On this day (8 January) 1966 Portsmouth welcomed Manchester City to Fratton Park. Subscribers can read a contemporary match report below of that important game in City’s quest to earn promotion from the second tier (Joe Mercer was not happy!). What also made the day special was that Portsmouth chose that day to introduce a policy of free tickets for women (to accompany their men according to this cutting in my collection!). I’m not certain how long their policy lasted but it’s worth noting that many clubs had previously had a policy of half price tickets for women (City had been doing that from the 1890s).
Here for subscribers is a contemporary match report of Portsmouth v City (you can find out why Joe Mercer was angry too!):
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Tonight (7 January 2026) Manchester City and Brighton meet in the Premier League. The first game between the two clubs came over 100 years ago in 1924. This game was a newsworthy FA Cup tie due to the return of a legend to the City team. In fact it was so newsworthy that a movie company sent their camera (you’ll see from the footage it never moved!) to Brighton’s Goldstone Ground to capture the return of a true Blue hero.
Here’s film of that game, though sadly we don’t see Meredith or the goal. City are the dark shirted team (actually the club’s ‘Lucky Scarlet’!):
Subscribers can also read an article about that day here:
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The new series of features on Manchester City in the 1910s starts today with an article on the 1909-10 season when the Blues returned to the First Division as champions after a one season absence. If you’re a subscriber you can read this below.
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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?
Starting tomorrow a new series of articles and features on Manchester City in the 1910s. Most decades in the history of the club are already featured on this site but the seasonal review of the 1910s is not complete. Over the next week or so every season of that decade will be covered here. The 1910s is a decade that’s often overlooked but it did include title challenges; record attendances; and much more. It was also a decade that saw war lead to the suspension of the Football League BUT – and this is important – football did continue with crowds gathering at games across Manchester (and the nation) throughout the war.
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Malcolm Allison’s multi-million pound Manchester City side were humbled 1-0 at Fourth Division Halifax Town in the FAC on this day (5 January) in 1980 but there’s so much more to it than that. At Christmas 1979 big spending City were 12th in the League and Malcolm Allison was in charge of the most expensive British team ever assembled up to that point.12th was disappointing of course but it wasn’t the end of the world. In those days a decent run in the League could easily lift a team (similar to the 2025-26 season in terms of the number of clubs capable of winning the League at Christmas). Sadly, City collapsed in the weeks that followed.
A 1-1 draw at Stoke on Boxing Day was disappointing, but it wasn’t the end of the world. Then a 4-1 defeat at First Division newcomers Brighton knocked confidence at an important time. The next game was the third round F.A. Cup clash against Fourth Division Halifax Town at the Shay.
In his programme notes for the match Halifax Manager George Kirby predicted a shock: “In today’s F.A. Cup 3rd round the only certainty is that there are going to be some surprises, especially with the wintry conditions underfoot. I like to think that we are among one of the possible giant killers. This is because we are playing against one of the certain to be ‘top teams’ of the 80s. A 4th Div side at home to a 1st Div outfit with such stars as Joe Corrigan, Steve Daley, and Mike Robinson is a possible shock result. It only needs an off day by a key player and Halifax are in the hunt.”
Kirby was determined to defeat football’s biggest spenders and even brought in an hypnotist, Romark (who had previously ‘cursed’ Allison while the City boss had been manager of Crystal Palace – a really interesting story which will be covered in my biography of Peter Barnes to be published in 2021), to get his players in the right frame of mind. The game itself was played in horrendous conditions, with multi-million pound City struggling to achieve anything. In the 75th minute it was all over as the ex-Birmingham City player Paul Hendrie converted a cross from former City schoolboy Andy Stafford to give Halifax a 1-0 victory. It was the biggest result in Halifax history, and the most embarrassing City defeat of the Allison period. Even today the name of Halifax and the sight of the Shay brings back nightmares for a large number of Blues.
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City v Chelsea today (4 January 2026 at 5.30pm). This has been an important fixture over the decades with European semi finals played between the sides decades ago for example. Many of these are featured on this website, so why not have a search around. Here’s a link to all articles tagged Chelsea on here: https://gjfootballarchive.com/tag/chelsea/
1971 ECWC v Chelsea. Tony Book and mascot Paul Todd. Photo by Alan Jubb
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Here’s film from this day (4 January) in 1958 when Manchester City visited West Bromwich Albion for a FA Cup tie. The game, played at the Hawthorns, was watched by 49,669. Joe Hayes scored for City… I won’t mention the result but it’s well worth watching these rare images of a game from that season.
To find out more on this period in football then why not read my series on Manchester City in the 1950s. Here’s a 2,200 word article on the 1957-58 season. Enjoy!
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Today (3 January) in 1994: After 39 minutes Manchester City’s game with Ipswich Town was abandoned with the Blues winning 2-0. The scorers were Vonk and Ingebrigtsen – his only League goal for the Blues was expunged from the records as a result!
The referee David Elleray angered the City players, especially Tony Coton, by abandoning the tie due to a waterlogged pitch. The pitch had been appalling at the kick-off and perhaps the game should not have commenced. Naturally, it was a big disappointment at the time.
I was at this abandoned game in the ‘new’ Platt Lane Stand. Were you also at Maine Road that day? If so why not leave your memory as a comment or email it to me for possible future use on this website?
It’s Sunderland v Manchester City tonight (1 January 2025). There are plenty of features on my website about games & stories connecting these clubs. Here’s a link to some of them: https://gjfootballarchive.com/?s=Sunderland
Not quite MCFC but it was Broadbottom 3 St Mark’s (West Gorton) 0 on this day (31 December) in 1881. St Mark’s was a precursor to City (see elsewhere on the site for details). The fact that Gorton only managed to field nine players appears to be the reason why the match was so one sided especially as, only two months later, the home fixture between the two clubs ended 3-0 in West Gorton’s favour. It is fair to say however that the St. Mark’s men were rather inconsistent! For the record here’s the team:
St Mark’s did eventually evolve into Manchester City (through various other changes) of course!
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.
Gary James' Football Archive 