Category Archives: Maine Road

The 1990s: Fire in the North Stand

The series of features covering Manchester City in the 1990s continues today with this reminder of a day when fans had to be evacuated from Maine Road’s North Stand due to a fire. I remember the day well – I was sat at the opposite end – and it did seem a little worrying for a time. I remember seeing some smoke coming out of the stand. This cutting is from today (28 March) in 1997 and highlights the day of the fire (previous weekend).

The article claims the fire was started because a fan had pushed a cigarette into a cavity which set fire to materials behind the wall. I don’t think I ever knew this at the time (the rumour was that a chip fryer or burger stand had overheated in some way) but reading this all these years later is a little chilling. In 1985 the cause of the Bradford fire was believed to be a stray cigarette going through a whole and setting waste material under the stand on fire.

Unlike at Bradford the North Stand fire was soon extinguished and City’s game was delayed but played. Nevertheless, reading that brief report now does make you think of what could have happened.

This was not the first time a stand at Manchester City experienced a fire of course. Elsewhere on this site you can read about the Hyde Road fire.

While you’re here why not read a 4,900 word long article on the 1996-97 season? It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this season and an extraordinary decade? As with all these 1990s subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time, including Phil Neal who talks about Steve Coppell’s shock resignation.

Here’s the 4900 word article on that season:

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This series of articles and features will run throughout March with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. There will be flashbacks to great games, players and more. Every day in March will offer something to enjoy.

Subscribers will get access to everything, while some on this day material will be free for all to view.

If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:

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The 1990s: 1999 The Fightback

The series of articles covering Manchester City in the 1990s continues today with an indepth article on the opening months of 1999-2000 season. City had been promoted the previous May and the last few months of 1999 saw the Club continue its resurrection. The article is almost 4,000 words long. It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this period and an extraordinary decade? As with all these 1990s subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.

Here’s the 4900 word article on that season:

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This series of articles and features will run throughout March with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. There will be flashbacks to great games, players and more. Every day in March will offer something to enjoy.

Subscribers will get access to everything, while some on this day material will be free for all to view.

If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:

How To Subscribe

The 1990s: 1996 Georgiou Kinkladze Goal V Southampton

Continuing the series on Manchester City in the 1990s with a feature today on one of the best goals of Maine Road’s final couple of decades. This saw the brilliant Georgiou Kinkladze at his best. The goal was scored at Maine Road in March 1996. Kinkladze was a major star – some would say Manchester City’s biggest during the mid 1990s – and livened up many dull days for City fans.  This goal was obviously popular with Maine Road regulars but, thanks to television and the game’s appearance on Match of the Day, many neutrals recognised the quality of this Golden Goal.

This article, covering Kinkladze’s goal is available for subscribers to the website below. It costs £20 a year (it works out £1.67 per month) and you get full access to all articles posted, including PDFs of the out of print Manchester A Football History and my first ever book about Manchester City. There are also audio interviews & more. Do a few searches on past content to see what’s available.     

 

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The 1990s: Manchester’s 1996 Olympic Bid Plans

On this day (14 March) in 1990 the Manchester Evening News featured Bob Scott’s plans for Manchester’s 1996 Olympic Bid (remember this was not the first bid by the city either – there was an attempted bid for the 1992 Games). These articles make interesting reading now. Note also the involvement of Rick Parry – a man well known in football circles then and now (he later was one of the key figures behind football’s league restructuring).

I’ve included this as part of my feature on Manchester City in the 1990s as ultimately these Olympic bids led to the building of the City of Manchester Stadium (present day Etihad). Back in 1990 though the preferred site for a new stadium was in Trafford and Manchester City had held discussions even then on moving to the new stadium even though it would have meant City moving out of the City of Manchester.

Notice how the footballing activities were to be shared between City, United, Everton and Liverpool. Also, the velodrome is mentioned as the Tameside Velodrome but it is of course the one build near the present day Etihad.

Click to access bl_0004985_19900314_070_0070.pdf

Click to access bl_0004985_19900314_071_0071.pdf

This feature is part of my series on Manchester City in the 1990s and you can read about the opening months of 1990 below. This series of articles and features will run throughout March with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. There will be flashbacks to great games, players and more. Every day in March will offer something to enjoy.

Subscribers will get access to everything, while some on this day material will be free for all to view.

If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? The following 1,300 word article on the end of the 1989-90 season is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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The 1990s: A Stadium Move?

Here’s a 1990s reminder of how things can change. This cutting is from November 1998 – a time when Manchester City fans were still dismayed at how the club had ended up in the third tier of English football for the first time. Remember 6 years earlier City were challenging for a top four finish in the Premier League (ultimately finishing 5th for the second season). Despite being in their lowest ever position the fans were asked about the possibility of moving to a new 48,000 capacity stadium.

Overwhelmingly they said yes and, well, the rest is history. Without this commitment would any of the modern day success have happened?

The 1990s: Prince at Maine Road

Alongside all the football at Maine Road the 1990s saw a series of major concerts held at Manchester City’s old stadium. On this day (9 March) in 1990 tickets for the following August’s concert by Prince were advertised.

You can find out more about Maine Road and its first concerts here:

A Kind Of Magic: Cassidy, Queen and Maine Road

100 Years of a National Crowd Record for MCFC!

Today (8 March) marks the centenary of a record Manchester City set on this- the record is the highest attendance on a club ground! Happy 100th 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 – so It’s 100 years of this record for the Blues!

You can read about the remarkable day in 1924 below:

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You can read about the attendance that brought this record (again by City at Maine Road) here:

A National Record – 84,569

Other record crowd articles can be seen here:

Welcome to Gary James’ Football Archive

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The 1970s: Booth and Hartford

Another 1970s flashback today with film of Tommy Booth and Asa Hartford both scoring for Manchester City on this day (7 February) in 1976. The Blues had gone a goal behind to Aston Villa before great work from Hartford helped to change the course of the match. All goals can be seen in this clip here:

This series of articles and features on Manchester City in the 1970s has been running throughout January and February with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others.

Subscribers get access to everything. If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? You could even subscribe for a month and see what you think. The following 5,320 word article is on the 1975-76 season and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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Haaland Throw In Photo

On this day (6 January) in 2001 Manchester City defeated Birmingham City 3-2 in the FA Cup third round. This photo of a Alfie Haaland throw in from that game has caught my eye because it says so much about football at that time. This was of course taken at Maine Road and the stand on the left of the image is the North Stand.

As this was a FA Cup tie, a larger than normal away section was allocated to Birmingham and you can see from this image that they have roughly half the North Stand and the uncovered temporary stand in the corner (dubbed the Gene Kelly – fans would be ‘singing in the rain’).

Birmingham only brought 1,038 fans that day, hence the large empty Gene Kelly and North Stand sections.

The stand to the right is the ‘new’ Kippax Stand which was almost 6 years old that season.

A Alf Haaland throw in during the 2001 FAC third round tie between City and Birmingham at Maine Road

Royal Blues

On this day (20 October 1934) King Charles III’s grandad attended Maine Road to watch Manchester City face Derby County in the League. It wasn’t the first time a senior member of the royal family attended a City home game, nor was it the last time a future monarch or monarch attended Manchester City’s home. You can read about those visits here:

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