Category Archives: Manchester City

Next Free History Talk: Manchester City 2005 to 2009 on 29 March

I’m delighted to say I’ll be performing the next free online History Talk on Wednesday 29 March at 6pm until 7pm. This talk will be on Manchester City FC between 2005 to 2009. It’ll last about 1 hour and is free to attend but places must be reserved in advance. It will follow a similar format to previous talks I’ve done on the origins of MCFC but this one will specifically focus on the transformational period of 2005 to 2009. I’ll talk about the development of MCFC during the period.

During the 2000s I spent considerable time behind the scenes interviewing and meeting those who played a part in this transformational period. I’ll discuss the development of the club from the dedicated chairmanship of John Wardle, through a season or so of Thaksin Shinawatra and on to Khaldoon Al Mubarak. I will talk about meetings I attended and interviews I performed during this period, including discussions with all three chairmen, plus other significant figures.

This hour will include the opportunity to ask questions as I’m keen to hear your thoughts on these transformational years for the club.

The event will be live on Zoom on 29/3/23 at 6pm and a link will be sent to all those who have registered for the event beforehand (probably earlier that day). THIS WILL BE EMAILED OUT SEPARATELY AND NOT VIA THE EVENTBRITE WEBSITE.

You can register here:

Register on Eventbrite

You must register here if you want to get involved. If you’d like an example of what the talk will be like take a look at:

Video of my online talk on history of MCFC Support/Match Day at Maine Road

The talk will last about 1 hour and will be online on zoom, so you should be able to access it anywhere.

You can see posts about other History Talks here:

https://gjfootballarchive.com/tag/history-talks/

Haaland Five

Last night Erling Haaland scored five against RB Leipzig in the UEFA Champions League. It was a phenomenal performance, coming in Manchester City’s 7-0 (8-1 on aggregate) thrashing of the German side, and broke or equalled several records. This included Tommy Johnson’s record of most goals in a season for the club. Haaland’s display against Leipzig took him to 39 goals for the season in all competitions.

Tommy Johnson’s record was established in 1928-29 when he scored 38 in 40 League and cup games. I know some will think ‘ah, but with the Champions League group stages and additional competitions like the League Cup they play more games today’ well… Haaland has achieved the record in only 36 games! That’s less than Johnson took.

Other records tumbled last night too. Haaland had netted 10 for City in the UEFA Champions League by the end of the Leipzig game… that was better than any City player had previously managed in a single campaign in the Champions League and of course the campaign is not over!

Haaland’s five against Leipzig equalled the record for the most goals in a Champions League game. His achievements match Lionel Messi for Barcelona against Bayer Leverkusen in 2012, and Luiz Adriano for Shakhtar Donetsk against BATE Borisov in 2014.

After Leipzig, Haaland has scored 33 goals in 25 Champions League games, becoming the youngest player to cross the 30-goal mark at 22 years and 236 days old, 116 days younger than previous recorder holder Kylian Mbappe.

After the match Haaland told BT Sport: ‘My super strength is scoring goals. A lot of it is being quick in the mind and trying to put it where the goalkeeper is not…

‘I was so tired after my celebrations.’

When asked about the goals afterwards Pep Guardiola commented: ‘Five goals… The problem for this guy is if he doesn’t score two or three goals he will be criticised.’ That just about summed things up well as for weeks prior to this Haaland, despite his incredible record has often been criticised by some in the media. For example, the former Liverpool player Jamie Carragher had been critical in February: ‘I’ve felt this season when he’s scored his goals, I think we’ve only seen 60 per cent of Haaland. You think of that goal he scored on the first game of the season against West Ham, the space in behind, he makes that run.’

‘I know that’s not there that often with the way City play. He’s come from a league and Borussia Dortmund where it’s a counter-attacking league and it’s end to end and you see that blistering pace. You don’t see it. He may have actually picked the wrong club to actually get the best out of him.’

No one connected with Manchester City was feeling like that, especially not as Leipzig were thrashed!

You can read about Tommy Johnson here:

MANCHESTER CITY – HALL OF FAME: Tommy Johnson

Villa Defeated

Today (14 March) in 2006 Manchester City defeated Aston Villa 2-1 to reach the FA Cup quarter-final. City’s goals were scored by Georgios Samaras (17 minutes) and Darius Vassell (48). Steve Davis netted for Villa with five minutes to go but the Blues managed to hold out for the win.

City boss Stuart Pearce commented: ‘I was so proud of my players – they were fantastic. All of them were outstanding. I thought we played pretty well when we did the things we’re good at. There was a bit of pressure on us – people think being at home it was a foregone conclusion but it never is.’

True Blues – St Mark’s Community Leaders

Continuing the weekly series of ‘True Blue’ figures associated with the early years of Manchester City, here’s an article on the community leaders in St Mark’s, West Gorton, during the development of footballing activities in the 1870s & early 1880s. There are a lot of myths out there! You can find out more below:

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There will be another ‘True Blue’ featured next Monday. Use the tag ‘True Blues’ to find other profiles in this series.

MCFC v LFC 1988

Today (13 March) in 1988 Second Division Manchester City faced Liverpool in the FAC quarter final.  At the time this was seen as a major game, shown live on television and it was full of the usual controversy that these games tend to have. You can read the full story and watch highlights of it here:

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Controversial Goal

Today (12 March) in 1932 the FAC semi between Manchester City and Arsenal ended in a 1-0 last minute winner for the Gunners. This semi was controversial and it had major repercussions for City. You can read the full story (and watch highlights) below:

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Kevin Reeves Joins Manchester City

On this day (11 March) in 1980 Kevin Reeves became the fourth player to be transferred for a million pounds or more (Manchester City had been responsible for 50% of those) when he signed for City. I have interviewed many of the people involved in that deal and you can read quotes from some of those involved (Reeves, Allison & Steve Daley) in my article.

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MCFC V Gornik in 1971

On this day (10 March) in 1971 a crowd reported as 100,000 witnessed a 2-0 Manchester City defeat by Gornik in the ECWC quarter final first leg. The story of that game and the rest of the tie is available below (with video clips) for subscribers to this site.

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FA Cup Progression

On this day (9 March) in 1904 Manchester City took a major step forward in their quest for their first major trophy when they won 3-1 at Middlesbrough in the FAC quarter-final replay. The goalscorers were Billy Gillespie, George Livingstone and Sandy Turnbull.

Subscribers can read all about Tom Maley, City’s manager at the time, here:

True Blues – Tom Maley

History Video: Joshua Parlby and the Launch of MCFC

As promised, here for subscribers is my presentation on Joshua Parlby and the launch of Manchester City FC. It lasts about 58 minutes and was recorded on 1 March 2023. There are lots of myths out there, but I focused on the facts and my latest research. 

The presentation is all about the visionary who promoted a new club to represent Manchester, Manchester City and about the steps taken in 1894. This talk is now only available to subscribers (see below for details of how to subscribe).

Subscribers can also see the previous history talk on St Mark’s and City’s development in the Gorton area during the 1870s and 1880s below.

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