Football writing, thoughts and more by Gary James
A few months back I started writing a series of articles on football in the Manchester region for the Manchester Confidential website. If you’ve missed the and are interested here are links to them:
Oldham:
https://confidentials.com/manchester/oldhams-green-shoots
Rochdale:
https://confidentials.com/manchester/dale-drop?id=641c3189d2891
City:
United:
There will be a new article each month.
The FA Cup helped establish Manchester’s footballing identity – more on that in a minute. On this day in 1948 Manchester United appeared at Wembley for the first time to win the FA Cup. Manchester’s 1st FAC success came in 1904 (City). Before 1948 the Blues had appeared in 3 Wembley finals. Utd’s 1948 success meant 2 FA Cups each.
More on 1904 here:
United beat Blackpool 4-2 in the 1948 final wearing blue.
The closest Manchester City and Manchester United have got to playing each other in a Wembley FA Cup final were FA Cup semi finals in 1926 and 2011. I wasn’t around in 1926 but I definitely was in 2011. So a couple of years ago I made this special audio recording talking about the years building up to the semi and the day itself.
Restored 2011: The All-Manchester FA Cup Semi Final is a special 1 hour audio recording looks at the game and the years between the 1976 League Cup success and the FA Cup glory of 2011. The 2011 semi-final was a crucial step in City’s journey since the 2008 takeover and I felt it was vital to do a special marking this.
So what’s in this special recording? Well, I’ve included exclusive material from interviews and recordings I’ve done over the years with Garry Cook, Brian Marwood, Roberto Mancini, Peter Barnes and Peter Swales. Why Swales? Well, have a listen and you’ll hear why. Basically though I’m trying to set the tone for why the 2011 FA Cup semi final victory and overcoming Manchester United was so significant.
On Mancini… I include a few words from him recorded in 2011 and at one point he talks about the view that was then being expressed that City were ‘trying’ to buy success (now they say City ‘have’ bought success!). His words are a reminder that City have been having that particular criticism thrown at them for over a decade! Oh well, I wonder how long those criticisms were laid at other clubs who had seen major investment which propelled them forward?
Anyway, get yourself a brew and be prepared to be transported back in time. Here’s the recording:
If you enjoy the recording then please let me know, comment or subscribe to the site. I’ve produced videos/talks like this highlighting key points in Manchester City’s footballing history which subscribers can watch.
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £20 a year to subscribe (it works out £1.67 a month) or £3 if you’d like to sign up a month at a time. Annual subscribers get full access for as long as you subscribe (you can always try it for a month). It’s worth bearing in mind that the 2010 Manchester A Football History cost £24.95 and all subscribers will be able to access all of that for as long as they are a subscriber (plus all the other stuff of course).
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Match Stats for the 2011 FA Cup Semi-final
City 1-0 United (HT 0-0)
Yaya Toure 52
City: 25 Hart 04 Kompany (yellow card), 05 Zabaleta (yellow card), 13 Kolarov, 19 Lescott, 11 Johnson (Wright-Phillips 79), 18 Barry, 21 Silva (Vieira 86), 34 De Jong (yellow card), 42 Y Toure, 45 Balotelli (yellow card). Substitutes 12 Taylor, 38 Boyata, 07 Milner, 08 Wright-Phillips, 24 Vieira, 10 Dzeko, 27 Jo
United: 01 Van der Sar, 03 Evra, 05 Ferdinand, 15 Vidic, 22 O’Shea (Fabio Da Silva 84), 13 Park Ji-Sung, 16 Carrick, 17 Nani, 18 Scholes (red card), 25 Valencia (Hernandez 65), 09 Berbatov (Anderson 74). Substitutes 29 Kuszczak, 12 Smalling, 20 Fabio Da Silva, 08 Anderson, 28 Gibson, 07 Owen, 14 Hernandez
Referee: Dean
Attendance: 86,549
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DonateOn this day (24 April) in 2010 Gunnar Nielsen became the first Faroe Islander to play in the Premier League. The goalkeeper came on for the injured Shay Given in the 76th minute and kept a clean sheet as City drew 0-0 at Arsenal, watched by a crowd of 60,086.
You can watch highlights here:
https://www.mancity.com/citytv/match-highlights/2010/april/arsenal-away-full-highlights
On this day (23 April) in 1991 a marvellous 5-1 win at Villa Park for Manchester City saw David White become the first City player since the war to score four in an away game. You can watch highlights here:
In the build up to the FA Cup semi final this weekend why not have a listen to my special 1 hour audio recording commemorating an earlier important FA Cup semi final?
This audio recording was made to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Manchester City’s FA Cup semi final victory over Manchester United at Wembley (April 16 2011). It looks at the years between the 1976 League Cup success and the FA Cup glory of 2011. The 2011 semi-final was a crucial step in City’s journey since the 2008 takeover and I felt it was vital to do a special marking this.
So what’s in this special recording? Well, I’ve included exclusive material from interviews and recordings I’ve done over the years with Garry Cook, Brian Marwood, Roberto Mancini, Peter Barnes and Peter Swales. Why Swales? Well, have a listen and you’ll hear why. Basically though I’m trying to set the tone for why the 2011 FA Cup semi final victory was so significant.
On Mancini… I include a few words from him recorded in 2011 and at one point he talks about the view that was then being expressed that City were ‘trying’ to buy success (now they say City ‘have’ bought success!). His words are a reminder that City have been having that particular criticism thrown at them for well over a decade!
Anyway, get yourself a brew and be prepared to be transported back in time. Here’s the recording:
If you enjoy the recording then please let me know, comment or subscribe to the site. Subscribers get access to videos of talks I’ve done highlighting key points in Manchester City’s footballing history. It costs £20 a year to subscribe (it works out £1.67 a month) or £3 if you’d like to sign up a month at a time to get full access for as long as you subscribe (you can always try it for a month). It’s worth bearing in mind that the 2010 Manchester A Football History cost £24.95 and that, together with my first book published in 1989 are free to download for all annual subscribers. You can subscribe below. If you don’t fancy subscribing but do want to support this site, my research or have enjoyed the audio recording then why not donate? See below. Thanks.
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DonateOn this day (21 April) in 2002 Manchester City defeated Portsmouth 3-1 to record their 31st League win of the season. At the time this was a new record for the club and also marked the 19th home League win of the season (which equalled the record established in 1920-21).
Since 2002 the most wins record has been beaten and it currently stands at 32 which was achieved both in 2017–18 and 2018–19. This is a national record too and was achieved in a 38 game League season. A remarkable achievement.
Subscribers can read more on the City-Portsmouth game of 2002 below:
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On this day (19 April) in 1983 Neil Warnock managed Burton Albion to Northern Premier League’s Challenge Cup success at Maine Road. His team defeated Macclesfield Town 2-1 before 2,538 in the final at neutral Maine Rd.
Fifty years ago today (18 April 1973) City defeated Newcastle 2-0 with goals from Tommy Booth (a header) and a brilliant effort from Rodney Marsh (in 69th minute). City’s boss at the time was Johnny Hart. You can read his frank views (from an interview I did with him several years ago) here:
On this day (17 April) in 1888 the first meeting of the Football League was held in Manchester. The following report names the clubs accepted and the others who wanted to join the League. It has often been written in Manchester United related books that Newton Heath applied to join the League in 1888 but didn’t receive enough votes to be accepted. That is completely untrue as no one actually had to apply nor was a vote taken. Clubs were asked and some tried to push to get included but Newton Heath were neither asked nor were they pushing for acceptance either. Nor were Ardwick or Manchester Asoociation who, to be frank would’ve been the most famous Manchester club at this time.
Bolton Wanderers were the only team from present day Greater Manchester to be asked/selected for the first League season.
The plaque is positioned on the corner of Mosley Street and Market Street/Piccadilly in Manchester.
Gary James' Football Archive 