Category Archives: Manchester City

The Noel Gallagher Interview

It seems an appropriate time to re-release this… Back on Thursday May 20 2021 I interviewed Noel Gallagher about his support of Manchester City, Pep, Europe and more. It was great for two Mancs of a similar age to get together to chat about City. I really enjoyed it.

Here’s part one:

Part two:


Part three:

Part four:
https://gjfootballarchive.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/noel-gallagher-part-4-1.mp3

Part five:


Thanks to Noel and the staff at his studios & office for making this happen.

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Former Manchester City Manager Sven-Goran Eriksson Has Died

Former City and England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has died at the age of 76. My thoughts are with is family and friends.

Back in 2007 Sven arrived at Manchester City and brought positivity, entertainment and so much more in an extraordinary season. The season began with a great start which included City defeating Fergie’s United 1-0 in Sven’s first derby. His City career ended with him having a 100% win record in the derby. Here’s a video of Geovanni’s goal:

Thanks Sven for a great season.

Maine Road

On this day (August 25) in 1923 Maine Road staged its first game. Two decades later it staged the first World Cup match in England and the decade after that the first European Cup game in England. It still holds the record provincial crowd and the record for a game on a club ground in England, and for eighty years it was the home of Manchester City. Here’s a look at the life of Maine Road.

Here for subscribers is a 2,000 word piece on City’s former home. It corrects a few myths (the ‘Wembley of the North – pah! It was better than that when it opened!).

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Here’s the article:

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MCFC v Ipswich: Gow Goal

This weekend it’s Manchester City v Ipswich. My new series of programme articles starts on Saturday. It’s a 2 page feature in which I find a photo from City’s past and then explain the image and talk about those involved and the moment itself. I’ll leave everyone to guess which image has been selected but before then here’s another image from a City-Ipswich match.

This is from 6 December 1980. It’s a photo of tenacious Gerry Gow scoring against Bobby Robson’s Ipswich Town at Maine Road.

City were losing 1-0 and then in the 76th minute a scramble in the visitors penalty area saw Phil Boyer (centre of this photo) battling for the ball close to future City ‘keeper Paul Cooper. In the end it’s Gerry Gow, on the right being challenged by John Wark, who digs out the ball and sends it goalwards to make it 1-1.

This was a season of classic games against Ipswich, who were chasing a potential treble trophy success. You can read about the others if you’re a subscriber. Subscribers can read the following ten thousand word long read on the 1980-81 season. Enjoy!

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MCFC V Ipswich: Abandoned Match

The last two games abandoned at Maine Rd were actually both meetings between City and Ipswich. Here’s a reminder of one of them. It’s the 3 January 1994 meeting. After 39 minutes City’s game with Ipswich Town was abandoned with the Blues winning 2-0.  The scorers were Vonk and Ingebrigtsen – his only League goal for the Blues was expunged from the records as a result!

The referee David Elleray angered the City players, especially Tony Coton, by abandoning the tie due to a waterlogged pitch.  As a fan I wasn’t particularly happy either! The pitch had been appalling at the kick-off and perhaps the game should not have commenced.  Naturally, it was a big disappointment at the time.

As I mentioned, I was at this abandoned game in the ‘new’ Platt Lane Stand. Were you also at Maine Road that day? If so why not leave your memory as a comment or email it to me for possible future use on this website?

You can read more on the 1993-94 season here:

Manchester City Season – 1993-94

The Birth of a Manchester City Chant

Manchester City meeting Ipswich this weekend is a nice reminder that a fixture between the two almost 50 years ago made an enormous contribution to the birth of a City chant. That chant is still sung today and is known as either the Viking Call or ‘The Best Team In The Land…’

Chanting at football games is rarely documented correctly with many myths, rumours and stories developing over the years. Te following feature is designed to give a potted overview of the development of singing at City and tells the story and part Ipswich played in it:

Now, for subscribers is an 1800 word article on the history and development of chants at Manchester City:

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David White Double v Liverpool

On this day (21 August) a Wednesday night meeting with Liverpool ended in a 2-1 victory for Manchester City. You can see highlights of the game (and relive the days of night matches on the Kippax/at Maine Rd) including two David White goals here:

Swift Return

On this day (20 August) in 1949 Frank Swift was talked out of retirement following health problems with Manchester City ‘keeper Alec Thurlow.  Swift’s return match ended in a 3-3 draw at home to Aston Villa, watched by 43,196.  Here for subscribers is a profile of Alec Thurlow (Unfortunately, it’s a sad story!):

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Sven’s First Manchester Derby

On this day (19 August) in 2007 Sven’s Manchester City defeated Fergie’s United 1-0 in Sven’s first derby since joining City that summer. His City career ended with him having a 100% win record in the derby. Here’s a video of Geovanni’s goal:

Chelsea v City

It’s Chelsea v Manchester City today. There are lots of features on this site about the two clubs such as this one talking about Alan Oakes’ debut:

Oakes’ Debut Game

Other features on City & Chelsea games can be read here:

https://gjfootballarchive.com/tag/chelsea/