Darren Beckford signed professional forms for Manchester City on this day (1 August) in 1984. Darren had signed apprentice forms on 16 Apr 1984 and his brother Jason was also a City player.
Category Archives: Free
Historic Name That Ground
A while ago I posted a series of name that ground features on to the site. They’re all still up there and free to access but if you want to test yourself here’s a few:
You can find the answers to these here:
https://gjfootballarchive.com/category/historic-name-that-ground/page/8/
and here:
https://gjfootballarchive.com/category/historic-name-that-ground/page/7/
I’ll post some of the others later this week.
Home in Barnsley
On this day (31 July) in 2008 Manchester City played a home game at Barnsley. This game made history as it was the first occasion the Blues had played a home European tie outside of Manchester. Previously City had played home European games at Maine Road and at the City Of Manchester Stadium, but work at Eastlands following a concert by Bon Jovi prevented the Club from staging the game at home. The decision was taken to stage the match at Barnsley. Subscribers can read about both legs of the European tie here:
150 Years Ago: Billy Meredith
150 years ago today on 30 July 1874 Billy Meredith was born. Billy was the captain when Manchester City brought Manchester their first major trophy, the FA Cup in 1904. He was also the goal scorer and a major hero to City fans. He later helped United achieve their first successes but returned to City for a final flourish.
His last game for City was 100 years ago this year! You can read about that and many other Meredith related stories across this website. Here’s a link to sone of them:
50 Years Ago Today: Tony Henry
Tony Henry signed apprentice forms for Manchester City on this day (29 July) in 1974. You can find several articles that mention Tony throughout this website. Start looking here:
40 Years Ago Today: David Phillips
David Phillips signed for Manchester City on this day (26 July) in 1984. You can find several articles that mention David throughout this website. Start looking here:
Manchester Corinthians Latest
I’d like to give you a quick update on progress…
The book will be published later this year and will include material from every year of the club’s existence with dozens of former players interviewed. I’ve managed to interview women who played in EVERY season of the club’s 40+year existence and these interviews, together with some wonderful photographs, will form the basis of the book. It will also include the names of every player identified during the course of the research I’ve undertaken over the last decade – in excess of 300 names! – together with details of games played and more.
The story of the club will be told via the voices of the women who played and this will be supported by the most detailed research into the club ever performed. Newspapers, diaries and other literature have been consulted from archives in both the UK and abroad. Exclusive information on the club’s history will be documented here for the first time.
Thanks to all those who have contributed either by telling their story or by ordering the book pre-publication. This means a lot, so thanks for that support.
Nearer publication I will be emailing subscribers to ensure subscriber names, addresses etc. are correct so that no one misses out. If you’ve subscribed watch out for those emails over the coming months.
Thanks to all those who have supported the project.
One area in which you can help further is by thinking of anyone you know who may have played for the club. I will be including as comprehensive a list as possible of former players within the book and would hate to miss anyone. As some former players may not have been mentioned in newspaper reports, match programmes or elsewhere it would be great if those who were involved could think back and let me know any names who you remember who may have been missed. Every name on the list is being checked against other sources/player memories, so feel free to email me with anything you think may help.
If you’ve not subscribed to the book you can here:
Thanks again,
Gary
40 Years Ago Today: Tony Cunningham
Tony Cunningham signed for Manchester City on this day (11 July) in 1984. You can find several articles that mention Tony throughout this website. Start looking here:
Vivianne Miedema Joins Manchester City
Exciting news for fans of Manchester City Women: I’ve received this media release… Vivianne Miedema joins Manchester City on a three-year deal
- Vivianne Miedema joins Manchester City on a deal that will keep her at the Joie Stadium until the summer of 2027.
- Regularly commended as one of the best strikers in modern football, the 27-year-old is the all-time leading goalscorer in the Barclays Women’s Super League and has scored more goals at international level for the Netherlands than any other player across both the women’s and men’s teams.
- The 27-year-old becomes City’s first signing of the summer transfer window.
Manchester City are delighted to announce the signing of Netherlands international Vivianne Miedema on a three-year deal. The 27-year-old forward makes the move to Manchester after seven seasons at Arsenal.
Miedema is the record goalscorer in Barclays Women’s Super League history and for the Netherlands, netting 80 and 95 times respectively for Club and country – more than any other player across both the women’s and men’s teams.
Miedema will wear the number six shirt and reunites with Dutch teammates Jill Roord and Kerstin Casparij. Miedema said: “The reason I chose City is because they have the same ambitions as me. They want to win the league and titles.
“Looking to the future, I’ve always said I want to play with best players in the world and I think City have got that. I haven’t played as much football as I would have wished over the past two years, but I think and hope my best years are still to come. I hope I’m going to be able to help the team as much as I can do.
“I am just really excited to be part of the team and for the girls to hopefully help me and get me back to my best. If I get back to my best again then we can achieve really nice things together. I do think this is the place to be right now. In the end, it was an easy choice for me. I want to challenge myself every day in training, but also every single week in the games we play.”
Manchester City Women Managing Director Charlotte O’Neill added: “Our North Star is to become the best women’s sporting organisation in the world, and key to achieving our ambitions, on and off the pitch, is to recruit, retain and develop the world’s best players and consistently challenge for major titles.
“Viv’s signing is very much part of that plan, and we’re delighted to be bringing another icon of women’s football to the Joie Stadium for our fans.”
Head Coach Gareth Taylor continued: “We’re really looking forward to welcoming Viv to City and seeing her flourish over the next three years. Our ambition is to compete on the highest stage and for the highest honours, and Viv is aligned to this desire.
“She’s a top talent that I’m excited to work with as she’s a player I’ve always admired. Viv will be a real asset to the team.”
Miedema will link up with her country for UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 qualifying matches against Italy and Norway before joining up with City for pre-season training at the end of July and the first-ever Perth International Football Cup in preparation for the 2024-25 season.
40 Years Ago Today: David White
David White signed apprentice forms for Manchester City on this day (4 June) in 1984. You can find several articles that mention David throughout this website. Start looking here:
Gary James' Football Archive 