On April 12 1894 a meeting was held to formally establish Manchester City AFC.
Dates and the story around the establishment of the club often get incorrectly recorded, so here for subscribers is the story of the demise of Ardwick and establishment of Manchester City with all the key dates…
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On this day (3 September) in 1892 Ardwick AFC (a significant part of Manchester City’s roots) played their first League game. They defeated Bootle 7-0. This contemporary newspaper article talks of the game. Notice the mention of an ‘ordinary’ game with Nottingham Forest – what that means is a friendly in today’s language. Back then the regular games were friendlies, so they were considered ‘ordinary’, and League or FA Cup competition was considered the rarity. That all changed over time!
Notice at the bottom of this cutting the mention of Broughton Rangers. They were a prominent rugby team, later became Belle Vue Rangers, and the ground that is opening here is Wheater’s Field. Their home before the Cliff.
Today (17 May) in 1892 at the Queens Hotel in Sunderland the Football League accepted two aspiring Manchester clubs into its competitions. Newton Heath applied and were accepted into the First Division and Ardwick applied and were accepted into the new Second Division of the League. Ardwick did not apply to join the top flight and it is believed the two Manchester clubs had an agreement not to go up against each other as in other votes two clubs from the same city had occasionally taken votes from each other. Had they gone head to head it may well have been that either one or no Manchester club would have gained admittance to the League.
On this day (17 April) in 1888 the first meeting of the Football League was held in Manchester. The following report names the clubs accepted and the others who wanted to join the League. It has often been written in Manchester United related books that Newton Heath applied to join the League in 1888 but didn’t receive enough votes to be accepted. That is completely untrue as no one actually had to apply nor was a vote taken. Clubs were asked and some tried to push to get included but Newton Heath were neither asked nor were they pushing for acceptance either. Nor were Ardwick or Manchester Asoociation who, to be frank would’ve been the most famous Manchester club at this time.
Bolton Wanderers were the only team from present day Greater Manchester to be asked/selected for the first League season.
Manchester Courier, 18 April 1888
The plaque is positioned on the corner of Mosley Street and Market Street/Piccadilly in Manchester.
Today (16 April) in 1894 Companies House formally registered Manchester City FC as a new company. If you look carefully at the original Memorandum of Association you can see the registration date on the right of the image (just to the right of the word ‘SHARES’) below.
MCFC Memorandum of association signed 13 April 1894
If you want to know the facts not the fiction, plus my own interpretation of the events then in March 2023 I performed a one hour talk on 1894 etc. Subscribers can view that here:
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On this day (13 April) in 1894 the Manchester coroner heard the tragic story of John Nuttall who had been struck by a ball at a game on the Hyde Road football ground. Nuttall fell against the post and was knocked unconscious. He died that evening.
Nuttall had been at the ground selling sweets to the crowd and this was a terrible tragedy during the final days of the Ardwick AFC.
Today (13 April) in 1894 a Memorandum of Association was signed creating Manchester City FC. The first aims of the Club were to promote football, cricket, lacrosse, lawn tennis, hockey, bicycle & tricycle riding, running, and jumping.
MCFC Memorandum of association signed 13 April 1894
If you want to know the facts not the fiction, plus my own interpretation of the events then in March 2023 I performed a one hour talk on 1894 etc. Subscribers can view that here:
Subscribe to get access – Annual
Annual subscribers can watch this and access everything else on the site. It costs £20 a year (about £1.67) and you’ll have full access to everything until your subscription ends. Alternatively there is a monthly offer below.
A day after the Manchester FA had accepted Manchester City into their organisation, on condition of obtaining a ground, the new football club held its formation meeting. This was held on this day (12 April) in 1894. It’s worth noting that at that meeting City claimed they were going to lease the Hyde Road ground which, only the night before, Ardwick AFC claimed they still leased.
If you want to know the facts not the fiction, plus my own interpretation of the events then in March 2023 I performed a one hour talk on 1894 etc. Subscribers can view that here:
Subscribe to get access – Annual
Annual subscribers can watch this and access everything else on the site. It costs £20 a year (about £1.67) and you’ll have full access to everything until your subscription ends. Alternatively there is a monthly offer below.
On this day (11 April) in 1894 the Manchester FA agreed to accept the newly established Manchester City FC into the Manchester FA so long as the new club could secure a ground. This was an important point as Ardwick AFC had been against the local FA accepting MCFC at this time as they were hoping to retain use of the Hyde Road ground and continue playing. Much of this time is incorrectly reported with many incorrectly assuming Ardwick to MCFC was a simple name change.
If you want to know the facts not the fiction, plus my own interpretation of the events then in March 2023 I performed a one hour talk on 1894 etc. Subscribers can view that here:
Subscribe to get access – Annual
Annual subscribers can watch this and access everything else on the site. It costs £20 a year (about £1.67) and you’ll have full access to everything until your subscription ends. Alternatively there is a monthly offer below.
This Wednesday (1 March at 6pm UK time) my talk on Joshua Parlby and the launch of Manchester City FC in 1894 will take place. It’ll last about 1 hour and is free to attend but places must be reserved in advance. It will follow a similar format to previous talks I’ve done on the origins of MCFC but this one will specifically focus on the launch of City in 1894. I’ll talk about Parlby, his background and the development of MCFC which was established with the aim of creating a club to represent the whole of Manchester.
Sign up to listen to this free event where I will explain how Ardwick died, City was created and the steps Parlby took to get City into the League. I’ll be explaining how significant this was and who the key players were, plus pointing out the role Queen Victoria played in it. There are some myths out there about the club’s birth as MCFC so come and listen to the facts. This hour will include the opportunity to ask questions as I’m keen to hear your thoughts on these formative years for the club.
The event will be live on Zoom on 1/3/23 at 6pm and a link will be sent to all those who have registered for the event beforehand (probably earlier that day). THIS WILL BE EMAILED OUT SEPARATELY AND NOT VIA THE EVENTBRITE WEBSITE.
The plan is to present the facts and history of the birth of the club and its development as Manchester City during the 1890s. Dispelling myths and revealing the latest research and evidence of what actually happened.
There will be an opportunity to ask questions about this critical period for football development in Manchester. Everyone can register now.
Gary James' Football Archive 