Category Archives: Free

Maine Road 100 – Day 56

Day 56 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game is a simple reminder of the days when local newspapers would highlight faces in the crowd and offer cash prizes to those ringed, squared or triangled. The top row of photos here are from the Manchester City v Arsenal game at Maine Road of February 1935 and the bottom row is from Mossley v Wigan Athletic. Oddly, a bloke who looks uncannily like my granddad appears triangled in the bottom right. He’d have been about 20 when this photo was taken, so it can’t be him as he looks as he did in the 70s but they had it tough in those days! This is my granddad back in early 70s (I think it was 70s; could have been late 60s).

And the man I’m talking about…

Fans at MCFC v Arsenal and Mossley v Wigan, February 1935

Anyone worked out why the City-Arsenal game of February 1935 is still regularly referred to these days? This might help:

Manchester City’s Record League Crowd
Fans at MCFC v Arsenal and Mossley v Wigan, February 1935

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:

Farewell To Maine Road – Part One

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.

Donate
How To Subscribe

Maine Road 100 – Day 55

Day 55 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game is a follow on from one from a few days ago. I posted a 1994 plan of what might have been in terms of Maine Road’s development and here’s more on that plan.

This image is of how the entire stadium was supposed to look. To explain the colour image looks towards the stadium from above the Kippax car park. The North Stand is on the right and the Platt Lane on the left. The black and white image is from the other side of the ground, looking towards the Kippax from the Main Stand.

1990s Maine Rd redevelopment plans as seen in Farewell To Maine Road

You can see from the black and white image that the plan was to replicate the general look of the new Kippax (being planned at this stage – this was January 1994 and the old Kippax was still standing) around the ground. The North Stand was to have a second tier added and hospitality boxes between the levels, like the new Kippax. The Platt Lane was to have a second tier added above the two lines of existing hospitality boxes.

The Main Stand would have part of the seating chopped away and a new second tier added.

To facilitate all of this some houses were to be bought and demolished on the streets immediately behind the North Stand and the Kippax/Platt Lane corner.

The new Kippax was the first phase of the development but Manchester’s bids for the Olympics changed thinking. Couple that with relegation in 1996 and the wholesale redevelopment of Maine Road was postponed after the Kippax opened and then dropped completely.

As mentioned previously, Lee’s plans would have seen the new Kippax followed by a phased development of each of the other three stands. These images might give an indication of how it would have progressed.

This 1971 aerial image shows the proximity of the housing on Thornton Road (bottom left, near number 6) and behind the North Stand (number 10). They were planned to be demolished in Lee’s 1994 plan.

Maine Road aerial 1971 from Farewell To 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:

Farewell To Maine Road – Part One

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.

Donate
How To Subscribe

Maine Road 100 – Day 54

The 54th post in my series counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game is a simple reminder of City fans and players paying their respects. The main image is from the game with Liverpool at the end of the 1995-96 season. That day City fans and the players paid tribute to former chairman Peter Swales. We all knew it would be respected even though many fans had not forgiven Swales for how he and his supporting directros had transformed the club from a major, profitable European trophy winning club into one that was struggling financially and out of touch with its traditional rivals.

There have been many minute’s silences, or two minutes in many cases going back, at Maine Road. This image is from the two minutes silence for King George V in January 1936. That day City faced Luton. Note: back then we did not cancel games the weekend after a monarch’s death.

Here are two photos of King George V in happier times when he visited Hyde Road in 1920:

King George V at Hyde Road in 1920
The King with the Mayor in Hyde Road’s ‘Royal Box’. Notice Lawrence Furniss stood, behind the King. Furniss was a major figure from the 1880s to the 1940s at City.

Here’s an image from a film that Will McTaggart and I showed during our Boys In Blue film show. This was from a film profile of the Manchester City chairman Peter Swales.

You can use this 1971 image to work out where the images of fans/players paying their respects were taken. The colour image of City v LFC was taken from the new Platt Lane Stand which was built where numbers 4 & 5 are. I was sat in the stand that day, looking towards the North Stand (10). The King George V silence sees the players lined up in front of the players tunnel (1) with the camera on the pitch looking towards that tunnel.

Maine Road aerial 1971 from Farewell To 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:

Farewell To Maine Road – Part One

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.

Donate
How To Subscribe

Live Podcast Tonight at 7pm (UK Time)

I’ve been asked to do a Q&A style chat live tonight on the 93:20 podcast at 7pm. You can listen here:

Andy Savage, who is interviewing me, says: ‘Tonight at 7pm we will be live with @GaryJamesWriter to chat about anything @ManCity and the history of our great club. Join us and you’ll be able to ask questions via the chat. I’m looking forward to this.’ So am I. Come and join us.

Maine Road 100 – Day 53

The 53rd post in my series counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game remembers the banana craze.

I’ve written a lot on the banana craze over the years and, like many other areas of football, there are already some myths that have developed. You can read about the craze here:

Bananarama – The Inflatables Craze

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:

Farewell To Maine Road – Part One

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.

Donate
How To Subscribe

Maine Road 100 – Day 52

The 52nd post in my series counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game takes a look at the CITY F.C. flag that proudly flew above the Popular Side (Kippax) for decades.

There had been a CITY F.C. flag at Hyde Road and it may well be that this was the same flag. It was often referred to in the media during its life at Maine Road, such as in this 1925 cartoon:

The first derby at Maine Road
The City flag flying at Maine Road’s first Manchester derby

The flag flew proudly over the Popular Side until the stand was roofed in 1957. Then the flag was moved to the Scoreboard End, eventually disappearing in the 1960s when rumour has it that it was taken down by Liverpool fans. I’m not certain if that’s true and I’ve never found any evidence but if you do know more please let me know.

I do know that in the 1930s a disgruntled City fan lowered it during a difficult game and it caused outrage. It was mentioned in the local press and the culprit had to make a formal apology to the club and his fellow City fans.

This 1971 image shows the roofed Kippax Stand. The flag was originally on a flag pole roughly where the number 7 is in the days before the stand had a roof. When the Kippax was roofed it was moved to the back of the Scoreboard End. The North Stand (10) replaced the Scoreboard End in the early 1970s.

Maine Road aerial 1971 from Farewell To 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:

Farewell To Maine Road – Part One

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.

Donate
How To Subscribe

Maine Road 100 – Day 51

It’s 51 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game and today I’m looking at the segregation fence in the old Kippax Stand.

On the main photo above you can see the segregation fence as it looked in the early 1990s. The gap between away fans and home fans had increased compared with the image below from the mid 1980s. The police used to patrol up and down this narrow pathway and on the image below you can see some police within that area.

Kippax Segregation mid 1980s

To help the police control the crowd a few simple platforms were constructed out of scaffolding. It all seems so primitive now but I guess clubs were reacting to increasing violence and needed quick solutions. The following was one of several platforms in the Kippax by the end of the 1980s.

Kippax Segregation police platform early 1990s

Before the segregation fence had an alleyway for the police to walk through there was one fence and scaffolding was erected next to it to separate the fans further (see next two images). Similarly this approach was used to widen the segregation fence at other times in later years.

Kippax Segregation early 1990s

The single fence with scaffolding to separate fans further (below).

Early Kippax Segregation

I explain a lot more about this area in Farewell To Maine Road. Formal segregation started in the mid 1970s but not for every game. By the end of the decade it was permanent and in place game after game.

This 1971 image shows the Kippax Stand and the segregation area was roughly where the number 8 is within the stand.

Maine Road aerial 1971 from Farewell To 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:

Farewell To Maine Road – Part One

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.

Donate
How To Subscribe

Maine Road 100 – Day 50

We’re half way through our countdown of 100 features for Maine Road’s centenary. For day 50 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game I’ve posted three photographs of the view down the same street. These are taken on Wansford Street and look towards Maine Road.

The oldest image (black and white) is from the early 1960s and shows the original floodlights, erected in 1953. The following is one I took in 2003, shortly before Maine Road’s final game, and the one below that is a Google image from this last year or so.

The view down Wansford Street towards Maine Road in 2003
The view down Wansford Street towards Maine Road around 2022

Here’s an aerial photo of the ground in 1995 with the North Stand on the left. Wansford Street can just be seen starting almost opposite the club houses to the left of the photo:

This 1971 image shows Wansford Street – it’s the first street to the right of and above the number 2, opposite the North Stand/club houses.

Maine Road aerial 1971 from Farewell To 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:

Farewell To Maine Road – Part One

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.

Donate
How To Subscribe

Maine Road 100 – Day 49

For day 49 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game I’ve posted this plan of what might have been. These were developed in January 1994 shortly after Francis Lee became chairman.

The Kippax needed to be replaced and the plans by former chairman Peter Swales and his supporting directors had been to bolt plastic seats on to the lower part of the original Kippax terracing with a reprofiled second tier behind. Lee ripped up those plans and within days had created a plan which would see the entire ground extended, not simply the building of a new Kippax.

The new Kippax was the first phase of that development but Manchester’s bids for the Olympics changed thinking. Couple that with relegation in 1996 and the wholesale redevelopment of Maine Road was postponed and then dropped completely.

Lee’s plans would have seen the new Kippax followed by a phased development of each of the other three stands. I haven’t got chance to work through every step here but these images might give an indication of how it would have progressed.


1990s Maine Rd redevelopment plans as seen in Farewell To Maine Road

Here’s an aerial photo of the ground in 1995 with the Kippax nearing completion:

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:

Farewell To Maine Road – Part One

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.

Donate
How To Subscribe

Maine Road 100 – Day 48

For day 48 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game I’ve posted this aerial photo from 1925. People often talk about Maine Road being surrounded by tightly packed housing and it was but there was also quite a bit of green too, as this image shows.

Additional housing was erected in the area towards the top in the years that followed. In fact I think the entire estate was being built at the time this photo was being taken.

Maine Road is of course in the top right of this image. Notice also the sports ground at the top right corner of Platt Fields Park. This had a number of uses over the years and I think it was a police ground at this time. It later became City’s Platt Lane training ground of course.

1925 Aerial photo of Maine Road and Platt Fields Park

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:

Farewell To Maine Road – Part One

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.

Donate
How To Subscribe