Football writing, thoughts and more by Gary James
On this day (24 November) in 2007 Martin Petrov (11 mins) and Stephen Ireland gave Manchester City a 2-1 victory over Reading. Ireland’s goal came in the last minute of the game. You can see highlights of the game here:
You can read other articles about this era and these players elsewhere on the site. Why not start with this:
Or this?
On this day (23 November) in 1957 Manchester City goalkeeper Steve Fleet made his debut in a 4-3 defeat by League leaders Wolves. I’ve met and interviewed Steve often over the years and here’s a 2,500 interview I did with him where he talks about the circumstances around his debut, the game (it was an extraordinary match) and the rest of his career. I’ve also included a match report. Enjoy!
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On this day (22 November) in 1969 Manchester City and Arsenal drew 1-1 before a Highbury crowd of 42,923. The goals were scored by Ian Bowyer (City) and Terry Neill (penalty for Arsenal). However, there was major controversy when the referee appeared to book Arsenal’s much-loved Charlie George. Have a read of this article and see what you think. How would the modern day VAR world have coped with this?
You can read a 3,000 word interview I performed with Ian Bowyer here:
https://gjfootballarchive.com/2022/10/25/in-search-of-the-blues-ian-bowyer/
On this day (20 November) in 2004 goals from Wright-Phillips, Sibierski & Bosvelt gave Manchester City a 3-1 victory at Portsmouth. You can watch highlights here (City are in white):
On this day (19 November) in 1988 Paul ‘Goalden’ Moulden scored the only goal of Manchester City’s win at Bournemouth in Division Two. Subscribers can read an interview I performed with Paul here:
On this day (18 November) in 2006 two goals from Corradi (12th & 32nd mins) and Barton (45th min) helped Manchester City to a 3-1 victory over Fulham. The first Corradi goal was his first for the club and resulted in him celebrating by going over to the South Stand corner, picking up the corner flag and knighting the other players as you can see in this video clip:
On this day (17 November) in 1915 former Manchester City, Oldham Athletic and Hyde forward Frank Hesham was killed in action in Belgium (often reported as northern France at the time of his death). The Gorton born player was on City’s books for 5 years during the late 1890s. Here’s a profile of his life and career:
Frank Hesham began his football career at St Francis (the well-known Catholic monastery and related school in Gorton) before joining City in November 1896. He made his debut at Newcastle United in February 1897. Sadly, the game ended in a 3-0 defeat and Hesham was unable to establish himself in the team.
In total he only made three first team appearances for the Blues and one reserve game over a period of about five years.
Brief spells at Crewe and Accrington followed before he signed for Stoke in May 1904. 17 Stoke appearances followed before he moved to Leyton Orient, returning north to join Oldham in August 1907.
He made his Oldham debut in a 3-0 victory over Hull City on 28 September 1907 and it finally looked as if he’d found the right club. He stayed at Boundary Park for a couple of years, playing 29 first team games before joining Preston North End in 1909.
The move to Preston was not a success and two months later he joined Croydon Common in the Southern League where he scored 27 in 55 appearances. Another return north came – he clearly had reasons for wanting to alternate between southern and northern clubs so frequently which have yet to be identified – and he joined Hyde.
Hesham also played for Newton Heath Albion but was working as a clerk in Manchester when war broke out.
The following details of his military service and death are from the website: https://www.footballandthefirstworldwar.org
First World War Service
Gunner 53546 Hesham, who had pre-war service with the 4th Volunteer Battalion of the Manchester Regiment (time-served), enlisted in the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) on 18 November 1914 and was subsequently sent for basic training. After leaving Number 2 Depot, Gosport, Gnr Hesham was posted to 21 Siege Battery RGA and landed in the French port of Boulogne on 25 May 1915. On 29 September 1915, Hesham was granted short leave before returning to his unit on 3 October 1915 – just two weeks before the Second Battle of Ypres. On 17 November 1915, Gnr Hesham was killed in action and subsequently buried at La Clytte Military Cemetery, located 8km south-west of Ypres. He left a widow and a 14 year-old son who lived in Longsight, Manchester.
On this day (16 November) in 1991 the Manchester derby ended goalless at Maine Road but so many, many chances went City’s way! It was a frustrating draw for the Blues and came at a time when neither side had won the League since the 1960s (City in 1967-68 if you want to know). It was felt that momentum was building at Maine Road. This is one of those periods when football history could’ve gone in a different direction.
There was pressure on United boss Alex Ferguson. He had brought the ECWC and FA Cup to United by this time but it was the League that the club craved. City had ended 1990-91 in fifth place and United were 6th. Had City had a bit of fortune around this time they may well have found some success.
Arsenal had won the League in 1991 but no team dominated the League year after year. The birth of the Premier League was coming (1992) and the new riches that came with that meant that the teams that did find League success from then on could potentially dominate in a way no club had before. With United’s title success in 1992-93, United and Arsenal became the two clubs that benefited most from the riches of the Premier League. That created a gap that only strong investment could bridge.
Ah well! Money and football is nothing new. Anyway, here are a few highlights of the derby:
On this day (14 November) in 1959 Manchester City’s record appearance holder Alan Oakes made the first of 564 League appearances. The game ended in a 1-1 draw with Chelsea with the away team missing a penalty. Jack Dyson returned to the City team after two years out with a damaged leg. Here’s a contemporary match report from the game:
There are lots of other features on my website about Alan Oakes, why not have a read while you’re here?
In 2017 the first International Football History Conference was staged with delegates from across the globe presenting and listening to talks by a variety of academics, writers, researchers and students. This has become an annual event, only paused bu Covid, and it returns on Friday this week. The conference is open to presentations on football of all codes.
There are presentations on a variety of topics. Here’s this year’s schedule:
You can book your place at the conference via this link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/international-football-history-conference-18-19-november-2022-at-manchester-tickets-397198690977?lang=en-gb&locale=en_GB&status=30&view=listing
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