The 1978-79 season had promised so much with City progressing to the UEFA Cup quarter final before Christmas. However, before that game could be played a series of worrying results and agitation from director Ian Niven caused City to bring back former assistant manager Malcolm Allison in January 1979. Big Mal, as he liked to be termed by this time, was expected to give a bit of a boost but it didn’t quite work out like that.
A league game with Leeds ended 1-1 then a FA Cup tie with Rotherham saw a shock goalless draw at Maine Road. The Blues received significant criticism and two days later the media waited for a shock FA Cup giant killing at Rotherham. It didn’t happen as City won the match 4-2 with Brian Kidd netting twice and goals from Gary Owen and Peter Barnes. It wasn’t a straightforward win though, as this report shows. The game was played on this day (17 January) in 1979.
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On this day (11 January) in 1977 Manchester City defeated West Bromwich Albion 1-0 in a FA Cup 3rd round replay. The original game had ended 1-1 with Kidd scoring for City at Maine Road. The goalscorer in the replay was Joe Royle. It’s well worth reading this report which highlights there was a bit of a conflict in the game too! Enjoy!
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.
If you’ve ever wondered what a typical match day was like in the 1970s then you should have a watch of this. This is Leeds v City in 1978 and is part of my series of features/articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s. Watch for the large away following (City fans behind the goal to the right but also positioned in various spots around Elland Road); Leeds’ players fighting themselves; a penalty appeal that would be given today; Colin Bell carrying an excited Peter Barnes; LUFC manager Jimmy Armfield smoking his pipe; a pitch invasion followed by the referee announcing the possibility of abandoning the game if it doesn’t stop – which of course is cheered by Leeds fans as an abandonment could work in their favour (it took a long time for football to realise this was never a good thing to say if you wanted trouble to stop!)… what an era! You’ll also notice that when Tueart is about to score a flash from a camera goes off in the away section. I wonder if that fan photo ever turned out?
So here goes with this on this day (7 January) from 1978.
This series of articles and features on Manchester City in the 1970s will run throughout January with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. There will be flashbacks to great games, players and more. Every day in January will offer something to enjoy.
Subscribers will get access to everything. If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? You could even subscribe for a month and see what you think. The following 5,600 word article is on the successes of 1970 and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!
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On this day (6 January) in 2001 Manchester City defeated Birmingham City 3-2 in the FA Cup third round. This photo of a Alfie Haaland throw in from that game has caught my eye because it says so much about football at that time. This was of course taken at Maine Road and the stand on the left of the image is the North Stand.
As this was a FA Cup tie, a larger than normal away section was allocated to Birmingham and you can see from this image that they have roughly half the North Stand and the uncovered temporary stand in the corner (dubbed the Gene Kelly – fans would be ‘singing in the rain’).
Birmingham only brought 1,038 fans that day, hence the large empty Gene Kelly and North Stand sections.
The stand to the right is the ‘new’ Kippax Stand which was almost 6 years old that season.
A Alf Haaland throw in during the 2001 FAC third round tie between City and Birmingham at Maine Road
The series of features/articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s continues with a reminder of the first trophy Manchester City’s first team won during that decade. It was the League Cup v WBA and both modern day footballer Tommy Doyle’s grandads scored for City (wearing red & black stripes). You can watch those goals here:
You can read all about this success as part of this series of articles and features on the 1970s You could even subscribe for a month and see what you think. The following 5,600 word article on the successes of 1970 is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!
Subscribe to get access – Monthly
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) to access everything posted since 1 October 2022 or there’s a special annual rate below which gives greater access and works out much cheaper.
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (above) or £20 a year (here) to access everything posted since the site was created in December 2020. This special rate works out about £1.67 a week and gives access to everything posted, including PDFs of 3 of my books.
The series of features/articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s continues with an on this day (4 January) from 1975 when Manchester City played an away game at Maine Road. What? Follow the link for the story:
This series of articles and features on Manchester City in the 1970s will run throughout January with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. There will be flashbacks to great games, players and more. Every day in January will offer something to enjoy.
Subscribers will get access to everything. If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? You could even subscribe for a month and see what you think. The following 5,600 word article is on the successes of 1970 and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!
Subscribe to get access – Monthly
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) to access everything posted since 1 October 2022 or there’s a special annual rate below which gives greater access and works out much cheaper.
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (above) or £20 a year (here) to access everything posted since the site was created in December 2020. This special rate works out about £1.67 a week and gives access to everything posted, including PDFs of 3 of my books.
The series of features/articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s continues with a reminder of the first goal Manchester City’s first team scored in the 1970s. It was scored by Neil Young on this day (3 January) in 1970 and you can watch it here:
This was a FA Cup tie at Hull that ended 1-0 before at crowd of 30,271.
Although City didn’t win the FA Cup that season this was a glorious year for the Blues. By the end of April the Blues would have two major trophies on the shelf, including the club’s first European trophy (won before so many of today’s perceived European giants). This series of articles and features on the 1970s will run throughout January with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. There will be flashbacks to great games, players and more. Every day in January will offer something to enjoy.
Subscribers will get access to everything. If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? You could even subscribe for a month and see what you think. The following 5,600 word article on the successes of 1970 is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!
Subscribe to get access – Monthly
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) to access everything posted since 1 October 2022 or there’s a special annual rate below which gives greater access and works out much cheaper.
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (above) or £20 a year (here) to access everything posted since the site was created in December 2020. This special rate works out about £1.67 a week and gives access to everything posted, including PDFs of 3 of my books.
With Manchester City facing Huddersfield Town this weekend in the FA Cup here’s a reminder of some previous City-Huddersfield meetings caught on film. The earliest surviving film of a game between the two clubs is a FA Cup tie from 98 years ago: https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/51830/
Here’s a City win from February 1972 with a goal from Tommy Booth:
The series of features/articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s continues with the day the Northern Premier League’s Wigan Athletic came to Maine Road to face the ECWC & League Cup holders City. Who’d have thought that one day these two clubs would meet in a FA Cup final and that Wigan would be victorious? Hang on, let’s not talk about that. Let’s get back to the 1970s…
Colin Bell netted the only goal of this day (2 January) in 1971 and you can watch it here:
The Wigan Athletic Supporters Club website tells the Wigan perspective on this day and is well worth reading:
‘The third round draw pitted them against Manchester City away at Maine Road. City at the time were holders of the League Cup and European Cup-Winners Cup and were doing well in the League. Their team that day, 2 January 1971, was full of star names: Joe Corrigan in goal; Tony Book, Arthur Mann, Mike Doyle, Tommy Booth, Alan Oakes, Mike Summerbee, Colin Bell, Francis Lee, Neil Young and Derek Jeffries, with Frank Carrodus on the bench.
‘Latics had in their line-up Dennis Reeves; Alan Turner, Billy Sutherland, Gordon Milne, Doug Coutts, Ian Gillibrand, Derek Temple, Bobby Todd, Geoff Davies, Jim Fleming and Graham Oates with sub Ian Ledgard.
‘The referee was one of the top officials of the time, Pat Partridge from Middlesbrough.
‘Both teams changed their strip, City into their renowned (at the time) black and red striped shirts with black shorts – the colours they’d worn to victory in both the FA Cup in 1969 and the European Cup-Winners Cup in 1970. Latics wore all white with blue trim. But best of all, BBC’s “Match of the Day” cameras were there to record the scene.
‘Not being overawed by their European trophy-holding opponents, or by the 46,212 fans, Latics held out until the 72nd minute when goalkeeper Dennis Reeves’ boot split when taking a goal-kick. The ball went to Neil Young, who flicked it inside to Colin Bell, who made no mistake. One goal was enough for City, and two late fine saves from Joe Corrigan put paid to Latics’ dreams. They received a standing ovation from the crowd.‘
You can read more on Wigan’s season and history at the Wigan Athletic Supporters Club website:
This series of articles and features on Manchester City in the 1970s will run throughout January with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. There will be flashbacks to great games, players and more. Every day in January will offer something to enjoy.
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.
Subscribers will get access to everything. If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? You could even subscribe for a month and see what you think. The following 5,600 word article is on the successes of 1970 and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!
Subscribe to get access – Monthly
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) to access everything posted since 1 October 2022 or there’s a special annual rate below which gives greater access and works out much cheaper.
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (above) or £20 a year (here) to access everything posted since the site was created in December 2020. This special rate works out about £1.67 a week and gives access to everything posted, including PDFs of 3 of my books.
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 have since played each other 189 times overall with City winning 76 and Newcastle 72 games.
As tonight is a League Cup tie, the most famous meeting of the teams in that competition came in 1976 at Wembley when Peter Barnes and Dennis Tueart both scored for the Blues.
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:
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:
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.
Gary James' Football Archive 