It’s worth comparing this image from recent years, showing the housing and school now built on Maine Road, with this 1940s image of the Maine Road site. The boundary lines are visible, demonstrating how the site changed usage.
This 1971 aerial image shows the stadium from another angle, looking west.
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:
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.
On Saturday August 2 between 4pm and 5.30pm I’ll be hosting a special free event at the Hebden Bridge Picture House. I’ll be talking about the Manchester Corinthians; we’ll show a short film about them and then we’ll welcome some of these pioneering women footballers on to the stage to discuss their experiences in the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s (when they toured the world playing football in some extraordinary places while also playing a major part in structuring women’s football pre and post the FA ban). There’ll also be the opportunity for an audience Q&A.
I’ll be raising funds for the Hebden Bridge Women’s Walking Football team too via sales of Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History (the book will be available at the discounted price of £20 and £5 from every sale on the day will be given to the walking football team).
The event is free but tickets must be reserved. You can order yours here:
The evening promises to be a great event and follows one held in Hebden Bridge in 2021. Back then we announced the idea of erecting a blue plaque for the Corinthians which received great support from the audience that night. In the four years since we’ve not only managed to get a Blue Plaque and other tributes to them but we’ve also produced the book; staged a reunion and had numerous TV and radio appearances as we’ve tried to highlight the incredible story of these remarkable women.
Book your place at our event on 2 August and hear from the women themselves about their experiences.
The short film we’ll be showing was put together with interviews at the reunion event and was made by Imprint Films. It’s an emotionally wonderful tribute to these amazing footballers.
Margaret Whitworth with the Manchester Corinthians blue plaque
Back in the late 1960s there was a popular Manchester City chairman whose family had been involved with the club since the very beginning of the club. That was Albert Alexander. Here’s a profile I wrote in 2012 on him. It’s about 900 words long and is free to read. Enjoy!
Albert Alexander was the second generation of the Alexander family to play a prominent role in the development and history of Manchester City. His father, also Albert, had been involved with the Club from the 1890s and had held various positions including vice-chairman, and even manager for a spell in 1925-26.
Like his father, the younger Albert dedicated his life to the Blues. Inevitably, he spent most of his boyhood watching the Club develop and, as he grew, he became more involved with behind the scenes work at the Club’s first home Hyde Road. He was a member of the Ground Committee which performed crucial activities such as stewarding and ground maintenance.
Alexander also managed the Club’s A team and provided support in whatever way necessary to ensure the Blues succeeded. He was more than happy to work through the ranks and take on any duty necessary. His son Eric, who was Chairman in the early 1970s, remembers that his father had suffered during the First World War but that didn’t stop him from putting his energies into the Blues: “He was a very good footballer and cricketer but he was gassed in the Great War and had to give it up. It affected him throughout his life, although it’s fair to say he recovered enough to fulfil a happy normal life apart from playing of course.
“He took up golf, but his love for football was such that he started the ‘A’ team at City. He started it in 1921 and ran it through until 1963. He enjoyed working with the youngsters and developing them. He gained an awful lot of satisfaction from that, particularly when players like Matt Busby developed their skills and style as part of the ‘A’ team.”
Ultimately, after many years of loyal service Alexander became a City director. This came after the Blues became aware that Manchester United were hoping he would join their board. It is highly likely Alexander would have turned the Reds down, and it was appropriate that he became a director at Maine Road. It was an honour he deserved for years of dedication to the City cause.
While director he felt the passion all fans feel for the Blues and he also felt the pain and worries during the Club’s struggles in the early Sixties. He wanted better and, in 1965 as fans demonstrated following City’s lowest attended League game, he came out to face them and talk with them about his hopes and ambitions for the Club. He apologised for City’s appalling decline. It says much about his courage and the respect fans had for him that they dispersed. It is doubtful whether any other director would have been respected in this manner at such a low point.
Understandably, Alexander who was City’s Chairman by this point wanted to see his side successful and later that summer he appointed Joe Mercer as manager. It was a brave decision as Mercer had been out of work for a year and had suffered a stroke at Aston Villa. Other names, such as former City hero Peter Doherty and Liverpool manager Bill Shankly, had been expected to be appointed by the media, so this move could easily have been seen negatively.
Alexander guided City through the successful years of the Mercer-Allison period and was probably the first Chairman to be hugely popular with fans. Everyone seemed to love ‘Little Albert’ as Mercer dubbed him.
Many of City’s achievements during these years were dedicated to Alexander by Mercer, while journalist Bill Fryer commented in 1970: “He is highly revered in the game and by the public, and I have no doubt good deals have been done for City out of Albert’s friendships because in reality the whole of football is a ‘club’.”
Sadly, despite the Chairman’s popularity, his final years saw him suffer at the hands of the 1970 takeover battle. Alexander found out about the takeover when he received a knock on his door at breakfast one day. It was a complete shock to him.
The takeover destroyed much that was good about City at this point, including the Mercer-Allison partnership. However, it is rarely mentioned how the takeover affected Alexander, the man who had guided City with distinction through some dark days when no one else wanted to know. He had taken the Club from the lowest point it had experienced since joining the League, to a position of strength with trophies galore. Those bidding for control wanted the glory, Alexander’s motives were somewhat different – like all true fans he wanted City no matter what.
Alexander stood down as Chairman and was made Life President – an honour first given to Lawrence Furniss seven decades earlier, proving the significance of this recognition. Unfortunately, Alexander’s health was deteriorating by this point and he passed away soon after.
Manchester City owes a great deal to the dedication of Albert Alexander and the other members of his family. The Alexanders helped guide the Blues from the 1890s through to the reign of Peter Swales, and in some ways on via the continuing involvement of Eric Alexander (still a regular attendee until his death in 2019). Their contribution should never be forgotten.
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It’s 1941 and there are air raids across Manchester… Have a look at this map. What does it signify? Well, the map shows Manchester City’s Maine Road Stadium as it looked between 1931 and 1934, before the main part of the Platt Lane Stand was built (and after the corner was erected). But that’s not why I’ve posted it. I’ve posted it because of those pen circles that appear on it.
This is actually a Manchester City Council plan of buildings hit by bombs in the area immediately east of the Maine Road stadium. As you can see a house in Thornton Road was hit but none of the Maine Road stadium itself was hit in those January 1941 raids on Manchester. The stadium had a lucky escape but sadly many residents and Mancunians did not.
1941 Bomb damage near Maine Road
Here’s an aerial photo of Maine Road from 1971 to give a feel for the site. The Platt Lane corner is number 3 and Thornton Road is the street that backs on to Maine Road near number 6.
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:
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.
With Oasis back doing what they do best this week, it feels an appropriate time to re-release this… Back on Thursday May 20 2021 I interviewed Noel Gallagher about his support of Manchester City, Pep, Europe and more. It was great for two Mancs of a similar age to get together to chat about City. I really enjoyed it.
Thanks to Noel and the staff at his studios & office for making this happen.
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On this day (3 July) in 2016 the new Manchester City badge was officially launched at the Cityzens Weekend. It was also the formal official welcome for new manager Pep Guardiola. There was a surreal moment for me when I was asked to go on stage to be interviewed about the new badge.
I had been consulted by the club on the history of all of City’s badges, emblems and similar for about a year or so, and had performed a series of talks to fans throughout the consultation period.
This was the most detailed badge consultation had ever performed with fans at any club – sadly too many clubs impose a badge without listening to fans. Doing the talks as part of the consultation helped bring out the stories of each emblem and why it was significant – or not! Understanding why, for example, the red rose was introduced in 1972 following the takeover of the club by Joe Smith & Co. or how the 3 emblazoned lines had always been a part of City’s badge (apart from 1972 and the Swales years that followed) helped some determine what elements mattered most to them.
You can find out more about City’s badge history here:
In 2016 I was the warm up act for Pep so it’s a wonder anybody listened. It was a great, positive day for the club and for all of us there. The years since Pep’s arrival have been truly outstanding. We all had hope on this day in 2016 but who’d have thought it would have been as great as it has been?
The history of women’s football in Manchester deserves to be properly recorded. This week I’m presenting at the International Football History conference in Belfast on the teams and communities of women’s footballers that existed in Manchester during the 1950s. People often assume there’s either no women’s football in the city back then or there are one, maybe two teams. My research is identifying that there are many more teams than that and that the community of women playing football in Manchester during the 50s was significantly greater than most believe.
Over the last decade I’ve been interviewing women who played football in Manchester, or for Manchester based teams, during the 1940s to modern years. This includes Maureen Charlton, Dorothy Allcock and Flo Cloake (who played in the 1940s & 50s) and players like Steph Houghton, Karen Bardsley and Jill Scott (who of course played in more recent times). For me the stories of all are inspiring. Many women from Manchester, or based in Manchester, played prominent roles in football’s development during the 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond. Some who played decades ago are still contributing significantly today.
To date I’ve published two books and written many articles, chapters and features for a variety of publications on Manchester’s women’s teams. The latest of these is the book on the Manchester Corinthians. I’m absolutely delighted with this from Matt Williams, a longlist judge for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2025 award. He has posted the following video about the Manchester Corinthians book as his ‘What are we reading this week?’ post on social media. It really does please me and demonstrates why I’ve been so keen to get the Corinthians story out there.
For those interested Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History is a must for anyone interested in Manchester or women’s football and consists of 356 pages. Getting it into Manchester bookshops, particularly Waterstones, is proving difficult so if there’s anyone reading this who can help please get in touch. We can organise events if that helps?
Thanks to everyone who has helped so far to promote the Corinthians and their stories. But we need to bang the drum for all Manchester’s clubs, so please do all you can to spread the word.
I’ll let everyone know more about the other teams, the presentation at the conference and more later. For now… the Corinthians book is illustrated throughout and you can order it now for £25 (including UK postage and packaging). I’ll sign all copies ordered direct from me below.
If you live outside the UK then please contact for details of additional postage costs.
You do not need to have a PayPal account to order – use the ‘Pay with PayPal’ button above and it will give you the option to pay by credit/debit card without creating a PayPal account.
UK ONLY – Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History
The story of a pioneering women’s club as told to Gary James by those who were there. This will be published in late December 2024. This is UK only at £25 (incl UK postage and packaging). Outside UK contact for additional postage costs.
I’m delighted to say that my biographical piece on Colin Bell has been published by the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. The ODNB is a significant record of some of the most significant figures in the UK’s history. It’s a major honour to be included in that and it’s always a significant honour to be asked to write a biographical piece for them.
It’s behind a pay wall but if you do already subscribe to the ODNB or have access via a library/university then here’s the link:
My latest article on women’s football has been published. This one looks back to 1957 when a Manchester club (chosen by Bert Trautmann to play) represented England in a European Cup in Germany. The article has been posted by Manchester City. You can access it via this link:
Four years ago (Saturday May 29 2021) I attended the Champions League final in Porto. This was Manchester City’s first CL final. In the days that followed I wrote this article on that final and the experiences. I’m republishing it here as I wrote it then. Enjoy!
Despite the result (a 1-0 victory by Chelsea) it was a wonderful experience and so I’ve decided to post here my story of the weekend. I know every one of us who attended had a different experience but I hope this gives those who were unfortunately not able to be there a taste of what the trip was like.
Porto 2021 was always going to be a historical moment in the history of Manchester City but, because of Covid and the worldwide situation, it was one of the most challenging finals to stage, participate in and attend. All of us who travelled to Porto had to have numerous covid tests (and I have seen on the Bluemoon forum that some fans on various official and unofficial flights have received news that they need to isolate– I feel for anyone on there in this situation).
Fans travelling on the official day trip were told that if they took a Covid PCR test after 1pm on Thursday that should see them through for the journey out, stadium entry and return journey as a test had to be performed for each of these within 72 hours. I was flying out on Friday and returning on Sunday so initially I arranged for my PCR test to occur after 1pm with a company called Dam. At the time of booking they guaranteed that the result would be with me before midnight on the day of the test so that seemed fine but then, on the Bluemoon forum, fans were talking about a change in Dam’s level of service which meant results were no longer guaranteed that same day. Instead 24 hours was being stated by Dam, though when I discussed this with their helpline even the 24 hours could not be guaranteed. Panic followed!
I eventually moved my test to Wednesday afternoon and booked another via the Official Supporters Club offer with Blindspot which I intended dropping off at Bar Pop on Friday morning on my way to Manchester airport.
The Dam test came back on Thursday, meaning I could fly out, and I dropped off the second test at Bar Pop on my way to the airport. There were a few issues at Dam with the booking but eventually everything was sorted. The Supporters Club/Blindspot test and drop off went really well (though the Day 2 return test result has still not arrived – we’re on Day 5 at the moment) and I am grateful to those involved for sorting this all out. You did an excellent job at short notice and in a pressured environment. Thanks.
After leaving Bar Pop I travelled to the airport, making a detour to take a look at Maine Road and surrounding areas. Somehow it seemed appropriate that this journey to the most significant European final the club has ever been involved with should include a brief look at the site of so many wonderful moments over the decades. I saw my first European match at Maine Road (which also staged the first European Cup game ever played in England as well!) in the early 70s.
At the airport everything went smoothly and I was delighted when I realised that I would be flying out on the Etihad Manchester City plane. I had received an invitation from the club (for which I will be eternally grateful and I know how lucky I am) and to experience that flight, while seeking to chronicle this landmark historical moment, added enormously to the occasion. Thanks to those involved (you know who you are. Thanks).
The Manchester City Etihad plane
The flight included several former players, officials and key figures in the club’s development. Knowing City’s history, personalities, and key moments I recognise that it was no mean feat to have some of these on the same flight. It was remarkable that City remembered and acknowledged the contribution made by these people, which included Chris Bird, Garry Cook, Paul Dickov, Brian Horton, Francis Lee, Andy Morrison, Ian Niven, Dennis Tueart and Alex Williams. Others, including Pablo Zabaleta joined the group in Porto and stayed at the same hotel.
Once in Porto it was great to see so many City fans in and around the city, especially the historic area near the river. Over the weekend I bumped into several friends and faces from my City-supporting life including Jon Bell (Colin’s son), Howard Burr (and other Reddish Blues), Geoff Homer, Will Perry, John Stapleton, Kate Themen (one of the original Manchester City Women/Ladies players who played with my wife back in the late 80s and she was a drummer with The Fall), Dave Wallace, Steve Welch and of course lots of City staff.
On Friday night I was invited to a club event which saw most of the official party board boats at the riverside for a cruise. We had to walk through many crowds of Blues to board the boats and it was great to see and hear fans bursting into song whenever they saw Morrison, Dickov, Zabaleta and other members of the group.
The boats then dropped us off at a venue where City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak made a brilliant, heartfelt speech about his journey with Manchester City, recalling the moment he was asked by HH Sheikh Mansour to become chairman and his first day in Manchester when he was taken to Carrington, Platt Lane and the stadium. He talked with real passion for the club, its people and the fans. He recognised the history of the club and the journey that we’ve been on paying particular attention to some of the people who had helped along the way, including many of the officials and former officials in the room, as well as fans of course.
There was also a speech by CEO Ferran Soriano about the development of the City Football Group and a video was played about the Champions League journey over the last decade.
DJ Yoda put together an excellent mix of City related music, videos etc. including the recent footage of Pep and his cigar (if you don’t know what I mean do a few internet searches, it will soon appear). It was a definite highlight and something that added a bit of humour to the event too.
Saturday was of course match day. I spent some time in the City Fanzone, where I chatted to a few longstanding Blues I know, but also time around the city. Close to the bars at the historic centre there was a small group of local musicians going around playing City chants/songs such as ‘Singing the Blues’ and Blue Moon. Fans were joining in and it seemed quite bizarre hearing these musicians belt out most of the words to ‘Singing the Blues’, hoping to engage a few fans. A little later, as I wandered further down the river I spotted the same musicians doing similar with Chelsea chants/songs – you’ve got to admire their entrepreneurial skills! I can imagine them on the night the final was moved to Porto rushing to the internet to seek out MCFC & CFC songs. They must have made a few Euros from us all.
The entire atmosphere, as far as I could see and experienced, was positive with City and Chelsea fans enjoying being there. Personally, this was my first trip outside of England and Wales since November 2019 (when I talked at a film festival in St Gallen about the Bert Trautmann film I was a consultant on and then met up with a few Blues in Zurich). It was great to be outside of the UK and wonderful to finally get to see other human beings and to share an experience with fellow City fans.
I loved the way former players like Paul Dickov, Andy Morrison, Pablo Zabaleta and Shay Given were spotted by fans who, without fail, would burst into a chant or song about them. Some were mobbed too of course. At one point, I saw a group of fans opposite our hotel do an impromptu Poznan which I know was loved by the former players and staff who saw it.
Porto seemed like a fairly normal environment. Obviously, like all those attending I tried to ensure I kept to the usual social distancing rules and wore my face mask etc. but this was not always possible, especially when queuing to get into the stadium. I know others were on crowded buses too.
In comparison with the League Cup final at Wembley, it did feel as if UEFA had picked the wrong stadium. Looking around the venue it also made me realise how fantastic the Etihad Stadium is. We take it for granted but our facilities are considerably better than the majority of venues.
If we consider all the extra requirements placed on fans then UEFA definitely picked the wrong stadium and it seems so obvious, particularly with some of the stories coming from Chelsea and City fans about being told to isolate on their return, that the final should have been held in the UK.
The decision to stage the game at Porto was made exceptionally late and, because of this, both clubs were unable to prepare in the way they would have liked. I am aware from City personnel of the short notice they received about tickets, travel and so many other logistical areas. I can only admire the work they have done and the efforts they made to ensure they could get fans to the final and back again. Inevitably, there will be some who had issues (I’m aware of the delays to flight 12 which, from what I hear, has created a sort of Dunkirk spirit amongst those involved) but I do think the ordinary staff and management at City deserve praise for all they did.
As I arrived at the stadium on the coach, which had been delayed due to a traffic accident, we saw Jeremy Clarkson rushing down towards the turnstiles.
Security seemed tight and men and women were separated into different queues with somewhat zealous security types objecting to many, many items. Inflatable bananas, lipsticks, perfumes and many other items were cast aside before intrusive searches were performed (it reminded me of Leeds away back in 1983!). After security we got into the ground with about fifteen minutes to spare.
The Marshmello video was shown; the UEFA anthem was played (City fans started booing it and the volume seemed to be turned up to drown out the booing!); fireworks went off and then we were ready.
The game itself… Ah, I think we all know how we feel about that. I was on a coach going to the ground, close to a couple of former players when the team news came through. I read it out to those around me and one of the former players immediately asked about Fernandinho. He described how things would go and predicted the result immediately. Sad to say, he called it spot on. He wasn’t the only one of course.
The segregation in some areas of the ground seemed somewhat questionable. I was in level one on the side opposite the tunnel, close to the corner. On both sides at that level there seemed to be alternate Chelsea then City blocks. The block I was in was close to the main Chelsea end (to our right as we looked at the pitch) and there was another Chelseablock to our left. The same seemed to occur in the opposite stand. Why UEFA did this I don’t know but common sensewould say that these blocks should’ve had all Chelsea closest to Chelsea fans and all City closest to City fans with genuine neutral blocks in the middle (like Wembley does for major finals).
There were no major issues where I sat but we did feel somewhat drowned out by celebrating Chelsea fans from the moment the goal was scored.
At the end of the game Fernandinho came over to the section I was in; climbed over the barriers and hugged his son. Understandably, they were both emotional and the sight of a player searching for his son so that he could comfort him really got to me. As a parent seeing your child upset is one of the hardest things to experience and I loved how in this moment Fernandinho was not a footballer, he was a dad. Other players, including Ederson and Kyle Walker also came over to console family members.
I think we all saw how emotional our team was, especially Sergio. Like all fans I wish his City journey had ended with Champions League success.
As soon as it seemed right I left the stadium, went to my coach and waited to travel back to the city centre. I was invited back to a post-game event where the mood was understandably and appropriately muted. Wingman (Nigel Clucas), who had worked hard in the fanzone earlier in the day, got the mood spot on by playing The Smiths ‘Heaven knows I’m Miserable Now’; The Cure ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ and similar songs. Wingman did an excellent job that day and must have been exhausted.
The next morning we boarded our coaches and headed back to the airport. Both check in and security were somewhat time-consuming but, to be fair, many staff at the airport had probably been overworked for much of the night.
Compared to Porto, security at Manchester airport seemed a doddle (so long as the correct documentation had been completed beforehand) and within minutes of arriving at security I was on my way home.
Since then I have performed my Day 2 covid test, as required, and sent that off. Now, on day 5, I am still waiting for the results. From many Blues I’ve heard from it does seem like this part of the process is failing and may be something the Government needs to address if they expect UK residents to do these tests when they return from holiday overseas over the coming months.
There’s been the news that Portugal has now been removed from the UK Government’s green list. The cynic would say that the decision to stage the final in Porto influenced the decision to make Portugal a green list country in the first place. For me I don’t know what political decisions have been made and how they’ve been influenced but it does seem somewhat odd. Of course, we all know that logically a final between two English clubs which would see in excess of 12,000 travelling from the UK in the middle of a pandemic should have been staged in the UK. UEFA can say all it wants about fans being at the heart of the game but the bottom line was that the final was staged outside of the UK for the benefit of UEFA officials, sponsors and their friends. If they really wanted to help fans it would have been staged in the UK.
Ah well… Politics, hey?
So Chelsea won the trophy and while the result was a painful one for City fans it must be stressed that Chelsea are one of Europe’s elite and have now won more European trophies than Manchester United. In fact they are the second most successful British club in Europe after Liverpool and, like City, they won a major European trophy BEFORE Liverpool, Juventus and many other clubs. Chelsea’s fans, like City, have seen some dark days (most notably in the 80s) and we should all remember that their development, since the investment, is a few years ahead of City’s. If their achievements in Europe are an indicator of progress then clearly City are not too far behind.
Finally, I know this has been a lengthy piece but I just wanted to throw a few thoughts, memories and comments down. If you’re one of the people who managed to get to Porto I hope you managed to enjoy it despite the result. I was extremely fortunate this year (this is the first time I have ever been a guest of any football club for an away fixture and I know how lucky I was – I will never forget it).
Here’s to the next major final featuring Manchester City who, let’s face it, have won more trophies in 2020-21 than any other English club and have been incredible champions. It could be argued that the ONLY club that stopped them from winning all four major trophies was Chelsea (though Leicester may have in the FA Cup final of course) and they are the European champions.
Gary James' Football Archive 