Football writing, thoughts and more by Gary James
Seventy years ago today (24 October 1956) the first Manchester Derby in the Charity Shield (now Community Shield) took place. Charity is much in evidence, as the Reds are allowed to replace ‘keeper Wood with their reserve David Gaskell when injury strikes. Attendance: 30,495; City 0 United 1.
The Champions beat the Cup holders under floodlights with a goal from local lad Dennis Violet. United are the better side while City seem a little pedestrian.
On this day (23 October) in 1976 Manchester City fans first did their ‘Viking Call’. The chant eventually evolved into ‘The best team in the land and all the world’ but for some time was basically City fans doing a C-iii-ttt-yy chant to the first part of the song. You can hear the song and find out its story in this talk I did in 2022 (if you don’t want to watch the full talk, jump to about 23mins 40 seconds for the Viking Call story):
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I’ve also posted an article on the Manchester City website here telling the story:
https://www.mancity.com/news/mens/the-birth-of-a-chant-63928339
In 1979 Manchester City established a programme of community work called ‘The Manchester City Way’. It was so successful that academic studies were performed on it and it was then used to form ideas that led to the establishment of the PFA’s Football in the Community. In 1986 City became one of the clubs that pioneered the new ‘Football in the Community’ and today, forty years on ‘City In The Community’ remains a major contributor to Mancunian life. It’s also the inspiration for the City Football Group’s community initiatives around the globe.
People often forget, or overlook, the significance of ‘The Manchester City Way’ that proved so successful, so I’ve decided to post this article from October 1986 that talks about that and the establishment of Football in the Community. Notice Graham Stringer’s comments on the second page (some Blues will like this, coming from a United fan!). Enjoy!
On this day (20 October 1934) King Charles III’s grandad attended Maine Road to watch Manchester City face Derby County in the League. The then Duke of York went on to become king of course a few years later. These images are from the Manchester City match programme highlighting the day. It wasn’t the first time a senior member of the royal family attended a City home game, nor was it the last time a future monarch or monarch attended Manchester City’s home.
You can read about those visits here:
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Well, well, well… I’ve just rediscovered in a box of my memorabilia my original 1980s inflatable banana. This went with me to various games, most memorably the 1988 match with Stoke at the Victoria Ground. I always felt I’d saved it but wasn’t entirely sure. It was hidden with various shirts and scarves from the 70s, 80s and 90s I used to wear.
On this day (19 October) in 1920 longserving Manchester City goalkeeper Walter Smith left the Blues for Port Vale. He was a hugely popular figure at Hyde Road but in the days following he was arrested and a major scandal followed. Subscribers can read more on that moment and on the story of Walter Smith’s career here:
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On this day (18 October) in 2003 Manchester City scored 6 goals at their new home, the City of Manchester Stadium (now Etihad Stadium), for the first time. It was also the 6th consecutive record attendance for the new ground. There was also a sending off for Shaun Wright-Phillips. It was an odd day in some ways but you can read more below:
Although the game was 1-1 at half-time, City defeated Bolton 6-2 at the City of Manchester stadium. The 6th was scored by Claudio Reyna in the 84th minute.The Bolton victory was notable from a stadium perspective as it also marked the sixth consecutive highest record breaking attendance for the venue. Due to seating reconfigurations taking place throughout the early part of the season, a new record crowd for the stadium was set for the first five League games.
The first competitive game (TNS, UEFA Cup) saw 34,103 – capacity had been restricted to about 35,000 due to safety legislation – followed by a record in every one of the following five League games staged – 46,287 (Portsmouth), 46,436 (Arsenal), 46,687 (Villa), 46,842 (Spurs) & 47,101 (Bolton). Each of those matches was watched by a capacity attendance. Over the following months further changes, such as reducing the size of the Directors’ Box, increased capacity further and the record crowd was broken again when Leeds United came on 22nd December (47,126) and then Liverpool (47,201) six days later. Ultimately, the Chelsea game on 28th February became the season’s best with an attendance of 47,304.
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There has been a lot of criticism of City’s fanbase in recent weeks. Ridiculous stuff like celebrating a goal is seemingly wrong, according to some. Thankfully the banana craze and the general humour of fans is helping enormously and is a huge positive. Let’s face it, football is a game to enjoy and, as with the original banana craze, the idea of ‘putting the fun’ back into football is something all should support. The appeal of Manchester City has never simply been about finding success, it’s about community.
I’ve often posted this page from my biography of Joe Mercer which rightly points out that football is a great game (and highlights that there’s plenty wrong around the game, though he didn’t highlight fans which I think shows he knew what it was like for us).
Football is all about camaraderie, connections, family and friends. It’s about shared experiences and the joy of life. Sometimes things don’t go so well, but the key thing is that football should always be about the joy of attending games and sharing experiences and, as with so many times in the past, the negativity of others shouldn’t detract from your own experience.
Leaving the Etihad the other night after City had lost to PSG there were plenty of smiling faces. Sure we’d lost but most there recognised the fightback and spirit exhibited in that second half, while also acknowledging that PSG played extremely well. I think we always knew it would be difficult to beat PSG, especially after Sunday’s pressures at Anfield, so it was wonderful to see the spirit of the Blues (both on the pitch and in the stands).
As I left the ground an excited boy was saying to his dad: ‘Did you see that penalty save, Dad?’ and he was clearly delighted with what he saw. I’m sure his dad will have seen better penalties – and saves for that matter – but for that boy it was a great moment. Maybe it was the first time he’d seen a penalty save? Maybe he wants to be a goalkeeper? Who knows, but what is true is that the game brought him joy. Ultimately, we should all have that joy.
Back in 1987 when the banana craze started football fans were viewed negatively by politicians, the wider media and the general public who didn’t attend games but read what they saw in the ‘papers. We were all classed as hooligans because of several high profile stories (not least Heysel but also issues at a variety of grounds around the country), but of course not all fans looked for trouble. Not all fans were ‘hooligans’. However, the negativity towards us was intense. I remember being interviewed for, what I hoped would be my first job, and the interviewee (who knew nothing about football) was surprised I’d mentioned being a season ticket holder. It was as if I’d said I belonged to some outlawed political party.
In this environment many fans began to challenge the way we were perceived and organisations were established to represent fans’ feelings. Fanzines also started to appear. Then at City the banana craze began. It was a laugh, pure and simple, and several articles highlighted the positivity of it all. It brightened the mood.
This is a bit of a rambling piece but I just basically wanted to highlight that football is a fun game and it’s not all about match results, it’s about the community. City fans know better than most that football is never just about results. Only a small number of clubs can ever find trophy success each season and games are either won, drawn or lost – we can’t all win every game. So it’s so important to have fun no matter what the result. The banana craze gave us that in the 1980s (our big fancy dress day out at Stoke ended in defeat of course!) and today, in October 2026, thanks to the 1894 Group, the Supporters Club and those who attended Anfield, the 2026 version of the craze is doing it again. Enjoy!
Pre-match the Times claimed: ‘if only one [goal] is needed, Chelsea usually find it.’ Well, not this day as Manchester City became the only team to beat Chelsea during their title winning season (their 2nd title; their first was 50 years earlier).
Nicolas Anelka netted an early penalty to give Manchester’s Blues the 1-0 win on this day (16 October) in 2004.
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Today (14 October) marks the anniversary of the death of legendary Manchester City coach Malcolm Allison. He passed away in 2010. I’ve interviewed Malcolm often over the years and you can listen to one of those interviews here:
Here’s also an article I published in September this year on Allison. It included comments from a variety of interviews I have performed over the decades. Allison’s views on then young footballer Shaun Wright-Phillips are captured and comments from various people who know Allison well are included.
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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or special price of £20 a year (above). Monthly subscribers access all the interviews, books, articles and features posted here since 1st October 2022.
