Manchester 1840-1919 (Part Nine)

Every week I’m posting a section from my book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’. It tells the story of the origins of men’s football in Manchester and discusses the birth of both City and United plus the clubs that predated them such as Hulme Athenaeum, Manchester AFC, Birch etc. Today’s section is the eighth chapter of the book (a 11,200 word section). This focuses on the establishment of Manchester United and demise of Newton Heath, plus the first major trophy won by one of the city’s clubs. Fans of both Manchester’s League teams should find something in it for them as it talks of how Manchester gained its footballing identity. Bury fans will also be happy as this talks of their FA Cup successes too.

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The First FAC Tie: Ardwick 12 Liverpool Stanley 0

On this day (4 October) in 1890 Ardwick (the predecessors of Manchester City) defeated Liverpool Stanley 12-0 in the FA Cup. It remains the club’s highest score in the competition and was the first FA Cup tie played by the blue and whites of Ardwick. Ardwick were also nicknamed the Brewerymen back then. Money and football are not a new thing and if you’re wondering why they had that nickname then read the 1,300 word subscriber article below. Put simply Chesters Brewery saw football as a way to spread their product. The same happened at Newton Heath/Utd with Manchester Brewery, and demonstrates how football has always been seen as a vehicle for business.

The match report of this game is above.

This team image has been coloured to show the club’s colours of that season. Note: the story of City adopting blue and white for the first time due to Masonic influence in 1894 is a myth. The Club had been wearing blue and white from as early as 1887.

Ever wondered how MCFC came into being and what happened to Ardwick AFC? Well, now’s your chance to find out. The article below is on the 1890-91 season.

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Manchester 1840-1919 (Part Eight)

Every Monday I’m posting a section from my book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’. It tells the story of the origins of men’s football in Manchester and discusses the birth of both City and United plus the clubs that predated them such as Hulme Athenaeum, Manchester AFC, Birch etc. Today’s section is the seventh chapter of the book (a 10,500 word section). This focuses on football as a business (yes, it was a business even then!), the move into league football for Manchester’s clubs and the relaunch of them as Manchester City and Manchester United.

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Manchester 1840-1919 (Part Seven)

Every Monday I’m posting a section from my book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’. It tells the story of the origins of men’s football in Manchester and discusses the birth of both City and United plus the clubs that predated them such as Hulme Athenaeum, Manchester AFC, Birch etc. Today’s section is the sixth chapter of the book (a 10,000 word section). This focuses on the earliest Manchester entrants in the FA Cup, as well as Ardwick AFC and Newton Heath.

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Manchester 1840-1919 (Part Six)

Every Monday I’m posting a section from my book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’. It tells the story of the origins of men’s football in Manchester and discusses the birth of both City and United plus the clubs that predated them such as Hulme Athenaeum, Manchester AFC, Birch etc. Today’s section is the fifth chapter of the book (a 8,200 word section). This focuses on the establishment of clubs in the 1870s and 1880s, including City and United’s predecessors.

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Manchester 1840-1919 (Part Five)

Every Monday I’m posting a section from my book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’. It tells the story of the origins of men’s football in Manchester and discusses the birth of both City and United plus the clubs that predated them such as Hulme Athenaeum, Manchester AFC, Birch etc. Today’s section is the fourth chapter of the book (a 11,000 word section). This focuses on the footballing communities that developed during the mid to late 1800s.

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Death of Walter Chew

On this day (31 August) in 1948 the death was announced of Walter Chew, a man associated with the first known season of St Mark’s (though there are serious doubts on whether the 16 year old played in the earliest known game based on his own comments). St Mark’s is vital in the development of Manchester City. Chew was a key figure in the club’s formative years but there are some myths out there about him and that time. His obituary above is from August 1948 which says he was 84 at the time of his death. You can find out more about Chew and the latest research below:

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Manchester 1840-1919 (Part Four)

Every Monday I’m posting a section from my book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’. It tells the story of the origins of men’s football in Manchester and discusses the birth of both City and United plus the clubs that predated them such as Hulme Athenaeum, Manchester AFC, Birch etc. Today’s section is the third chapter of the book (a 11,500 word section). This focuses on the mid 1800s and the development of Manchester’s earliest known association football club Hulme Athenaeum and its long term impact.

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Manchester 1840-1919 (Part Three)

Every Monday I’m posting a section from my book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’. It tells the story of the origins of men’s football in Manchester and discusses the birth of both City and United plus the clubs that predated them such as Hulme Athenaeum, Manchester AFC, Birch etc. Today’s section is the second chapter of the book (another 5,000 word section). This focuses mainly on the early to mid 1800s and talks of the development of Manchester and the sporting growth occurring at that time, including forms of football as well as cricket and horse racing etc..

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Manchester 1840-1919 (Part Two)

Every Monday I’m posting a section from my book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’. It tells the story of the origins of men’s football in Manchester and discusses the birth of both City and United plus the clubs that predated them such as Hulme Athenaeum, Manchester AFC, Birch etc. Today’s section is the first chapter of the book (a 5,000 word section). This focuses mainly on the middle ages up to the early 1800s and talks of the 1608 ban on football in Manchester, Peterloo and leisure activities such as cockfighting and early cricket activity, as well as football of course. There is material in every section of the book that should interest fans of Manchester football, no matter which team you support, or academic researchers/historians.

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