Category Archives: Free

MCFC Fans Attack Stretford Mayor Believing Him To Be Referee!

This is an unusual tale from this day (9 September) in 1965. On that day Manchester City’s game with Norwich was abandoned at half time due to a waterlogged pitch. Norwich had taken an early lead via a Ron Davies header.

Neil Young equalised for the Blues in the 37th minute and fans had been hopeful of a win but referee Jim Carr (Sheffield) abandoned the match stating: ‘The lines were not visible. In seven seasons on the list, I can’t remember a ground in this state at this time of year.’

Journalist Peter Gardner thought the ref had made a mistake as conditions seemed to be improving. Many fans agreed and after the abandonment several confronted a man they believed to be the ref but it was actually Stretford mayor Edward Cavanagh. He claimed about 300 people confronted him as he headed for his car. A woman apparently kicked a councillor who was with him and the ‘mob’ started to bang on his car too!

The story made the papers. The replay ended in a goalless draw before over 34,000 on 27 October.

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40 Years Ago Today: Paul Moulden

Paul Moulden signed professional forms for Manchester City on this day (6 September) in 1986. You can find several articles that mention Paul throughout this website. Start looking here:

https://gjfootballarchive.com/tag/paul-moulden/

Manchester City Profits

This month (September) in 1967 this article was published highlighting the profitability of Manchester City. I know this is a long time ago but for those who believe City’s profitability is a recent thing it’s worth stating that the Blues were a hugely profitable club until chairman Peter Swales took power. No time to go into all that now (look across this website and you’ll see my posts on it though). Back in 1967 the club was under the stewardship of the Alexander family of course.

You can read more on the 1967-68 season here:

https://gjfootballarchive.com/category/manchester-city/seasons/1967-68

Football League Stop United From Playing In European Cup

On this day (1 September) in 1958 a really distasteful moment in League football saw Manchester United prevented from taking a special place that had been awarded to them in the European Cup. It was the Football League that effectively banned United from competing. THe background is that UEFA had offered United a place in the European Cup as a mark of sympathy following the Munich Air Crash – fans of all clubs supported the move – and the FA had approved the decision but then discussions within the League proved problematic, leading to the Football League banning the move.

This cutting even quotes an unnamed official who basically said the European Cup is for champions and United ‘are not the English champions.’ It was all a mess and distasteful.

To understand the full story/impact of the Munich Air Disaster and how it affected all of Manchester then have a read of this:

The Munich Air Disaster: A Long Read

Sponsorship Arrives

On this day (28 August) in 1982 Manchester City should have played their first League game with a sponsor’s name on their shirt. However the match was televised and in those days TV did not allow clubs to wear sponsors names in televised games. The match was a 2-1 win away at Norwich and City’s first sponsor was the car company Saab.

New signing David Cross scored the opener after 3 minutes and 5 seconds (below) and we all thought this was going to be a great season. I won’t spoil it by saying what happened the following May!

New signing David Cross scoring after 3 minutes and 5 seconds at Norwich, August 1982
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The Smart Set – Club Colours in the 1930s

On 28 November 1931 the Liverpool Echo published this George Green cartoon of the kits worn by several leading clubs of the period. I thought I’d post it here to show how these things were often portrayed in the newspapers of the day. Thanks.

While you’re here I’d like to thank you for taking the time and trouble to visit my website. I have been researching and writing about Manchester football for a long time (no wonder I’m going grey!) with my first book published in 1989. I am not employed by anyone and I do not have sponsorship either and so I’ve set up this website to help share my 32 years plus writing and research. The intention is to develop the archive and to provide access to as much of my material as possible over the coming weeks, months & years. Subscribers can already access hundreds of articles/posts including the entire Manchester A Football History book and various audio interviews (including John Bond, Malcolm Allison & George Graham). 

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The Noel Gallagher Interview

With lots of rumours about Oasis concerts next summer and with Pep leaving City, it feels an appropriate time to re-release this… Back on Thursday May 20 2021 I interviewed Noel Gallagher about his support of Manchester City, Pep, Europe and more. It was great for two Mancs of a similar age to get together to chat about City. I really enjoyed it and I hope you do too. It’s all free to listen to below…

Here’s part one:

Part two:


Part three:

Part four:
https://gjfootballarchive.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/noel-gallagher-part-4-1.mp3

Part five:


Thanks to Noel and the staff at his studios & office for making this happen.

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WBA v MCFC: The Earliest Film

On this day (25th August) in 1934 West Bromwich Albion played the FA Cup holders Manchester City. Nothing particularly unusual about that I guess, but that match was filmed and this is now the earliest known surviving film of WBA v MCFC at the Hawthorns.

Here’s film of the game:

https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/41087

It’s a curious little film and it does show one of the goals (Albion’s not City’s) and so you will see Frank Swift making an attempt to save it. Notice at the start the way the two teams enter the field (more like the way teams entered the pitch following the arrival of Covid than what became typical in the 2010s).

WBA’s shirts are interesting with their extra white section on the front.

This game is from 25 August 1934 and ended 1-1 with Sam Barkas scoring for MCFC.

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This was a brief sample of the content available on GJFootballArchive.com. If you would like to view the much longer articles and everything else on this site then please subscribe. It works out about £1.67 a month if you take out an annual subscription (£20 per year). Each subscriber gets full access to the hundreds of articles posted so far and the hundreds scheduled to be posted in the coming months.

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Bidding War Between MCFC And Villa!

On this day (25 August) in 1981 Manchester City and Aston Villa were in a bidding war to sign Trevor Francis.

I know in recent years City have been criticised by some in the media for both high spending and for not spending more than they deem a player is worth (what a crazy world it is when a potential purchasing team is criticised for not wanting to spend what a selling club want when there are no other clubs interested in buying that player at that price!) but in 1981 the desire to sign Francis meant they were prepared to spend big if necessary.

A bidding war is always in the best interests of the selling club and occasionally a friendly word with a journalist or another club can create a bidding war even if there really isn’t much interest from a club. Thinking back I can’t remember Villa seriously going after Francis but this Daily Mirror report suggests they were interested.

It wasn’t long of course before City got their man.

Notice the brief mention of Peter Barnes at the bottom of that cutting? If you want to know more then obviously I recommend The Peter Barnes Authorised Biography (use tabs/menu to find out more).

Top Flight Wimbledon

Wimbledon’s first fixture in English football’s top flight was against Manchester City forty years ago today (23rd August 1986) at Maine Road.  The game was goal-less at half time, but by the end City had won 3-1 with goals from Trevor Christie and two from Graham Baker.  The Wimbledon scorer was Andy Thorn.  The Dons’ lineup for this historic first match was:  Beasant, Kay, Winterburn, Galliers, Morris, Thorn (Gage), Wise, Cork, Fashanu, Sanchez, and Hodges.  For the record City comprised of:  Suckling, May, Wilson, Clements, McCarthy, Redmond, Davies, McNab, Christie, Baker, and Brightwell (Simpson).

Although goalkeeper Perry Suckling made his debut in this City-Wimbledon fixture, he very nearly didn’t make it to Maine Road.  On the day of his arrival he travelled to Old Trafford claiming he’d been given directions there instead of Maine Road!  A United official had to direct him back to Manchester.  Suckling later became more famous as the goalkeeper who conceded 9 goals while playing for Crystal Palace at Anfield.  No doubt a few Wimbledon fans remember that match!

You can read more on that season for MCFC here:

The 1980s: 1986-1987 We Never Win At Home And We Never Win Away