Category Archives: Manchester City

Fifty Years Ago Today: City v Liverpool

Maine Road’s highest crowd of the season, 50,439, witnessed a pulsating game against League title hopefuls Liverpool on this day (19 April) in 1976. The game was goalless until the 74th minute when Steve Heighway scored the opener. In the 87thminute, as City searched for an equaliser, the Blues were unlucky when a David Fairclough attempt was diverted in off Tommy Booth and then in the final minute future Blue Fairclough blasted home a Kevin Keegan pass from 14 yards out. 

Paul Power came close to scoring a consolation goal a few moments later, as goalkeeper Ray Clemence and Emlyn Hughes scrambled the ball off the line, but the game ended 3-0 to new League leaders Liverpool, who led the table from QPR by a point. The Daily Express report praised City’s performance: ‘City stuck manfully to their job and until Fairclough began to create his havoc they always looked likely to take at least a point.’

You can read more on the 1975-76 season with this 5,320 word article – a season which saw Tony Book guide the club to major success. If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? You could even subscribe for a month and see what you think. The following 5,320 word article is on the 1975-76 season and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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Fifty Years Ago Today: Colin Bell Scores in 2nd Comeback Game

An unlucky away game at Leeds on this day (17 April) in 1976 was noteworthy for a goal by Colin Bell, playing his second comeback game for Manchester City. Journalist Alan Thompson writing for the Daily Express summed up the game well: ‘Leeds were awful for most of the first half, went in a goal down, but they won the match… As Mike Doyle says, “We threw the game away… AGAIN!”’

City’s goal came after five minutes when the ball was swung out to Colin Bell, playing his second comeback game after his devastating injury in the November derby match, on the edge of the box. Bell scored with a magnificent shot which went in off the upright.  Sadly, the game ended in a 2-1 defeat after two goals in three minutes from Leeds (McNiven 62nd minute & Harris 64th minute).

You can read more on the 1975-76 season with this 5,320 word article – a season which saw Tony Book guide the club to major success. If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? You could even subscribe for a month and see what you think. The following 5,320 word article is on the 1975-76 season and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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Were You There 60 Years Ago Today? Manchester City 4 Bolton Wanderers 1

Today (16 April) in 1966 Manchester City defeated Bolton 4-1 at Maine Road in the Second Division. The City scorers were Dave Connor, Johnny Crossan, Bobby Kennedy and Cliff Sear. Future PFA chief Gordon Taylor scored for Bolton. Subscribers can read some contemporary match reports from this game below. Were you there that day? If you were please feel free to add your comments.

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You can find out more on Manchester City during the 1965-66 season by reading the following 4100 word article. As with most of the other features in this series it includes words from interviews I have performed with those who were there. This is a subscriber article (see below).

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15 Years Ago: The All-Manchester FA Cup Semi Final

On 16 April 2011 Manchester City faced Manchester United in the FA Cup semi final. Five years ago I produced Restored 2011: The All-Manchester FA Cup Semi Final and I think it’s well worth listening to today to get a feel for how significant this game actually was. This special 1 hour audio recording looked at the game and the years between City’s 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. If it’s of interest then, over the coming months and years, I’ll produce others like this highlighting key points in Manchester City – and Manchester’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 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). You can subscribe below.

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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

Trautmann’s Testimonial

On this day (15 April) in 1964 Maine Road staged a remarkable testimonial for legendary goalkeeper Bert Trautmann. You can read about this incredible night, which set an attendance record for testimonials, below.

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The 2020s: Victory over Borussia Dortmund

After a surprising defeat in the League at home to Leeds (who were down to ten men throughout the second half) Manchester City’s return leg with Borussia Dortmund on this day (14 April) in 2021, ended with the same result as the first – 2-1. Dortmund had scored first on the night via Jude Bellingham, but the tie ended 4-2 on aggregate. This was a truly impressive victory.

City’s goals coming from Riyad Mahrez (penalty) and Foden. After Foden scored a screamer, he raced towards the manager and the two embraced knowing that City were through to the semi-finals. Afterwards Pep Guardiola told journalists what he experienced at that moment: ‘[Foden] found me. He ran [past] everyone and found me. That’s for all the club, all the people that work so hard to achieve what we have achieved so far. I said, “Well done, good shot, we go”.’

Pep highlighted the task now facing City: ‘We need three wins to win the Premier League. We are in the semi-finals of the Champions League. We are in semi-finals of the FA Cup and the final of the Carabao Cup. It is incredible what we have done. I am incredibly happy for this club, for this chairman and for the fans. Everyone.’

This was shaping up to be a great season.

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Manchester City Women: The First Game After Relaunch

On this day (April 13) in 2014 Manchester City’s women’s team played its first competitive game after the relaunch. It was a FA Cup tie against Reading played at the Regional Athletics Arena. 

Here for subscribers is a section of Manchester City Women: An Oral History discussing that opening game:

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Manchester City v Arsenal: History Comparison

‘History Tradition Class’ is often used on Arsenal banners (particularly when they play City it seems; there was one at Wembley) and with the two sides meeting on Sunday (19 April 2026) it seems like the same lines will be trotted out again. So for today’s feature I’ve decided to have a look at the history of the two clubs to compare successes. It seems to me that if a club claims that their club has something that another does not then it’s only fair to test that idea. Anyway here goes….

What do we mean by history? Is it success? Is it a ‘first’ that predates the rest. Is it more trophies? Is it longevity? Is it just nonsense? (probably!). So here are a few comparisons of achievements just to get the ball rolling:

Major trophies won or achievements made:

Trophy/AchievementYear & teamOther Team
Joined the League1892 (City as Ardwick AFC)1893 (Woolwich Arsenal)
Promotion1899 (City)1904 (Arsenal)
Second Division Champions1899 (City)Never
Major Trophy1904 (City)1930 (Arsenal)
FA Cup1904 (City)1930 (Arsenal)
League1931 (Arsenal)1937 (City)
League Cup1970 (City)1987 (Arsenal)
ECWC1970 (City)1994 (Arsenal)
Fairs Cup1970 (Arsenal)Never
Domestic Treble2019 (City)Never
Traditional Treble2023 (City)Never
European Cup2023 (City)Never
Super Cup2023 (City)Never
Club World Cup2023 (City)Never
Community Shield1930 (Arsenal)1937 (City)

I’ll show more comparisons on success in a moment but first how about attendance comparisons?

The highest home attendance by either club is: 84,569 (City). Arsenal’s record attendance is over 10,000 lower at 73,707, achieved at a European game at Wembley.

Record League attendance: 79,491 (City);  73,295 (Arsenal).

The first time either side were the best supported team in the League: 1910-11 (City). Arsenal first achieved this feat almost 20 years later in 1929-30.

Okay, what about first and most recent successes? Here’s a list of the major trophies won by these sides listed with the first time one of the team’s achieved that success and the most recent time:

Trophy/AchievementFirst TeamMost RecentTeam
Major Trophy1904City2026City
FA Cup1904City2023City
League1931Arsenal2024City
League Cup1970City2026City
ECWC1970City1994Arsenal
Fairs Cup1970Arsenal1970Arsenal
European Cup2023City2023City
Super Cup2023City2023City
Club World Cup2023City2023City
Community Shield1930Arsenal2024City
Domnestic Treble2019City2019City
Traditional Treble2023City2023City

Interesting stats but what about most trophies won? Surely there’s a big difference? Err, well not really:

MOST TROPHIES WON
TrophyNumber & TeamOther Team
FA Cup14 (Arsenal)7 (City)
League13 (Arsenal)10 (City)
League Cup 9 (City)2 (Arsenal)
Club World Cup1 (City)
Super Cup1 (City)
European Cup 1 (City)
ECWC1 (both City & Arsenal)
Fairs Cup1 (Arsenal)
Total31 (Arsenal)30 (City)

I’m sure someone will say ‘but take the Super Cup off as it’s like the Community Shield’. Okay but that still means that after all these decades there are only 2 major trophies separating City and Arsenal. Also, there are some sports historians who would say ‘remove the Fairs Cup’ as that wasn’t a UEFA tournament and the rules of entry meant that often teams finishing in a position that should allow entry couldn’t enter as only one team per city could enter. In 1969 Everton finished above Arsenal and were denied entry into the Fairs Cup because Liverpool had already qualified. Similarly Chelsea, Spurs and West Ham were denied entry due to Arsenal qualifying. The same was true across Europe. In earlier years ‘London’ had entered the competition.

I’m not going to say that Manchester City’s history is greater than any other club, nor should any other person say that about their club. Each club has its own successes and failures; reasons to be proud and moments to forget. However, when a club or its fans try to claim superiority over another because of their ‘history’ or ‘tradition’ or ‘class’ (maybe I’ll do that another day) then it’s only fair to highlight the history and tradition of success other clubs have enjoyed.

A Manchester City Origins Event

How time flies? On this day (April 11) in 2019 I staged an event at the Dancehouse in central Manchester to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Manchester City. We had a packed audience for the event and I intended to stage at least one event like this every year (then Covid happened!).

In 2019 I managed three special events at the Dancehouse connected with Manchester City’s history. In June there was the most recent showing of The Boys In Blue (my collaboration with the North West Film Archive at Manchester Metropolitan University) which provided exclusive films of the club from 1905 through to the modern era.

In September there was the launch of Manchester City Women: An Oral History (you can buy that book here: https://gjfootballarchive.com/shop/ ). This was a celebration of the history of the women’s club with guests from every era of the club’s history including many founding players and also England international Karen Bardsley.

I had hoped to stage events in 2020 and 2021 but back in April 2019 there was the commemoration of the 125th anniversary of the club’s birth as Manchester City. The talk of course went back further and discussed the 1870s and 1880s where I hoped to kill off a few myths. I’m still trying to kill off some of these myths. See:

The Origins of Manchester City: Facts Not Fiction

The 2019 presentation didn’t just dwell on the formative years of the club as I covered stories connected with Maine Road, fans and more. The following images are slides from that day and give an indication of what was covered.

I’d love to do further shows like these and perhaps resurrect the idea of doing at least one a year but I’d need a venue and would also need to find a way to cover costs. Any ideas welcome.

City Were 8 Points behind United and all was lost, or was it?

On this day (April 11) in 2012 Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City lay eight points behind Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United and possessed an inferior goal difference (two goals) after the same number of games. There were only six games left to play and, as far as the wider public was concerned, it was only a matter of time before United won the title. But things began to change on this day in 2012 when City faced West Bromwich Albion.

Here for subscribers is the story of that day…

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