Football writing, thoughts and more by Gary James
I’m doing some clearing out of my collection and keep rediscovering some random Manchester football memorabilia. I’ll post some images of them on here from time to time. Today here’s an image of my medal, number and related material from the first City 10K run. It took place on 29 April 1984 (the next one was to be staged on 7 October 1984) and I decided to take part. I won’t tell everybody my time though!
Watch out for more odd items from my collection over the coming weeks.
On this day fifty years ago (8 October 1975) the draw for the fourth round of the League Cup was made. Manchester City were to face newly promoted Manchester United at Maine Road in what would turn out to be both a thrilling night and a deeply saddening night too!
You can find out what happened by reading the following 5,320 word article on the entire 1975-76 season for Manchester City – a season which saw Tony Book guide the club to major success. You can read this below.
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) to access everything posted since 1 October 2022 or there’s a special annual rate below which gives greater access and works out much cheaper.
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (above) or £20 a year (here) to access everything posted since the site was created in December 2020. This special rate works out about £1.67 a week and gives access to everything posted, including PDFs of 3 of my books.
If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:
Choose an amount
Or enter a custom amount
Your contribution is appreciated.
DonateOn this day (7 October) in 1995 this report of the Manchester City-Wycombe League Cup tie played on 4 October. The report was written by journalist Simon Mullock, well-known in the press areas at City and to City fans of course. His report seems a fair reflection of the tie that night. If you’re interested, you can now read more on City’s 1995-96 season below. This was a hugely significant season and this article is almost 5,500 words long.
Yes, I know but we can look back and remember from a position of relative comfortability now!
It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this extraordinary season? As with many of these subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.
Here’s the 5500 word article on that season:
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month or £20 a year to access everything posted since the site was created in December 2020. This special rate works out about £1.67 a week and gives access to everything posted, including PDFs of 3 of my books.
If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read all the other articles? If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:
This map shows the Maine Road area, where Manchester City’s former ground was, before any of the terraced housing was built. The dark blue shape I’ve placed on the map is approximately where the stadium was built. Maine Road was initially known as Dog Kennel Lane and was renamed in stages as terraced housing was built on it. The lane originally had a bend where the current Maine Road ends and the old lane veered off towards modern day Princess Parkway.
I explain a lot more about this in Farewell To Maine Road and in the Big Book of City. In the MCFC match programme a few years back I explained:
Maine Road itself was a relatively insignificant street in 1923, but in the previous century the road had the name ‘Dog Kennel Lane’ and it had for many decades been a fairly significant but meandering route south of the city. The street was renamed in stages when the area was developed during the late 1800s. For years the reason Maine Road was picked was not clear, but in 2009 I discovered the truth.
The Maine Road name came indirectly from the US State of Maine but this was a compromise. The following newspaper article explains: ‘Dog Kennel Lane took its name from the kennel where hounds were kept. It stood on the right-hand side at the bend about a thousand yards from Moss Lane, opposite to the road which tracked off to the left and led to Demesne Farm. The common name of this lane is so common and unattractive that when the Temperance Company bought the Trafford land they asked the local board to change the name to Demesne Road, and the subject was compromised by calling it Maine Road out of compliment to the Temperance principles of the petitioners.’
The idea of the Temperance movement was to discourage people from drinking alcohol. On 2 June 1851 the State of Maine passed the first recognised prohibition law, and two years later the United Kingdom Alliance was founded in Manchester, pledging to badger Parliament to outlaw liquor in England.
The ‘Temperance Company’ mentioned in the article was actually part of the movement and had bought some land at the top of Dog Kennel Lane – this area is close to the junction with Moss Lane East. They wanted to create a better standard of living and within that area they erected buildings in keeping with their approach to life, such as the Temperance Billiard Hall. However, the ‘Dog Kennel Lane’ name was clearly an issue and so the selection of the name ‘Maine Road’ was made. So the name Maine Road refers to the US State and the part that Maine played in the Temperance movement.
If you’d like to read more on the history of Maine Road, take a look at Farewell To Maine Road, which can be downloaded from this page:
Choose an amount
Or enter a custom amount
Your contribution is appreciated.
DonateOn this day (5 October) in 1949 it was reported that ‘Berg’ Trautmann had signed for Manchester City. They of course meant Bert Trautmann but seeing as Berg translates to mountain it seems appropriate for a man who often stood as City’s greatest defensive rock.
You can read plenty of stories about Trautmann on this website. Here’s a link to those tagged with his name:
On this day (4 October) in 1949 it was reported that Frank Swift went to Strangeways prison… to talk to inmates about football. He assumed he would be just talking to the male prisoners but there was so much interest from the female inmates that he spent some time with them first. He talked about his career; City and United and whether Billy Meredith or Stanley Matthews was the greatest all-time forward apparently.
Forty years ago (4 October 1985) it was reported in Drogheda that their talented local footballer Stephen Staunton was being watched by Manchester City. The feeling was that the player may be signed by the Blues, however when City were due to watch him play in a second game (a specially arranged match) the scout had to cancel his trip at the last minute!
Defender Steve Staunton signed for Liverpool a year later and eventually became most famous for his time at Aston Villa and with the Republic of Ireland.
On this day (2 October) in 1920 Bolton Wanderers were defeated by Manchester City 3-1 with goals from Tommy Browell, Fred Fayers and Wilf Woodcock. A crowd recorded as 40,000 at the time watched the match at Hyde Road.
For more on this season why not read the following 2,350 word subscriber article. If you subscribe (see below) I hope you enjoy it. If you are not currently a subscriber then why not try it for a month (£3 per month or sign up for a year at a discounted £20 per year)?
Here’s the article:
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 a month (cancel anytime) or sign up for a year at £20 per year. Subscribers have access to the 1000s of articles, features, interviews etc. posted so far and all those posted during your subscription.
As well as subscriber pieces this series on the 1920s includes some free articles. Watch out for a daily post.
On this day (1 October) in 2011 Manchester City faced Blackburn in the Premier at Ewood Park. Here’s a few words I wrote on that game a few years ago:
At Blackburn on 1st October the home side tried to stifle Mancini’s men for some time. In fact City sat back and took stock of the situation throughout the first half as a negative Blackburn team seemed happy to kill the game at every opportunity. In the second half, as often the case during the opening months of the season, the Blues had total control and ten minutes after the interval Johnson made it 1-0.
Balotelli sent Nasri’s cross home three minutes later, before Nasri added a third and Savić headed City’s fourth. City fans, who had sung Roberto Mancini’s name at various points before and during the match, were in full voice at the end while the Blackburn supporters chanted for the dismissal of their boss Steve Kean. Post match Mancini’s assistant David Platt faced the press: ‘It was the result we were looking for to put Bayern Munich to bed.’
City had lost 2-0 at Munich in their previous game. Here are highlights of the Blackburn match:
On this day (30 September 1985) forty years ago Manchester City manager Billy McNeill highlighted the need for his club to spend if they hoped to stay in the top flight. The Blues had been promoted in May and McNeill felt the squad needed strengthening. City did survive in 1985-86 (in fact they reached a Wembley final) but McNeill’s concerns were valid. The following couple of seasons would see City rely on talented young players coming through the ranks, alongside some seasoned professionals, but many felt the club needed to spend to survive. Unfortunately they were relegated in 1987, by which time McNeill had left, frustrated by City’s lack of investment in the first team.
The 1980s was a truly important decade in the history of Manchester City Football Club and you can find out more on this season by reading the following 2,500 word feature on 1985-86 (available to subscribers). Enjoy!
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) to access everything posted since 1 October 2022 or £20 a year to access everything posted since the site was created in December 2020. This special rate works out about £1.67 a week and gives access to everything posted, including PDFs of 3 of my books.
If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:
Tomorrow’s feature is on the 1986-87 season. If you missed the earlier features then start here:
The 1980s: 1980-1981 Gow, Hutchison & McDonald
Gary James' Football Archive 