On this day (18 March) in 1933 Manchester City faced Derby County in the FA Cup semi-final at Leeds Road. Here for subscribers is the story of that day, including images, a match report and film of the game. Enjoy!
Subscribe to get access – Annual
To read this please subscribe. It works out about £1.67 a month if you take out an annual subscription (£20 per year) or £3 a month if you’d like to sign up for a month at a time (see below). Annual subscribers get full access to everything posted so far and the hundreds scheduled to be posted in the coming year, including audio interviews, talks, articles and books.
To read this please subscribe. It costs £3 a month (cancel anytime) or £20 a year (see above). Monthly subscribers get full access to everything posted since 1 October 2022 and those scheduled to be posted during their subscription, including audio interviews, talks, articles and books.
On this day (13 March) in 2011 Manchester City faced Reading in the FA Cup quarter final. Here for subscribers is the story of that game:
Subscribe to get access
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 rate of £20 per year. Subscribers access everything on the site including interviews, books and more.
Today (9 March) in 1966 Second Division Manchester City defeated First Division Leicester City 1-0 in a FAC 5th round replay. Gordon Banks was the Leicester ‘keeper and City gained many plaudits from this display. More was to follow as the football world began to notice how City were revitalised under manager Joe Mercer and his assistant Malcolm Allison. Were you there that day? If you were please feel free to add your comments.
Here for subscribers are some contemporary match reports from this game:
Subscribe to get access
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up for a year at a time at a discounted price of £20 per year. This gives access to every article, book, interview etc. posted to the site so far. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?
You can find out more on Manchester City during the 1965-66 season by reading the following 4100 word article. As with most of the other features in this series it includes words from interviews I have performed with those who were there. This is a subscriber article (see below).
Subscribe to get access
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.
If you enjoy all the free material on my website and would like to support my research and keep this website going (but don’t want to subscribe) then why not make a one-time donation (or buy me a coffee). All support for my research is valued and welcome. It allows me to keep some free material available for all. Thanks.
Today (8 March) marks the 102nd anniversary of a record Manchester City set – the record is the highest attendance on a club ground! The record set in 1924 saw 76,166 attend City v Cardiff. Keep reading all those who think ‘don’t you mean 84,569 in 1934?’ – City already held the record… 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 102 years of this record for the Blues!
You can read about the remarkable day in 1924 below:
Subscribe to get access
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £20 a year (access to everything) or £3 per month (see below).
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £20 a year (see above) or £3 per month (cancel anytime; access to everything posted since 1 October 2022).
On this day (7 March) in 1993 Manchester City faced Tottenham in the FA Cup Quarter-Final at Maine Road. It was a day that saw the media express shock at the behaviour of City’s fans when they invaded the pitch during the tie with Spurs. They condemned the supporters without understanding the background story. To put the record straight it’s vital the day’s events are covered correctly. Here for subscribers is the full story of that game, including quotes from Niall Quinn and Peter Swales (from my interviews with them in the years since that day…
Subscribe to get access
If you would like to read this and all the in-depth articles on this site (including the entire Manchester A Football History book and the audio interview with John Bond) then please subscribe. It works out about £1.67 a month if you take out a discounted annual subscription (£20 per year) or £3 a month (cancel any time). Each subscriber gets full access to the 2000+ articles posted so far and all others during your subscription..
Today (5 March) in 1966 two goals from Neil Young helped Second Division Manchester City to a 2-2 draw against First Division Leicester City in the 5th round of the FA Cup. Gordon Banks was the Leicester ‘keeper and City gained many plaudits from this display. More was to follow as the football world began to notice how City were revitalised under manager Joe Mercer and his assistant Malcolm Allison. Were you there that day? If you were please feel free to add your comments.
Here for subscribers are some contemporary match reports and images from this game:
Subscribe to get access
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up for a year at a time at a discounted price of £20 per year. This gives access to every article, book, interview etc. posted to the site so far. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?
You can find out more on Manchester City during the 1965-66 season by reading the following 4100 word article. As with most of the other features in this series it includes words from interviews I have performed with those who were there. This is a subscriber article (see below).
Subscribe to get access
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.
If you enjoy all the free material on my website and would like to support my research and keep this website going (but don’t want to subscribe) then why not make a one-time donation (or buy me a coffee). All support for my research is valued and welcome. It allows me to keep some free material available for all. Thanks.
For today’s feature I’ve decided to look back to a remarkable day in 1924 when Manchester City and Brighton met in their first competitive game. This ‘first’ also became significant as a ‘last’ moment for one of City’s greatest ever players. That day the legendary Billy Meredith scored his last competitive goal. Remarkably, he was 49 and his return to City’s first team brought significant media coverage.
The first ever meeting between City and Brighton was on this day (23 February) in 1924 and this photo is of Meredith during that game. It was a FA Cup tie at Brighton and newspapers were full of Meredith stories. His return was big news. The Manchester Evening News explained: ‘To all intents and purposes, Meredith ceased to be an active member of the first team two seasons ago. Two things have combined to bring him within range of the rather sensational choice now made – sentiment and his own indomitable will to fret his hold on the football stage a little longer… The chief argument in his favour is that from one of his classic centres any match might be won, just as it was when he scored the goal that served to bring the English Cup to Hyde Road twenty years ago next month.’
Meredith had not played in a League game all season – in fact he’d only played one game the previous season! – and he was aged 49. However, he remained the biggest name in football and had captained City to FA Cup success in 1904, scoring the winning goal in the final.
A record crowd of 24,734 packed into Brighton’s Goldstone Ground and Meredith’s inclusion inspired the rest of the team. City defeated Brighton 5-1 and there was even a sentimental moment when a minute into the second half Meredith scored. The Daily Mail described the goal: ‘[Meredith’s] old inimitable ball magic along the touch line remains… Those bow legs still mesmerise the ball, and that great right foot still placed the ball perfectly in the mouth of goal. In this way Meredith got his goal. Hayes grasped the ball, but it spun out of his hands into the net.’
This was to be Meredith’s last-ever first team goal.
This season City reached the FA Cup semi-final, establishing attendance records along the way. Meredith’s inclusion was a masterstroke. The chance of Meredith reaching the FA Cup final had been the nation’s footballing dream, but it could not be fulfilled. In the semi-final City were defeated by Newcastle and the Welshman’s career came to an end. You can read about that game here:
Billy Meredith stopped playing more than 100 years ago but his name remains one all Blues should know. He was our first truly great player and was the game’s biggest star. He joined City in 1894 and, despite a spell at Manchester United, remained a City fan all his life, attending every FA Cup final the Blues played in until his death in 1958.
In 2004 I chatted with his then 98-year-old daughter Winifred, and she said that his heart was always with City: ‘He felt at home at City. I know he had great success at United, but I don’t think they ever really appreciated him in the way City did. I think United were not paying him properly after the war and, because of his age, they probably didn’t value him. But City did, and it’s clear they still love him today. City was always his team and meant more to him than United ever could.’
Other images from the game:
One-Time
Monthly
Yearly
If you enjoy all the free material on my website and would like to support my research and keep this website going (but don’t want to subscribe) then why not make a one-time donation (or buy me a coffee). All support for my research is valued and welcome. It allows me to keep some free material available for all. Thanks.
On 20 February 2011 Manchester City’s FA Cup tie with Notts County ultimately demonstrated the gulf in quality between Manchester’s Blues and the 18th placed team in League One (3rd tier). County, managed by former United player Paul Ince, had opened brightly and almost took the lead after only 60 seconds, but City went on to dominate this fourth round replay.
Patrick Vieira opened the scoring for City in the 37th minute when he headed home after David Silva whipped a cross in his direction from a Kolarov corner. Vieira added a second 13 minutes after half time. Roberto Mancini’s side seemed comfortable by this time, but County began to put the Blues under pressure, forcing goalkeeper Joe Hart to make a couple of significant saves.
Ince’s side peaked by about the 70th minute and City increased their lead in the 84th as Carlos Tevez scored his 50th goal in only 73 appearances for the Blues – a return that caused the Guardian’s Daniel Taylor to suggest the Argentinian had: ‘legitimate credentials to be recognised as the outstanding striker in [City’s] history.’
A Edin Dzeko header made it 4-0 in the 89th minute and then Micah Richards hooked a superb shot into the top corner from about 12 yards out to make it 5-0 in added time.
City were through to face Aston Villa in the fifth round, and they already knew that, should they beat Villa, the quarter-final would be against either Everton or Reading.
While the result was extremely positive there had been one potentially concerning moment picked up by the nation’s media. Mario Balotelli clashed heads with County defender Pearce and was replaced almost immediately by Carlos Tevez (60th minute). As Balotelli left the field, he seemed somewhat unhappy and threw his snood to the ground as he walked down the tunnel. The player was taken to hospital after the game as he felt dizzy and nauseous, but much was made of his disappointment at being substituted. When asked about it after the game Mancini said: ‘He was unhappy, sure. I’d expect him to be. But that was our plan [to substitute him] and we had told him. We have games coming up every three or four days and we want him 100%.’
At a time when some were suggesting City should concentrate on finishing in a League place that would guarantee Champions League football rather than a domestic cup, Mancini was asked whether the Cup mattered to him. He replied: ‘The FA Cup is an important competition, and we want to win it. Reaching the final is our aim but we cannot look too far ahead. We have a Europa tie on Thursday and then we must play in the League on Sunday before the cup match against Villa… It is a lot to ask to win every week, but we must rest well and then work hard.’
Match Stats
20 February 2011
Manchester City 5 (Vieira 2, Tevez, Dzeko & Richards) Notts County 0
Attendance 27,276
If you enjoy all the free material on my website and would like to support my research and keep this website going (but don’t want to subscribe) then why not make a one-time donation (or buy me a coffee). All support for my research is valued and welcome. It allows me to keep some free material available for all. Thanks.
Today (12 February) in 1966 a goal from Mike Summerbee and an own goal brought City a 2-0 FA Cup win over Grimsby Town. The victory brought great praise City’s way. Were you at Maine Road that day? If you were please feel free to add your comments. Here for subscribers are match reports from this game:
Subscribe to get access
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up for a year at a time at a discounted price of £20 per year. This gives access to every article, book, interview etc. posted to the site so far. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?
You can find out more on Manchester City during the 1965-66 season by reading the following 4100 word article. As with most of the other features in this series it includes words from interviews I have performed with those who were there. This is a subscriber article (see below).
Subscribe to get access
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.
If you enjoy all the free material on my website and would like to support my research and keep this website going (but don’t want to subscribe) then why not make a one-time donation (or buy me a coffee). All support for my research is valued and welcome. It allows me to keep some free material available for all. Thanks.
On this day (10 February) in 2021 Manchester City travelled to Swansea for a FA Cup tie. It was another record-breaking day for Pep Guadiola’s team.
City defeated Swansea 3-1 to progress to the quarter-finals but the victory set a record for successive domestic wins by an English top-flight club, surpassing the previous best of 14 achieved by Preston in 1891-92 and Arsenal in 1987-88. Talking about City’s 15th consecutive win Guardiola commented: ‘It shows how special these players are. And we think of the next one. I know we broke a record of all-time. To do what we have done so far is quite remarkable. The record will be broken for sure, because sports is like this, but it means a lot, to do what we have done in the winter time and Christmas time is quite remarkable. It is the toughest time, but what is important is the way we are still playing with our consistency.’
City’s goals were scored by Kyle Walker (30 mins), Raheem Sterling (47) and Gabriel Jesus (50), with Morgan Whittaker (77) scoring a late consolation goal for Swansea at the Liberty Stadium.
Gary James' Football Archive 