Category Archives: Bury

The 1980s: Bury 1 Manchester City 2 at Old Trafford

On this day (25 September) in 1985 Manchester City defeated Bury 2-1 at Old Trafford in the League Cup. The game was played at Manchester United’s ground as Bury hoped for a big attendance. In the end the crowd of 11,377 wasn’t that much more than Gigg Lane could hold. Many City fans had stayed away simply because the game was at Old Trafford! Here’s a plan of OT as it was back then from the back of my ticket for the game:

You can read more on this season for Manchester City below. This is a 2,500 word feature on the 1985-86 season. Enjoy!

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Tomorrow’s feature is on the 1986-87 season. If you missed the earlier features then start here:

The 1980s: 1980-1981 Gow, Hutchison & McDonald

The 1930s: 1931-32 A Minute to go!

My series on Manchester City in the 1930s continues today with a subscriber article on the 1931-32 season. If you subscribe (see below) I hope you enjoy it. If you don’t subscribe 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 1940s: The 1939-40 Season

The new series on Manchester City in the 1940s starts today with this 1,400 word article on the 1939-40 season. The season started as any other but then world events intervened!

This is a subscriber article and you can read it by subscribing below.

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The 1960s: Colin Bell’s Bury Debut

Continuing the series of features on the 1960s, here’s a story involving Colin Bell and Harry Dowd it’s always worth telling… On this day (8th February) in 1964 Manchester City and Bury drew 1-1. It hardly sounds a remarkable game but it was for two reasons – this was Colin Bell’s Bury debut (and he scored!) AND City’s goalkeeper Harry Dowd scored the Blues equaliser.

This was City’s first point of 1964. The Blues were losing 1-0 to a debut goal from Bury youngster and future Blue Colin Bell at Maine Road when Dowd suffered a broken finger in the 54th minute.  He was unable to continue in nets but stayed on the field and reverted to centre-forward – a role he’d often played as a youngster.  

Scottish forward Matt Gray replaced Dowd in nets and the game continued with the regular ‘keeper keen to impress in attack:  “I was restless enough to give it all I’d got.  I felt just like a colt on its feet for the first time, pushing and shoving my way through and going for the every ball – many of which I hadn’t a hope of getting.  But the moment of glory wasn’t far away, and it seemed the fans were loving every minute of the action.”

“I got the chance to slip the ball to Derek Kevan, his shot hit the bar, and as it bounced down I went lunging in to turn home the equaliser.  The newspapers said some very kind things the next day.”

With Dowd’s efforts up front and a fine performance in goal from Gray the Blues secured the point.  Gray had managed to keep a clean sheet, although Dowd’s amazing exploits prevented him from receiving the kind of credit that other emergency City ‘keepers Doyle, McDonald, Gleghorn, Quinn and Walker would over the decades that followed. 

This game was probably Dowd’s highlight of the season as later on, he found himself dropped with Bert Trautmann returning to the side for three games before even he gave way to Alan Ogley for the final five matches of the season..  At one point Dowd asked for a transfer, but he remained at Maine Road, playing a significant part in the successes that followed under manager Joe Mercer. 

If you’re a subscriber you can read the following article on Manchester City during the 1963-64 season. If you’d like to read this 1700 word article, plus all other articles on the site, then please subscribe (see below). 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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The 1960s: Summerbee Double

On this day (29 January) in 1966 Mike Summerbee scored twice as Manchester City defeated Middlesbrough 3-1. The other goal came from Neil Young (the photo is of course Neil Young in 1971 at Maine Road). 1965-66 was an important season in MCFC history and you can read more on it in the following 4100 word article. This (plus all other articles on the site) is available to subscribers (see below). 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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The 1960s: 52,661 Watch City v Blackpool

On this day (24 January) in 1966 52,661 watched at Maine Road as Manchester City defeated Blackpool 3-1 in the FA Cup with goals from Mike Doyle, Mike Summerbee and Johnny Crossan (the photo is of course of Mike Summerbee with Colin Bell and Francis Lee in October 1967). 1965-66 was an important season in MCFC history and you can read more on it in the following 4100 word article. This (plus all other articles on the site) is available to subscribers (see below). 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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The 1960s: Rotherham Defeated

On this day (12 January) in 1966 Manchester City defeated Rotherham 3-1 with goals from Mike Doyle (2) and Johnny Crossan (the photo is of course of Mike Doyle in the following decade at Maine Road). 1965-66 was an important season in MCFC history and you can read more on it in the following 4100 word article. This (plus all other articles on the site) is available to subscribers (see below). 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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The 1960s: 1965-1966 A New Beginning

Continuing the series of features on the 1960s, here’s a subscriber article on Manchester City during the 1965-66 season. This was an important season in City’s development. If you’d like to read this 4100 word article, plus all other articles on the site, then please subscribe (see below). 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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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up for a year at the discounted price of £20 per year (works out £1.67 per month). Subscribers access the 1000+ articles posted so far and the others scheduled during the life of your subscription.

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Colin Bell Tribute

Four years ago today (5 January 2021) the great Colin Bell MBE died. I did an interview for the Blue Moon Podcast the day after Colin passed away. It was an emotional morning of course. The guys at the podcast have made the entire interview free to listen to here:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/gary-james-pays-45924408

There are plenty of articles about Colin on my website. Follow the link below to see those tagged ‘Colin Bell’:

https://gjfootballarchive.com/tag/colin-bell/

Stan Bowles’ Birth

On this day (24 December) in 1948 the great maverick Mancunian footballer Stan Bowles was born. Here’s a profile of him…

Bowles joined City as an amateur on 27 July 1965, becoming an apprentice on 1 October 1965 and then professional on 29 December 1966.

Then in 1967 things really began to happen and Bowles’ first game was as a substitute in a League Cup tie at home to Leicester City. He scored two goals in the second half and the following Saturday he made his League debut another memorable one. He scored two again!

Lots of stories have circulated over the years about his time at City. Like Mario Balotelli many years later some are truthful; others are exaggerations and some are completely make up.

The stories go that Bowles once missed a flight to Amsterdam where City were to play against Ajax, and that Bowles’ interest in the horses led to Joe Mercer saying: ‘If Stan could pass a betting shop like he can pass a ball, he’d be a world beater.’ Suspensions and other issues led to Stan refusing to sign a new contract and he asked to leave. That in itself led to him being suspended for 14 days on the advice of the Football League.

Inevitably Bowles moved on, first to Bury (July 1970) and then to Crewe (September 1970).

A spell at Carlisle followed and then in September 1972 a bid of £110,000 took him to Loftus Road where he won five England caps as a QPR player.

Seven years later Nottingham Forest’s Brian Clough bought him for £210,000 but sold him again less than a year later after further issues. Further spells were reported at Orient, Brentford, Hounslow and Epping.

In 2015 it was announced he was suffering with Alzheimer’s Disease, like his former boss Joe Mercer. Bowles died on 24 February 2024.

At City Bowles made a total of 20 first team appearances, scoring 4 goals, but he remains recognised as a hugely talented player.

There are articles on this site mentioning Bowles. Here’s a selection:

https://gjfootballarchive.com/tag/stan-bowles/

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