Manchester City 3 Arsenal 1

On this day (18 September) in 1920 Arsenal were defeated by Manchester City 3-1 with goals from Horace Barnes, Tommy Browell and Billy Murphy. A crowd recorded as 38,000 at the time watched the match at Hyde Road.

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Manchester City 3 Liverpool 2

On this day (4 September) in 1920 Liverpool were defeated by Manchester City 3-2 with a City hat trick from Tommy Browell. A crowd recorded as 30,000 at the time watched the match at Hyde Road.

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Manchester City 3 Aston Villa 1

On this day (30 August) in 1920 Aston Villa were defeated by Manchester City 3-1 with goals from Tommy Browell (2) and Billy Murphy. A crowd recorded as 40,000 at the time watched the match at Hyde Road.

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The 1920s: Building A New Stadium

The new series on Manchester City in the 1920s continues today with a 1,500 word subscriber article on the 1922-23 season. If you subscribe (see below) I hope you enjoy it. If you are not currently a subscriber then why not try it for a month (£3 per month or sign up for a year at a discounted £20 per year)?

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The 1920s: A Neighbour In Need

The new series on Manchester City in the 1920s continues today with a 2,350 word subscriber article on the 1920-21 season. If you subscribe (see below) I hope you enjoy it. If you are not currently a subscriber then why not try it for a month (£3 per month or sign up for a year at a discounted £20 per year)?

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The 1920s: The King’s Blues

A new series on Manchester City in the 1920s begins today with a 2,350 word subscriber article on the 1919-20 season. If you subscribe (see below) I hope you enjoy it. If you are not currently a subscriber then why not try it for a month (£3 per month or sign up for a year at a discounted £20 per year)?

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Which Club is ‘Manchester’?

Always a controversial question but back in the early 1900s there was only ever one answer and that was Manchester City who were often referred to as simply ‘Manchester’ in official publications for both City and their Manchester rivals. Here’s an image of the title section of the official programme which directly references ‘Manchester’ (meaning City) and Newton Heath.

Obviously, as there was no Manchester United then I guess it was inevitable that City would be known as Manchester to some. It just surprises me that an official publication for both clubs would use ‘Manchester’ so regularly. Presumably both clubs were happy with this. So if anyone asks ‘which club is Manchester? then the one both were happy to call Manchester must be in with a big shout!

On another topic… notice the opportunity to have your flask filled up at City’s headquarters, the Hyde Road Hotel, before the match? Imagine if that option was brought back at the Etihad!

Ardwick v Everton under Floodlights in 1890

It wasn’t the first game under floodlights for Ardwick (Manchester City’s predecessors) but it was a significant occasion when on Monday 10 March 1890 the club played Everton under lights at Hyde Road. This match report describes the game. Notice that not much is said about the lights themselves. That’s because it wasn’t the first occasion the club had played under lights in Manchester and those reading the report would be expected to know what Well’s patent lights were due to the features that had been written previously.

People often talk of the 1950s as being the birth of floodlit football but, of course, like many things in football’s history there had been firsts decades earlier.

On 14 October in 1953 the first game under floodlights at Maine Road took place, Manchester City 6 Hearts 3.  Here’s an article about that period and City’s first formal floodlighting system, including a photo from the actual game and another report.

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Cricket at Manchester City FC

There have been games of cricket played by Manchester City over the years and there have been occasions when other sports, such as rugby and tennis, have been played at City’s grounds but it may surprise some to know that cricket has also been played at the club’s venues. Back on 24 July 1891 a Manchester newspaper listed this cricket fixture to be played at Hyde Road (at the time the ground of Ardwick AFC – City’s predecessor). It won’t have been the only cricket match there and the site had been known to stage bare knuckle boxing bouts years before the football ground was built there.

Hyde Road Crowd Image

I’ve included this in some of my books over the years and I think it’s a great crowd shot which leads to the odd question too. Take a close look at it. This is from 1912-13 season and shows a section of the crowd in the Main Stand paddock. There are definitely men, women and children in there, but is there also one of the earliest non-white faces to be seen at a home City game too? It’s difficult to tell but look at the complexion of the man above the word ‘archive’… We’ll never know sadly.