Hyde Road – Page 3 – Gary James' Football Archive

Game One For Manchester City v Bradford City

The first League game between Manchester City and Bradford City was a no score draw on this day (12 September) in 1908 at a newly improved Valley Parade – the Bantams had spent almost £10,000 on improving the ground including the construction of the Main Stand (later destroyed in the 1985 fire). The City match was Bradford’s first home game in Division One, following promotion as Division Two champions the previous season.

The return match ended 4-3 in City’s favour at Hyde Road. Tom Holford scored a hat-trick for City that day.

The Birth of a Manchester City Chant

Manchester City meeting Ipswich this weekend is a nice reminder that a fixture between the two almost 50 years ago made an enormous contribution to the birth of a City chant. That chant is still sung today and is known as either the Viking Call or ‘The Best Team In The Land…’

Chanting at football games is rarely documented correctly with many myths, rumours and stories developing over the years. Te following feature is designed to give a potted overview of the development of singing at City and tells the story and part Ipswich played in it:

UPDATED GJFootballArchive talk on crowds and Maine Rd

Now, for subscribers is an 1800 word article on the history and development of chants at Manchester City:

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The 1900s: 1906-1907 Newbould’s New Boys

Continuing the series of features on Manchester City in the early 1900s! Today it’s a 3900 word article telling the story of 1906-07 when the FA ban continued to affect Manchester’s Blues. This story continues to be one of skullduggery (by other teams too!) and powerful figures seeking to limit opposition.

All of this sound familiar? Well, get a brew and start reading below if you’re a subscriber. Maybe read the last few days’ features first?

If you’re not a subscriber then why not sign up for a month and see what you think?

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?

More on the 1900s tomorrow. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?

The 1900s: 1905-1906 An Unjust Ban

Continuing the series of features on Manchester City in the early 1900s! Today it’s a 2200 word article telling the story of 1905-06 when the FA ban almost destroyed Manchester’s Blues. This story is one of skullduggery (by other teams too!) and powerful figures seeking to limit opposition.

All of this sound familiar? Well, get a brew and start reading below if you’re a subscriber. Maybe read yesterday’s feature first?

If you’re not a subscriber then why not sign up for a month and see what you think?

Subscribe to get access

More on the 1900s tomorrow. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?

The 1900s: 1904-1905 Villains

Continuing the series of features on Manchester City in the early 1900s! Today it’s a 3000 word article telling the story of 1904-05 when the FA Cup holders and League runners-up were suddenly under scrutiny from the FA. Viewed as a nouveau riche club, the feeling was that City couldn’t possibly have found major success so quickly. Remember they only became MCFC in 1904. This story is one of skullduggery (by other teams too!) and powerful figures seeking to limit opposition.

All of this sound familiar? Well, get a brew and start reading below if you’re a subscriber. If not then why not sign up for a month and see what you think?

Subscribe to get access

More on the 1900s tomorrow. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?

The 1890s: City’s Last Goal of the 1800s

The series of features on Manchester City in the 1890s continues today with this match report from the last first team competitive game of the 19th century for the Blues. City drew the match with Blackburn Rovers 1-1 with Billy Gillespie netting City’s equaliser.

Another report I have highlights that the match also say Billy Meredith appeal that Howarth, a Blackburn player, had handled in the penalty area which led to a lengthy conversation between the referee and linesman as to whether a penalty should be awarded. After much consideration they decided not to away a penalty – much to Meredith’s annoyance (if only they’d had VAR in operation… all problems like this would be easily resolved. Hmm!).

This series covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success. Why not subscribe and read every feature like this 1800 article below on Manchester City in the final months of 1899?