Day 8 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game. Today here’s an image of the Maine Road forecourt in the 1980s. So much to say on this. Notice the Granada TV vehicle and the newspaper adverts hung up for the Sunday Mirror and News of the World. There’s also the advert above the main entrance ‘cage’ – that was covering up the original central mosaic which I wish they’d been able to keep visible but an air conditioning unit was smashed through this at some point. So much for preserving the club’s history back then, hey?
The forecourt looked much the same as this from its opening through to later in the 80s, although there had already been a pebble dash render placed on the lower part of the main stand frontage. Later the decade more render would be place on sections of the front and then in the 1990s the whole stand was clad in metal.
There’s one of the floodlights (second set) showing and this is obviously pre-match as fans are mostly heading to the stands. Also, post match for many games in the 80s the forecourt would have housed a demo!
Those cars are heading towards the directors car park, past the stand, on the left.
This image was from a 1981 Manchester derby.
1981 City v United Maine Road
If you’d like to read more on the history of Maine Road, take a look at Farewell To Maine Road, which can be downloaded from this page:
To help those unfamiliar with Maine Road locate the specific location, the Main Stand is number 1 on this plan and its frontage faced Maine Road, the street running above the stand.
Maine Road aerial 1971 from Farewell To Maine Road
If you’d like to support my research and this website 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 keeps the website going too. Thanks.
Day 7 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game. Today it’s the story of the Platt Lane tunnel. Maine Road had four large corner tunnels, plus two in the Kippax and three (including the Players’ tunnel) in the Main Stand. The corner tunnels when built were all the same but the one in the Platt Lane/Main Stand corner was altered within 8 years of being built. Many people don’t realise this or know why, so here’s the story…
The tunnels were designed by architect Charles Swain to make access to and departure from the terracing easy after the problems Wembley experienced in its opening game. These huge tunnels became a feature of Maine Road for most of its existence but ground developments led to them all, apart from the Main Stand’s tunnels disappearing by the mid 1990s.
The first one to change was the Platt Lane/Main Stand corner tunnel.
In 1931 the club decided to enlarge Maine Road and they started with that corner. There was a demand for additional seating and so the club rebuilt the corner terracing. They built on top of what was already there by increasing the terracing rake to make it more appropriate for seating. They didn’t demolish the original corner, they built on top of it. This created a problem because the walls of the tunnel were now too low in parts, creating a potential safety issue. So the club raised and remodelled the tunnel walls a little. These are not great images but I hope they give you enough of a feel for how the tunnel was adapted.
The older image is during construction, with the other image showing the stand in 1981. That corner stand was extended a little on wooden steps, as was the rest of the stand when it was extended in 1935. The difference was that the rake of the terracing elsewhere in the stand was not changed.
Remodelled Platt Lane/Main Stand corner tunnel as seen in 1981
If you’d like to read more on the history of Maine Road, take a look at Farewell To Maine Road, which can be downloaded from this page:
If you’d like to support my research and this website 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 keeps the website going too. Thanks.
Day 6 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game asked you to name the year this aerial photo was taken. I gave a few clues which may help date this:
None of the temporary stands have yet been constructed in the corners
The MCFC lettering appears at the bottom section of the North Stand
The Souvenir Shop still appears to be operational and doesn’t look like it’s been turned into offices yet
Both the Platt Lane Stand and the Kippax have been replaced BUT what about the end panelling of the Kippax? Is that complete?
The answer is 1995.
If you’d like to read more on the history of Maine Road, take a look at Farewell To Maine Road, which can be downloaded from this page:
If you’d like to support my research and this website 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 keeps the website going too. Thanks.
I would like to thank all those who have been in touch this season about my articles in the Manchester City match programme. I truly am grateful for those words. I have been fortunate enough to have been writing for the programme for a few years and always enjoy trying to tell a different story, or use a different angle. There’s so much to say and do and my programme articles in this year’s programme focused on a history piece (which I always try to make relevant to today – but that’s easy when you have history making managers like Pep and record breaking players like Haaland) and a crowd/attendance feature.
I hope they’ve been of interest and, with the crowd feature in particular, I have heard from several fans who have enjoyed the myth-busting that has come from that. Hopefully, I’ll get the chance to carry on writing for the programme over the coming years but if not, thanks to all those who read the piece. I’m driven by publishing the facts not the fiction and writing in an entertaining manner. I hope that comes across.
This season has also seen me write articles for the FA Cup semi-final and two for the upcoming FA Cup final. So there’s still at least 2 pieces coming this season in significant programmes.
Thanks again to all those who read my work and thanks to Reach for selecting me for the MCFC match programmes.
Day 6 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game. Today it’s an aerial shot of Maine Road. Can you guess the year?
I’m a bit of a ground obsessive (as you may have guessed) and I spend much of my time seeking out images of football grounds (not just City’s) and trying to date them. It drives me crazy when I see something misdated…. Anyway, before I waffle on can you work out which year this was taken?
I’ll give the answer tomorrow but I always look for clues, so I’ll give you a few which may help date this:
None of the temporary stands have yet been constructed in the corners
The MCFC lettering appears at the bottom section of the North Stand
The Souvenir Shop still appears to be operational and doesn’t look like it’s been turned into offices yet
Both the Platt Lane Stand and the Kippax have been replaced BUT what about the end panelling of the Kippax? Is that complete?
I’ll give you the answer tomorrow.
If you’d like to read more on the history of Maine Road, take a look at Farewell To Maine Road, which can be downloaded from this page:
‘They’ll carry on the glory of the City, keeping City in first place…’ It was appropriate yesterday that a banner appeared at the front of the South Stand with the words ‘Blue & white they go together, we will carry on forever more’. I’m sure some will think this is an arrogant, modern day boast but most Manchester City fans will recognise that the words come from the 1972 club song ‘The Boys in Blue’. It’s an iconic piece of Mancunian history and another Manchester icon, Alex Williams MBE, presented the Premier League trophy. These things are important. As was the pitch invasion (more of that later). It’s also worth noting, though it was generally missed yesterday, that the victory over Chelsea and trophy presentation came on the anniversary of the club first being accepted into the League as Manchester City back in 1894. No history? See:
Football clubs are often criticised and I get that. People have talked about money spent or the activities of managers and players over the generations but the truth is that a football club is a community of people. It unites a large cross section of society in a way that many other leisure activities do not. From the richest to the most disadvantaged a football club can touch all of society, or at least it can try if it wants to. Manchester City has tried and wanted to for generations now. And that is why selecting Alex Williams to make the presentation, supported by Tom O’Dell (see https://www.mancity.com/citytv/mens/city-2223-citc-trophy-lift-alex-williams-63820275 ), was important.
Alex received racist abuse from rivals throughout his playing career and has spent decades working for Manchester. He is a wonderful man, a truly nice guy and someone who absolutely dedicated his life working for Mancunians and those who for whatever reason needed support in some way. He quietly goes about his business and, though he has a MBE, he deserves national recognition at the highest level. Tom O’Dell is a young man who turned his life around via that connection with City in the Community – an organisation established in 1986 by a club whose community work stretches back many decades before this. In fact the club has been doing community work – though it didn’t see it as ‘work’ just being a responsible Mancunian business – since the start.
Manchester City, and other clubs of course, have a long history and legacy. They are here through the generations as an important element of the life of their city and, most importantly, the people. I am aware of three people (I’m sure there are more) who have witnessed every one of the 9 League titles City have won – Geoffrey Rothband, Eddie Bickerdike and the father of Margaret Core. I’ve interviewed Geoffrey before but I’d love to interview the others about their experiences. That continuity in football is important but it often gets overlooked by those who like to criticise. Incidentally, if you know someone who has seen all nine title successes and can talk about them then please get in touch. It would be great to record their memories of 1937 for example.
Yesterday was a wonderful day and a great celebration. I’d heard stories of potential punishments if there was a pitch invasion (some are still waffling on about that) and so, even though I’ve always supported peaceful, celebratory pitch invasions, I posted a tweet suggesting we heed the club’s warning. In the end I’m glad people didn’t and the pitch invasion is a wonderful exhibition of how much winning this trophy still matters. Some claim City fans have no passion or don’t care. That we’ve been spoilt. We all know that’s absolute rubbish and that pitch invasion, along with the other celebrations proved there is still a beating heart within City’s fan base.
Malcolm Allison once said to me ‘celebrate every success as if it’s your first, because it could be your last’ and I think that’s a valid point. Most fans recognise that no football club dominates for ever (not in England anyway) and that success can be taken away at any point, so let’s make sure we always celebrate these moments as if they are our first.
There were so many positive moments yesterday and throughout the season that it’s impossible to pick out the best yet – and hopefully there’ll be a few more great moments in the weeks to come. Yesterday, I just loved seeing the players celebrate. It’s also telling just how many young fans were around the place or being interviewed by TV… It looks like City’s fanbase is going to continue to grow for some time. Maybe the stadium will need expanding again after the North Stand work is completed?
Oh, and finally, I loved capturing this moment. An excited Rico Lewis running away with the Premier League trophy:
The fifth of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game. Today it’s about the Players’ Tunnel at Maine Road…
Before I start notice on the black and white image the pitchside stone post. Yesterday I mentioned the carved edge style and how originally there were two impressive stone posts, one either side of the tunnel entrance. I said that by 2003 these had been remodelled extensively to match the rest of the white perimeter wall but that one of them still showed an element of the styling used throughout the stadium at the time of construction.
Maine Road’s Tunnel post. Photo by Ed Garvey
Well on the black and white image you can see that same post (on the right of captain Jimmy McMullan) in its original form.
So, what’s my angle for today? Well, it’s the players’ tunnel itself. In this 1926 image you can see the tunnel as it looked when it was first built. Eagle eyed readers may notice that the tunnel looks a little different to how it did during the 1970s onwards. That wall above the tunnel was actually taken down and the front of the seating above the tunnel was brought forward into the tunnel during the 1960s. You can see that by looking at this image of chairman Albert Alexander and Joe Mercer who are actually sat in front of where the original tunnel wall was. The space they occupy would have been open air, floating above the tunnel only a few years earlier.
Albert Alexander & Joe Mercer in the Directors’ Box extension (Copyright Mirrorpix).
The 1926 photo of the tunnel appeared in my 1997 book Manchester The Greatest City and about a year after it was published I received a letter from Canada. It came from an elderly City supporter who had emigrated to Canada many years earlier. His daughter had returned to England for a visit in 1998 and she popped into a bookshop (I think it was the old Sportspages shop) thinking that if there was a book on Manchester City she would buy it for her dad. She saw my book and bought it.
When she returned to Canada she gave the book to her father and while reading it he was stunned to find himself as a small boy on this photo. He is pictured leaning on the wall close to his mother and father. It was a remarkable coincidence but what made it even more special is that this photo came from film of the game. I was able, with the support of the British Film Institute to get a VHS copy of the game and I sent it to Canada so that he could also see himself and his parents on film, moving around.
For me that story gave me an overwhelming feeling that researching and writing about history can add significantly to the wellbeing, interests or lives of others. Research matters. There was also a great feeling of coincidence – I could easily have chosen a different illustration; the daughter may not have bought my book; her father may have only glanced through the book and so on.
1926 City v Fulham, Maine Road. Jimmy McMullan with the ball.
If you’d like to read more on the history of Maine Road, take a look at Farewell To Maine Road, which can be downloaded from this page:
If you’d like to support my research and this website 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 keeps the website going too. Thanks.
The fourth of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game. Today it’s a couple of odd design features that lasted until the end…
Most City fans will know of the semi-circular mosaics that featured above the exit gates (I’ll discuss them and another one later in the year) but these didn’t quite make it to the last game, being removed in the build up to it. There were a few other design features that did and, although these don’t look particularly impressive or significant, they do give clues to the style architect Charles Swain tried to use throughout his planning for the venue.
Below you can see the rectangles and carved edges of these wooden posts. These were typical of the style Swain adopted throughout the ground. Most of the woodwork and large scale stonework (such as the pitch side pillar also seen) used similar patterning when first constructed.
Maine Road’s Director’s Box panelling. Photo by Ed Garvey
The carved edge style is also seen here on this stone post marking the entrance to the pitch for the players. Originally there were two impressive stone posts, one either side of the tunnel entrance. But by 2003 these had been remodelled extensively to match the rest of the white perimeter wall. However, this carved corners still showed an element of the styling used throughout the stadium at the time of construction.
Maine Road’s Tunnel post. Photo by Ed Garvey
It was said that architect Charles Swain adopted an Art deco style, but if he did his planning was at the cutting edge of design as Art Deco didn’t become prominent until after 1926. He certainly used styling he’d have been familiar with from his days as a theatre architect.
If you’d like to read more on the history of Maine Road, take a look at Farewell To Maine Road, which can be downloaded from this page:
You can find lots of material on Maine Road throughout this website. Some of it is only available to subscribers but there’s also a lot of free stuff on here.
If you’d like to support my research and this website 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 keeps the website going too. Thanks.
This image is of the Old Boar’s Head, Withy Grove, Manchester. On this day (21 May) in 1894 a momentous event connected with Manchester football was held here. Read on for details of what that was….
Manchester was celebrating on this day in 1894. Not only did Queen Victoria open the Manchester Ship Canal that day but Manchester City Football Club was admitted into the Football League. The club had no players; little money and there were still question marks over the ground they would use but somehow they headed the vote for admission/re-election to the League. The full story was covered earlier this year when I did a hour long talk on it all. Subscribers can watch that below:
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The third of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game. Today I’d like to talk about exploring the back rooms and cupboards of the old ground.
During the 2002-03 season while I was researching and writing Farewell To Maine Road, the official history of City’s grounds, I was allowed to wander around the old place for my research. Club photographer Ed Garvey often accompanied me and we’d open doors, look under seats and generally try to see things that would not always be immediately obvious on match day.
One day we were helped on to the ‘new’ Kippax roof – a scary experience! Other teams we explored the nooks and crannies of the stands. Then there was the time when a paint store room door was open. We popped our heads in and found this gem. This old ‘ghost sign’ saying ‘Commit No Nuisance’ had originally been on public view. That wall was the internal side of the large external wall that surrounded the Kippax terracing. Fans would congregate on the side we were on and the painted notice would warn them to ‘commit no nuisance’.
A few of these used to be positioned around the ground but by 2002-03 we’d assumed they’d all gone. This one survived because, at some point the club built a series of storerooms and additional toilets against this wall, trapping this specific sign for ever.
I wish we could have dismantled it and taken it for good to be re-erected at the new stadium but sadly that wasn’t possible for various reasons. At least we managed to take a photo of it and ensure a permanent record of it was kept for ever.
2023 marks the 100th anniversary of Maine Road’s first game and to commemorate this landmark moment I will be posting a different image or feature on the old stadium each day for 100 days. Day 100 will be the actual centenary of that historic first game.
If you’d like to read more on the history of Maine Road, take a look at Farewell To Maine Road, which can be downloaded from this page:
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