Category Archives: Free

The Death of a City Player

On this day (30 October) in 1916 the death of Manchester City defender Pat McGuire was reported in the Manchester Evening News (image) and the Athletic News. McGuire’s story is a tragic one as he was killed in battle but his wife had previously been told of his death several months earlier. Understandably there was a lot of confusion on the battle field but imagine being told your husband had been killed and then a short while later told he’s alive and then only a few weeks after that being told for the second time that he has been killed.

The report in the Athletic News read:

‘It was with very deep regret that news was received at Grimsby on Saturday of the death in action in France of Lance-Corporal P. M’Guire [sic], of the Manchester Regiment, the brilliant young full-back of the Manchester City club, who played for Grimsby Town throughout last season. Last winter he played better football than at any period of his career, and Grimsby regarded him as the best defender who had worn their livery for a decade. He was clear-headed, resourceful, and a master of defensive tactics. Now he has given his life in the greatest of all causes. That something had befallen him had been feared for three weeks past, as Mr. Hickson did not receive any acknowledgement of the letters and parcels of comfort which he and his wife make a practice of dispatching regularly to the “boys” at the front. On Saturday came the sad official news that M’Guire was no more.‘

McGuire joined City from Hurst on 18 Aug 1912 and made his debut v Chelsea (a) 1.3.1913

Former City historian John Maddocks wrote this about him:

Pat McGuire was a full-back who was used mainly as an understudy to the regular backs in the years immediately before WW1, Bill Henry and Eli Fletcher, and as these two were consistent players Pat rarely got a look in. He joined the armed forces for the duration and guested for Grimsby Town, making 31 appearances and scoring six goals. Sadly he was killed in action in October 1916.

Appearances: 15 in the League (plus at least 85 in the reserves)

The story is an incredible one and the following website tells it much better than I can here:

Patrick McGuire

Dorsett Scores at Arsenal

Manchester City won 1-0 away at Arsenal thanks to a goal from Joe Dorsett on this day (29 October) in 1910. This photo is from that game and shows the City ‘keeper Walter Smith battling an Arsenal attacker for the ball.

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‘Play Fair’ Liverpool!

This game was at Hyde Road and on this image is a ‘palpable foul’ from a Manchester City player against Liverpool but the caption says ‘Cries of “Play fair” were frequent.’ As this was a home game for City it feels like the City fans would have been making those noises as few Liverpool fans travelled back then to this game. Liverpool won the match 1-0 on 28 October 1905. Did they play fair though?

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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Dortmund Draw

On this day (25 October) last year a hard-fought draw with Dortmund ensured Manchester City were Group G winners, qualifying for the knockout stages of teh Champions League with a game to spare. A crowd of 81,000 watched this goalless game. Highlights below:

https://www.mancity.com/citytv/mens/borussia-dortmund-manchester-city-highlights-63802321

City went on to win the Champions League that season of course! There are plenty of articles on here about the 2023 Champions League such as:

From Istanbul to Istanbul

Corinthians on TV Again and Book News

There’s going to be a book on the Manchester Corinthians and yet another TV appearance…

Firstly, the TV appearance: Anne Grimes, Jan Lyons, Margaret Shepherd and Margaret Whitworth will be on Steph’s Packed Lunch tomorrow (25 October 2023) to talk about the Corinthians and their achievements over the decades. Well worth watching if you can.

Next, I’m delighted to formally announce that I will be bringing out a history of the Corinthians. I’ve known some of the Corinthians for over 35 years and work on the book has been ongoing for some time. I first formally interviewed a few Corinthians about their playing careers back in 2016 and have been interviewing others in the years that have followed. The book will be a similar size and scale to my Manchester City Women: An Oral History book. It will be written in a similar format with the voices of the women who played (and the other people involved) telling the story of the club. It will be their words, telling their story as with the City Women book.

I’m still interested in interviewing other Corinthians and also finding other material, so if you played or know someone who did then ask them to get in touch. Similarly, if you’ve got photos or other material I’d be keen to see it.

Thanks to all who have been in touch and supported this project so far. The cover has been posted here – please note this is a draft. The colours and cover photo may change yet.

Manchester Corinthians Book Draft Cover

Manchester City Challenge FA

This is an interesting article. It’s an article written by a Manchester City official challenging the authority/interference of the FA and basically saying that the FA is antiquated and governs football poorly. This is well worth reading in its entirety. It was written in 1900 and I can’t help thinking that this may have added to the negativity in which City was viewed by FA officials at the time. In the years that followed, of course, the FA took every opportunity possible to challenge and investigate City even when other, FA favoured, clubs were guilty themselves.

I guess there are parallels with today. I won’t go into detail but have a read of it all and see what you think. This criticism was published in the MCFC match programme and therefore was the official word of the club at the time. No wonder the FA wanted to curb City’s development!

Bobby Charlton

There have been many wonderful tributes and there are definitely people who can talk better than I can about the great Bobby Charlton. However, I do want to mark this sad time with a brief story about him which I think shows the character of the man. It’s a personal story from 30 years ago.

Back in November 1993 we were preparing for the book launch of my biography of Joe Mercer, which was to take place at the start of December. As well as those that had been interviewed for the book, such as Colin Bell, Tom Finney, Francis Lee etc. Norah Mercer asked me if she could invite a few others. Obviously she could but I didn’t know who she was inviting. I just left it to her.

About a week before the launch I received a phone call at home. I answered it and the voice on the other end said: ‘Hello Gary. It’s Bobby Charlton here. I’ve just spoken with Norah Mercer and told her I can’t make it to your book launch because I’ll be in Kuala Lumpur. She said I should let you know. Sorry I can’t make it. Is that okay? I really am sorry and would be there if I could.’

I was absolutely stunned. Bobby really didn’t need to phone either of us but he certainly didn’t need to call me. He was so polite and apologetic too. It was appreciated and added to the high esteem that I already held him in.

Often it’s the simplest of things that make the biggest impression. There were several people who had been invited who didn’t come to the launch and hadn’t let us know – I don’t expect everyone to be interested or to call – so when Bobby took the time and trouble to phone us both it really was something I treasured (and still do).

I did meet him a few times in the years that followed but it’s the 1993 phone call that remains my strongest non-footballing memory of Bobby.

Without doubt Bobby was a wonderful England international and a major global footballing figure. He was also a wonderful ambassador for Manchester (the reason he was going to Kuala Lumpur too) but most significantly he was a humble, nice man.

Nice Old Team Photo

Here’s a team photo of Manchester City, taken at Hyde Road, in 1900. It’s a typical squad pose in front of the old Hyde Road main stand which was destroyed by fire twenty years later. Notice the way the wooden wall of the stand was painted in City blue and white. People often talk about Hyde Road as if it was this dull, dismal ground but the stand here had only been erected a few years earlier and Joshua Parlby, Lawrence Furniss and the others behind the club made sure it was frequently painted blue and white (plus green) wherever possible.

Over the following twenty years City continued to invest in the ground but the site restricted the club’s growth and 40,000 crowds could not be accommodated particularly well. Often gates would be closed some way off capacity under the orders of the local police who tried to keep crowds back. Bennett Street and even Hyde Road itself were often overcrowded with fans hoping to get in.

There’s lots more on here about Hyde Road and City’s other grounds. Do a few searches and see what you find. Some is only for subscribers but much is available freely. It takes a lot of time, effort and money to research Manchester’s football history so if you want to support this work and get something back then please subscribe. Thanks.

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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A Year Ago Today: An ‘Er-Ling, Erling Haaland’ Chant That Didn’t Take Off!

A year ago today (22 October) lifelong City fan Bobby Ward was in touch with a video he’d caught during City’s home game v Brighton of fans chanting a new Erling Haaland chant. Here’s the video (look out for the actions):

https://gjfootballarchive.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/img_4796-1.mov

The words, if you can’t work them out, are:

What shall we do with a big Norwegian, What shall we do with a big Norwegian, Can’t stop him from scoring, Erling, Erling Haaland, Erling, Erling Haaland…

The game v Brighton on 22 October 2022 ended in a 3-1 City win with Haaland scoring twice.

I’m always keen on the development of football chants, so if you’re one of the guys who started this please get in touch with your story of the chant, the actions and so on. I’d be happy to say more about it here. You guys were certainly persistent.

We Never Win At Home & We Never Win Away, We Lost Last Week….

But City did not lose on this day (21 October) in 1987! Why was this remarkable? It was the first time Manchester City had won away from home in over a year. In fact the Blues had gone 34 away League games without victory.

I remember it well and was at Bradford that night when City won 4-2. At the time the buzz amongst those of us who travelled away was ‘will today be the day’ and it got that way that you felt you couldn’t miss an away game. I’m convinced numbers going to away games increased game after game as we were keen to be there on the day we finally found a win.

Throughout this long, long run without an away win the song ‘We never win at home and we never win away…’ seemed to become our anthem. It belted out game after game and, in some ways, was our release from the disappointment of another defeat or draw. The song had begun in the late 1970s (I’ve done quite a bit of research on this and should write it all up one day) but it was the 1980s, in particular the relegation season of 1986-87, when it became a regular chant, game after game. Usually reserved for when City conceded or were losing it was given more opportunities to be sung during that period than ever before.

It faded during the late 1980s and early 1990s, especially when City finished fifth two seasons running, but reappeared later in the 90s when Alan Ball’s management (and everything that followed) brought misery City’s way.

We all got a bit nervy against Bradford, especially when our 2 goal lead disappeared, but we won 4-2 and you can see how giddy those of us behind the nets were in these highlights of the goals. We were stood behind the goals to the right of the camera (the commentator makes a couple of errors but the film should give you a feel for the night):