Category Archives: Manchester City

8 Points behind United and all was lost, or was it?

On this day (April 11) in 2012 Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City lay eight points behind Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United and possessed an inferior goal difference (two goals) after the same number of games. There were only six games left to play and, as far as the wider public was concerned, it was only a matter of time before United won the title. But things began to change on this day in 2012 when City faced West Bromwich Albion.

Here for subscribers is the story of that day…

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If you’d like to subscribe to costs £20 per year (works out £1.67 a week) and you can access all 300+ articles including the entire Manchester A Football History book and various audio interviews.

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Manchester City v Leeds United

It’s Manchester city v Leeds today (April 10 2021) so here are a few Manchester City-Leeds United posts on the site to read before the game:

On This Day – Outfield Player In Nets But MCFC Still Beat Leeds
Kidd’s Double
https://gjfootballarchive.com/2021/03/15/denis-law-signs-for-manchester-city/
https://gjfootballarchive.com/2021/02/26/re-using-match-tickets/

Also, here’s a profile of Denton’s Jimmy Armfield who went on to manage Leeds:

Jimmy Armfield – Blackpool and England Legend

Kidd’s Double

On this day (April 8) in 1977 two goals from Brian Kidd gave Manchester City a 2-1 victory over Leeds at Maine Road.  A crowd of 47,727 witnessed the game as the Blues challenged for the League title. This result saw City move a point behind the League leaders Ipswich Town, managed by Bobby Robson.

It had not been a convincing City performance but there had been injury issues with Mike Doyle and Brian Kidd playing in an unorthodox midfield – my forthcoming biography of Peter Barnes goes in to a lot of detail about these easter 1977 games. Watch this space over the coming month to hear details of how you can subscribe to that book:

Coming Soon – Peter Barnes Biography

Leeds had taken the lead with Joe Jordan heading home after 17 minutes. Kidd equalised in the 38th minute after Joe Royle’s pass bounced off Leeds’ Trevor Cherry. Kidd’s second came when he flicked in the winner after Paul Madeley had seemingly headed clear a Peter Barnes corner in the 64th minute.

This is a small free taster of the material on this site. If you’d like to find out more about the site then have a read of:

The 300th Post

Thanks for reading.

Manchester City Football League Champions

On this day (April 6) in 2002 Kevin Keegan’s Manchester City won the Football League Championship by defeating Barnsley at Maine Road. Here, for subscribers to this site, is the story of that weekend, including quotes from Keegan, Ali Benarbia and even Alan Ball! Enjoy reliving that day again…

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Goalposts – What Are They Made Of?

They’ve been a part of football history since the beginning and we often take them for granted but over the years the goals – nets, posts and crossbar – have changed. For this subscriber feature I decided to try to understand what Manchester City’s current goals are constructed of and provide a bit of background on the development of them. 

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If you would like to read this and all the in-depth articles on this site (including the entire Manchester A Football History book and the audio interview with John Bond) then please subscribe. It works out about £1.67 a month if you take out an annual subscription (£20 per year) or £3 a month if you’d like to sign up for a month at a time. Each subscriber gets full access to the 250+ articles posted so far and the hundreds scheduled to be posted in the coming weeks.

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The days of replays in Europe

On this day (March 31) in 1971 holders Manchester City were forced to play a European Cup Winners’ Cup game at a neutral ground. These were the days before penalty shoot outs decided ties. For subscribers to my site, here’s the story of that game: 

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Peter Doherty – A Legend with Glentoran, Blackpool, City, Derby and Ireland

In 2019 I wrote this profile of Peter Doherty – a man who well into the 1970s was described as the greatest Manchester City player of all time. Of course, views change and other heroes have come and sadly gone since then, but it is clear that Doherty was the leading player of his generation.

Subscribers to my site can read the article below:

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If you would like to read this and all the in-depth articles on this site (including the entire Manchester A Football History book and my audio interview with John Bond) then please subscribe. It works out about £1.67 a month if you take out an annual subscription (£20 per year) or £3 a month if you’d like to sign up for a month at a time. Each subscriber gets full access to the 250+ articles posted so far and the hundreds scheduled to be posted in the coming weeks.

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Decisive Derbies MUFC v MCFC 27 March 1968

Score United 1 City 3, Attendance 63,004 Old Trafford

Rather than settling a relegation issue, this match was perceived more as a title decider.  Prior to the match United were 2 points clear of the Blues at the top of the table, and were favourites for the League title, but the City of Mercer & Allison wanted to challenge United’s stranglehold on local football.  If the Blues were to make a name for themselves they had to beat the Reds.  It was as simple as that. Here for subscribers is the story of that game…

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Manchester City Hall of Fame: Roy Clarke’s significant game

City 1 Sunderland 0

FA Cup Semi-Final at Villa Park

26th March 1955

Goalscorer: Clarke

City Team: Trautmann, Meadows, Little, Barnes, Ewing, Paul, Fagan, Hayes, Revie, Johnstone, Clarke.

Attendance: 58,498

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If you would like to read this and all the in-depth articles on this site (including the entire Manchester A Football History book and the audio interview with John Bond) then please subscribe. It works out about £1.67 a month if you take out an annual subscription (£20 per year) or £3 a month if you’d like to sign up for a month at a time. Each subscriber gets full access to the 280+ articles posted so far and the hundreds scheduled to be posted in the coming weeks.

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Talking City: Ian Bishop

On this day (25th March) in 1998 Manchester City cult hero Ian Bishop returned to the club. Here subscribers can read an interview I did with the former Bournemouth, West Ham and City player in 2015. 

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To read this and all the other content on this site please subscribe. It works out about £1.67 a month if you take out an annual subscription (£20 per year) or £3 a month if you’d like to sign up for a month at a time. Each subscriber gets full access to the 280+ articles posted so far and the hundreds scheduled to be posted in the coming weeks.

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You can also read about the 1989-90 season and Ian’s first spell with the club on this earlier post:

Manchester City Season 1989-90