player at this time.

City won the game 4-0:

The First Top Flight Manchester Derby

On this day (1 December) in 1906 the first Manchester derby in Division One was played at City’s Hyde Road ground. This photo shows the crowd management scenes for what was described as Manchester’s biggest football day at the time. There had been derbies between City and Newton Heath in the Second Division, before City were promoted in 1899. There was no opportunity for the Blues and the Heathens to meet in the top flight. In 1902 financial difficulties at Newton Heath meant that club was being wound up. A new club called Manchester United was established in 1902 (as with (like Ardwick’s final days and the new club Manchester City, it’s more complicated than simply a name change) and they played in Division Two, until they earned promotion in 1906.

City won this derby 3-0 with goals from George Stewart (2) and Billy Lot Jones.

Crowd scenes on 1 December 1906 at Hyde Road. The first Manchester Derby in Division One (top flight)

If you want to know more about this season then here’s a 3900 word article telling the story of 1906-07 when the FA ban continued to affect Manchester’s Blues (you can read about that elsewhere on this site). This story continues to be one of skullduggery (by other teams too!) and powerful figures seeking to limit opposition.

All of this sound familiar? Well, get a brew and start reading below if you’re a subscriber. Maybe read the 1903-04, 1904-05 & 1905-06 features first?

If you’re not a subscriber then why not sign up for a month and see what you think?

Subscribe to get access

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?

More on the 1900s tomorrow. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?

Newcastle v Manchester City: The Story So Far

City v Newcastle is one of the most enduring fixtures in English football. There have been cup finals, title deciders, dramatic games, shared heroes and so much more. The two clubs first met in the League in October 1893 (Ardwick/MCFC’s 2nd season in the League) and City’s record is:

CompetitionPlayedWonDrawnLost
League174713865
FA Cup12426
League Cup6312
European0000
Other0000

There have been lots of significant games in the League, FA Cup and League Cup. A League Cup final in 1976 saw them meet at Wembley when Peter Barnes and Dennis Tueart both scoring for the Blues.

Anyone remember being at Maine Road on the day City played away against Newcastle at Maine Road? That was in 1975. See:

101 years ago there was the last meeting at City’s famous old Hyde Road ground:

In 2012 a Newcastle v City game was crucial in the Blues’ title charge:

Elano’s wonder goal in 2007:

In 2021-22 there was a memorable City victory:

Most Blues of my age and above will remember where they were when our King returned to action on Boxing Day 1977. Here’s an interview I did with him a few years back when we talked about that special day:

When I was a teenager there was a second tier meeting that attracted a significant crowd for the period:

My Dad’s generation will remember the 1955 FA Cup final:

During 1956-57 there was a ‘game of the season’ in the FA Cup between the clubs:

My grandad’s generation would’ve remembered Billy Meredith’s last game:

Who remembers the title decider at Newcastle? Details:

There was a really odd thing a while back where a Newcastle paper claimed that their local team had first worn bar scarves at games. A few simple searches soon proved there were much earlier bar scarfs:

Some of the above are free to read and some are for subscribers only. Follow the link below if you want to find out more about subscribing:

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150 Years Ago: Billy Meredith

150 years ago today on 30 July 1874 Billy Meredith was born. Billy was the captain when Manchester City brought Manchester their first major trophy, the FA Cup in 1904. He was also the goal scorer and a major hero to City fans. He later helped United achieve their first successes but returned to City for a final flourish.

His last game for City was 100 years ago this year! You can read about that and many other Meredith related stories across this website. Here’s a link to sone of them:

The 1900s: 1907-1908 Respectable Third

Continuing the series of features on Manchester City in the early 1900s! Today it’s an article on the season after the ban, showing how City coped. Despite everything that had been thrown at Manchester’s Blues they finished third. Read the subscriber article below for the story.

If you’re not a subscriber then why not sign up for a month and see what you think?

Subscribe to get access

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?

More on the 1900s soon. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?

The 1900s: 1906-1907 Newbould’s New Boys

Continuing the series of features on Manchester City in the early 1900s! Today it’s a 3900 word article telling the story of 1906-07 when the FA ban continued to affect Manchester’s Blues. This story continues to be one of skullduggery (by other teams too!) and powerful figures seeking to limit opposition.

All of this sound familiar? Well, get a brew and start reading below if you’re a subscriber. Maybe read the last few days’ features first?

If you’re not a subscriber then why not sign up for a month and see what you think?

Subscribe to get access

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?

More on the 1900s tomorrow. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?

The 1900s: 1905-1906 An Unjust Ban

Continuing the series of features on Manchester City in the early 1900s! Today it’s a 2200 word article telling the story of 1905-06 when the FA ban almost destroyed Manchester’s Blues. This story is one of skullduggery (by other teams too!) and powerful figures seeking to limit opposition.

All of this sound familiar? Well, get a brew and start reading below if you’re a subscriber. Maybe read yesterday’s feature first?

If you’re not a subscriber then why not sign up for a month and see what you think?

Subscribe to get access

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?

More on the 1900s tomorrow. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?

The 1900s: 1904-1905 Villains

Continuing the series of features on Manchester City in the early 1900s! Today it’s a 3000 word article telling the story of 1904-05 when the FA Cup holders and League runners-up were suddenly under scrutiny from the FA. Viewed as a nouveau riche club, the feeling was that City couldn’t possibly have found major success so quickly. Remember they only became MCFC in 1904. This story is one of skullduggery (by other teams too!) and powerful figures seeking to limit opposition.

All of this sound familiar? Well, get a brew and start reading below if you’re a subscriber. If not then why not sign up for a month and see what you think?

Subscribe to get access

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?

More on the 1900s tomorrow. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?