On this day (11 May) in 2003 Maine Road staged its last first team game when Manchester City faced Southampton. Watch out later today for a special announcement about my research into Maine Road and something I’ll be posting here over the coming weeks. In the meantime… the final day was a highly emotional one and here, for subscribers, is a reminder of that special time:
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An easy first half for Manchester City today, going 2-0 up thanks to Gundogan v Leeds at the Etihad. It could so easily have been more with shots hitting the bar and the post, plus a penalty which Haaland insisted Gundogan take that was saved. In the end Leeds pulled one back to make it 2-1 but it was a relatively easy game for the Blues and the score flattered Sam Allardyce’s new team.
There was an interesting moment when City fans chanted ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning.’
As seems to be customary these days the away fans chanted the ‘Where Were You’ chant. Surprisingly. It was within the first five minutes of the start. If only those fans chanting had read my programme articles today. One of them was my comparison of City & Leeds crowds. Reproduced below you can see how City actually increased the stadium’s capacity to cope with crowds when they dropped to their lowest point. The other attendance comparisons all work in City’s favour too.
Continuing the weekly series on Manchester City’s seasons from 1999-2000 through to 2008-09. Each week I’ll be publishing here the story of a different season of that remarkable ten-year period. Today we have a 6,300 word article on the 2002-03 season (below) which was City’s last at Maine Road.
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Tonight Manchester City and Arsenal face each other in what some are suggesting is a title decider. Of course, regardless of who wins it definitely isn’t a title decider as there are games to play and points to be won and lost, but it is a significant match in the season. Way back in April 1937 the two clubs met in very similar circumstances. Back then Arsenal were top and Manchester City were second and their Maine Road meeting was also promoted as a potential title decider. So what happened next?
Here for subscribers is the story of that game…
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On this day (19 April) in 1983 Neil Warnock managed Burton Albion to Northern Premier League’s Challenge Cup success at Maine Road. His team defeated Macclesfield Town 2-1 before 2,538 in the final at neutral Maine Rd.
On this day (9 April) in 1975 Fulham and Birmingham City met at Maine Road in a FA Cup semi-final replay. It was an evenly matched game until – with only around a minute of extra-time left – Fulham striker John Mitchell chased a hopeful ball into the Birmingham area. The Birmingham ‘keeper Dave Latchford blocked a shot which then rebounded off John Mitchell’s leg and into the net to give Fulham a 1-0 victory.
The attendance for this midweek replay was 35,205 with over 20,000 coming from Birmingham (according to their local press!). Although Maine Road was a regular and popular semi-final venue during most of its history, it does seem a rather strange choice for this tie considering the location of the sides taking part.
Starting on Monday is a new weekly series on Manchester City’s seasons from 1999-2000 through to 2008-09. Each week I’ll be publishing an article here telling the story of a different season of that remarkable ten-year period. The series will start on Monday with an 8,800 word article on 1999-2000 and will end with the 2008-09 season. There will be a new season each week, following on chronologically.
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This series will be for subscribers to my website. It costs £20 a year to access everything on the site since creation in December 2020. That includes articles, history talks, videos, interviews & more. There’s also a monthly option below.
This series will be for subscribers to my website. Monthly subscription costs £3 per month to access everything on the site since 1 October 2022 (cancel anytime). All subscribers access all new material until their subscription ends. Why not give it a try for a month?
A record Manchester City have held for 99 years was set on this day (8 March) in 1924 – the record is the highest attendance on a club ground! Happy anniversary! The record set in 1924 saw 76,166 attend City v Cardiff. City had moved to their new Maine Road stadium in August 1923. The capacity of the venue was estimated at around 90,000 but was actually approximately 83,000 when the stadium opened (it was enlarged in 1931 and 1935).
In its first season the capacity was tested and, on this day (8 March) in 1924 the largest attendance for any footballing fixture (including three FA Cup Finals) in Manchester gathered to watch the Blues. This was also, at the time, the record crowd for any game played on an English club ground. It was beaten ten years later when 84,569 watched City v Stoke. You can read about the remarkable day in 1924 below:
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On this day (23 February) in 1935 Manchester City established a new Football League record crowd of 79,491. Here’s the story of that day and cuttings. Enjoy!
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I was reminded earlier about the sit down protest against chairman Peter Swales by Manchester City fans in September 1993. Back then we used to protest a lot against Swales – in fact some of my recent research has shown that the earliest Swales Out demonstration I’ve found so far took place in 1979. They intensified over the years with 1993 being the peak. In September 1993 City’s hopes of replacing Swales as chairman increased with the news that Francis Lee was prepared to mount a takeover.
I’ll write more on this whole period soon but for the moment I wanted to highlight that one of the protests that took place during 1993-94 was a sit down protest on the Kippax. Emma Tamara Taylor took the photo of the protest and she kindly allowed me to use it alongside other great Maine Road images she’d taken in my book Farewell To Maine Road. Emma, of course, retains copyright for her photo and it cannot be reproduced without her permission.
The photo was dated 11 September 1993 and I do remember well that this was a number of protests we staged though at the moment I can’t remember if this was against all-seater stadia or Peter Swales (I’ll go through my research notes over the coming weeks and will check it all out). There was also the candlelight protest on the Kippax too. The idea of these protests was that fans wanted to show their displeasure. Unfortunately protests on 11 September 1993 seemed to have passed the media by as this brief report shows:
Here’s a preview article from the Mirror which highlighted the role of the man who became known as the ‘Blue Vicar’, Jim Burns.
More on the protests, Swales out and so on in a few weeks time. Watch this space!
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