Category Archives: Free

The 1980s: Corrigan Bottled as Liverpool Lose 3-1 to MCFC

Here’s another 1980s themed story. On this day (26 December) in 1981 Manchester City defeated Liverpool 3-1 at Anfield but it was a day marred when City keeper Joe Corrigan was felled by a bottle thrown at him. Here are highlights of the game plus a brief audio clip of John Bond talking about the LFC reaction that day.

In 1995 I interviewed former City boss John Bond at his home. The interview lasted about two hours and here’s a brief snippet from that interview where he talks about that win over Liverpool on Boxing Day 1981.

The Blues won 3-1 (Bond, Hartford & Reeves) then two days later (Bond says it’s the next day in this clip but it was 28th December) City defeated Wolves 2-1 at Maine Rd. John discusses a brilliant goal from Trevor Francis. City went top of the League after the Wolves victory.

Stick with the clip because it ends with Bond’s views on how Liverpool used to react to wins and defeats. I’d best not comment – have a listen:

Here are a couple of cuttings from the day.

The 1980s: VAR would love this!

Happy Boxing Day! Continuing this series of features covering the 1980s for Manchester City… Today it’s back to this day (26 December) in 1989 and Manchester City. v Norwich. Watch these video highlights for two disallowed goals and an effort from Clive Allen. VAR officials and TV companies would love these two disallowed goals now. They’d be replaying them over and over again before deciding whether the goals should stand or not. See what you think.

Manchester City won the match at Maine Road 1-0.

If you want to know more about that weekend and the entire 1989-90 season then become a subscriber and read the following 8,000 word article on that season. Enjoy!

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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.

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Today’s feature was the last on the 1980s. I hope you’ve enjoyed them. If you missed the earlier features then start here:

The 1980s: 1980-1981 Gow, Hutchison & McDonald

Fancy Christmas Day in an Armchair at United v City?

It’s Christmas Day 1902 and these were the ticket prices for the big Manchester Derby match played at Clayton (the present day BMX site next to the velodrome). The game ended in a 1-1 draw. It’s so strange to think today that many of us would have headed off to a ground on this special day in years gone by. Notice the seats that you could have at United – arm chairs! That’s right. It’s Christmas Day so I’ll hold off making any funny comments but imagine if Old Trafford advertised ‘arm chairs’.

Merry Christmas to all. I hope it’s a safe, comfortable and enjoyable day for you all wherever you are.

The 1980s: Panto Time (Oh No It Isn’t!)

Continuing this series of features covering the 1980s for Manchester City… Today it’s back to December 1989 and this reminder of the Junior Blues pantomime ‘Brother Goose’. This City panto was a key annual event from the late 1960s through to the 2000s, having been established in the years before the Junior Blues. Once the Junior Blues was in existence though it seemed logical that the panto would become part and parcel of the junior supporters club.

‘Brother Goose’ of course referenced City’s sponsor of the time Brother.

As you can see from this programme feature on the 1989 panto City’s first team players and coaching staff were often involved and over the years some of the club’s biggest names appeared.

Did you attend a panto or were you one of the people working behind the scenes to make them a huge success? Feel free to post your memories here.

If you want to know more about the entire 1989-90 season then become a subscriber and read the following 8,000 word article on that season. 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.

Subscribe

Subscribe to get access – Annual

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.

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If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:

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Today’s feature was one of many on the 1980s. I hope you’ve enjoyed them. If you missed the earlier features then start here:

The 1980s: 1980-1981 Gow, Hutchison & McDonald

The 1980s: Why Did Bond Sit In The Directors’ Box?

It’s December 1980 and the City match programme’s letters page contained this letter about new City boss John Bond. Back then many managers would prefer to sit in the directors’ box at games as it would give them a good view and John Bond chose to do that for many games during his opening months as manager (often throughout his actual time at City to be fair). It wasn’t so unusual but this fan wanted to understand why and wrote to the City programme looking for an answer.

It’s actually the sort of question that would seem more appropriate today as few managers ever really spend time in the directors’ box. I certainly wouldn’t expect Pep to sit up there on a regular basis.

Just one of the many things that has changed over the decades. The letter writer claimed that Malcolm Allison never sat in the directors’ box – that’s not true. There are plenty of occasions in the 60s & 70s when Allison sat up there.

You can find out more on the 1980s, John Bond (including a fairly frank audio interview I did with him years ago) and City elsewhere on this website. Subscribers get access to a lot of extra content. To subscribe see the following:

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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.

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MCFC V Fluminense Tonight

At 6pm today Manchester City will take on Brazilian side Fluminense in the FIFA Club World Cup final. The connections between MCFC & Fluminense go back over a century. Did you know that City played a part in the early development of this mighty Brazilian club? One of City’s earliest goalkeepers, Charlie Williams, became regarded as Fluminense’s first true manager/coach. That’s a big deal and well worth remembering. 

A while ago Morten Olesen, a longstanding Danish Blue, wrote a lenghy guest blog on Williams and it’s still available free of charge here:

Charlie Williams – Morten Olesen Guest Blog

It’s well worth reading. At one point Olesen comments: ‘In 1911, almost 10 years after its founding, Fluminense was looking for their first coach. The choice had fallen on the now almost 40-year-old Charlie Williams, who was persuaded to take the job for a salary of £ 18 a month (well over £ 2000 in 2021 money) two return trips to England, as well as free board and lodging.’

If you use any of this material please ensure you credit Morten for his research.

Have a read of the article and then search the site for anything else you’re interested in. In fact why not subscribe? For details see:

How To Subscribe

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.

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£5.00
£7.50

Or enter a custom amount

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Your contribution is appreciated.

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MCFC V Fluminense on Friday

At 6pm on Friday Manchester City will take on Brazilian side Fluminense in the FIFA Club World Cup final. Fluminense are a team that we never dreamed City would meet in a truly competitive game and it’s caused some to ask whether there’s any connection between the clubs. Well, yes, there is and it’s a major one. One of City’s earliest goalkeepers, Charlie Williams, became regarded as Fluminense’s first true manager/coach. That’s a big deal and well worth remembering. 

A while ago Morten Olesen, a longstanding Danish Blue, wrote a lenghy guest blog on Williams and it’s still available free of charge here:

Charlie Williams – Morten Olesen Guest Blog

It’s well worth reading. At one point Olesen comments: ‘In 1911, almost 10 years after its founding, Fluminense was looking for their first coach. The choice had fallen on the now almost 40-year-old Charlie Williams, who was persuaded to take the job for a salary of £ 18 a month (well over £ 2000 in 2021 money) two return trips to England, as well as free board and lodging.’

It’s interesting that over the last 24 hours or so there’s been an awful lot of traffic to Olesen’s guest blog, so it does show that people are desperate to find out about MCFC and Fluminense connections. If you use any of this material please ensure you credit Morten for his research.

Have a read of the article and then search the site for anything else you’re interested in. In fact why not subscribe? For details see:

How To Subscribe

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.

Choose an amount

£2.50
£5.00
£7.50

Or enter a custom amount

£

Your contribution is appreciated.

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Manchester Corinthians Book Latest

The research and writing for the authorised history of the Manchester Corinthians is continuing. I’ve spent much of the last few months traveling the country continuing to interview former players and visiting archives. The book will be out next year and we’ll be announcing some further news on it soon, including the opportunity for people to subscribe to the book.

As well as the interviews and archive trips there’s been a concerted effort to compile as comprehensive list as possible on women who played for the club. There’s still some way to go but so far I’ve managed to compile a list of over 260 women who played for the club. Objects and trophies have also been rediscovered. This is the type of detailed research I enjoy. It’s time consuming, difficult and often frustrating but occasionally you find a little gem that adds significantly to our knowledge. There have been a few of those and hopefully more to come.

Obviously, I’m still keen to hear from any former player who can add their voices to the history of the club. Please email Gary@GJFootballArchive.com with your name, rough dates you played and contact details.

The cover of the book will be worked on by the designer over the coming months but following feedback from former players the maroon has been replaced with a darker blue, more reminiscent of the colour most frequently worn by the Corinthians (based on the reports, programmes and other material found so far and the majority of comments from players). This may still change of course (‘The Authorised History’ will probably change colour too). The back will contain later images and wording.

If anyone is wondering about the size and scale of the book, it will be similar in style to the Manchester City Women book I produced a few years back.

Forward as Goalkeeper for 3/4 of Game v Chelsea

I love this cutting showing Manchester City striker Eric Brook in nets, deputising for the Blues’ injured keeper. It looks like Brook had a bandana on his head here too! The photo was taken on this day (December 17) in 1932 when the Blues faced Chelsea.

You can read the match report here. City were losing 1-0 when Nicholas was injured 15 minutes into the match and the scoreline became even more convincing as the game progressed. However this report (from a London edition of a national newspaper) states that City were the better team in both halves.