Category Archives: FA Cup

Managerial Merry-Go-Round

Due to the general downward trajectory of Manchester City during the late 1990s the 1996-97 season often gets overlooked but it is important to remember that, even in the darkest of seasons, there can be positive moments, experiences and wonderful performances by talented players. Even at the bleakest of times a young fan may be experiencing their club for the first time and, no doubt, in 1996-97 the magic of watching Manchester City for the first time was experienced by Blues who, as adults today have enjoyed some of the greatest football ever seen. Today (25 January) is the anniversary of one positive moment in the dreadful 1996-97 season: City’s FA Cup victory over Brentford. You can read about that game and the season’s FA Cup run below.

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City 6 Norwich 0

On this day (24 January) 1981 John Bond’s Manchester City defeated his former club Norwich 6-0 in the FA Cup fourth round tie. Subscribers can read a report and watch highlights here:

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Cheltenham For The First Time

On this day (23 January) in 2021 Manchester City played Cheltenham Town for the first time in a competitive fixture. Details and highlights below:

The game ended in a 3-1 City victory but the home side had actually taken the lead first with a 59th minute goal from May. In fact it remained 1-0 right up until the final 9 minutes of normal play.

First Foden netted the equaliser in the 81st minute then, three minutes later Jesus made it 2-1 to City. In the fourth minute of added time Torres made it 3-1 and an embarrassing FA Cup 4th round defeat was avoided! Cheltenham were 72 places below City and, inevitably, much of the media coverage discussed the value of City’s starting 11 (and the bench – I wish City would turn up one day at a game with a diamond encrusted gold bench just so that the usual critics could waffle on even more about the cost of the bench!). Anyway, enough of that, here are the MCFC highlights:

https://www.mancity.com/citytv/mens/cheltenham-town-1-3-man-city-short-highlights-63747017

You can also watch the BBC’s version of the highlights here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/55766769

Were you at this match? If you were why not leave your memory as a comment or email it to me for possible future use on this website?

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Game of the Season 1956-1957: Manchester City V Newcastle United

On this day (9 January) in 1957 Manchester City and Newcastle United met in a game that was described as the game of the season and also Newcastle’s ‘most thrilling encounter.’ What was the game and why did they say this? Well here for subscribers is the story of that day and film of it too. Enjoy:

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I wasn’t born then so couldn’t be at the game but were you at this match? If you were why not leave your memory as a comment or email it to me for possible future use on this website?

Manchester’s First Major Trophy Success

It’s the return of the FA Cup tonight with Manchester United facing Everton. It’s always worth reminding ourselves of the significance of the FA Cup to Manchester and the story of Manchester’s first major trophy success. The captain and goalscorer of the first triumph by Manchester in 1904 was the great Billy Meredith. In 2021 following the purchase of the oldest surviving FA Cup by Sheikh Mansour (to loan to the National Football Museum) I helped Manchester City with the story of the cup and its significance to Manchester. They’ve produced a video telling the story and it can be viewed here:

https://www.mancity.com/citytv/mens/manchesters-first-trophy-1904-fa-cup-documentary-63745781

For more on the significance of this FA Cup trophy check out the category 1903-04 in the drop down list below.

On This Day in 1887…

It was a remarkable record breaking day when Hyde travelled to Preston for a FA Cup tie on 15th October 1887. The story of that day can be read here:

Hyde v Preston – A Record Breaking Day

GOLDEN GOALS – 1934 Eric Brook V Stoke City

It has virtually slipped out of living memory but this goal is possibly the greatest ever scored at Maine Road.  It is also the goal that was viewed by the largest paying audience of all time at the old stadium.

The goalscorer Eric Brook remains one of City’s biggest stars and he was idolised by thousands of Mancunians throughout his career.  This goal was obviously popular with Maine Road regulars at the time but it has to be stressed that it was also highly significant in the Blues’ quest to re-establish themselves as a major force.

The idea of this ‘GOLDEN GOALS’ feature is to remember a significant or spectacular Manchester City goal from yesteryear.  My hope is that supporters who were not around back then will learn more about these goals while those who were here will hopefully be reminded of them.  If you would like to nominate a goal for possible use in a future feature then please comment at the end of this piece or email me with details of game, goal scorer and date.

This article, covering Brook’s goal is available for subscribers to the website below. It costs £20 a year (it works out £1.67 per month) and you get full access to all articles posted, including PDFs of the out of print Manchester A Football History and my first ever book about Manchester City. There are also audio interviews & more. Do a few searches on past content to see what’s available.      

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Semi-Final Memories

A few years back I caught up with the goalscorers – Tommy Booth (1969) and Paul Power (1981) – of the last couple of FA Cup semi finals involving Manchester City prior to their 2011 FA Cup triumph v Stoke. Here, for subscribers, is a piece I wrote based on that interview with Booth and Power.

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Showing Your Colours

In January this year the Newcastle Chronicle published a story that intrigued me. It talked of the history of fans wearing football scarves and suggested that a Newcastle fan in 1932 was the first to be photographed wearing a football scarf. The article explained that previously it had been claimed that an Arsenal supporter at a 1934 FA Cup tie had been the first filmed/photographed wearing a traditional bar scarf.  This set me off looking into the history of football scarves and of fans showing their colours.

So, here for subscribers to my site is a 1400 word article on showing your colours, focusing on the stories associated with Manchester City…

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Eleven Years On: 2011 FA Cup

Had we all been allowed to attend matches last season I would have marked the tenth anniversary of Manchester City’s 2011 FA Cup success with a programme feature. Sadly, Covid prevented that and now, a year on, I want to commemorate the eleventh anniversary of that FA Cup success. How time flies!

There are so many angles to that first major success of the modern era for Manchester City and it is impossible to cover them all here. Elsewhere on this website I talk about the 2011 FA Cup run, especially that semi-final win over Manchester United. If you’ve not heard it have a listen to this:

Restored 2011: The All-Manchester FA Cup Semi Final

Today I’ll focus on the final itself…

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