Category Archives: Players

IN SEARCH OF THE BLUES – Ron Healey (interviewed November 2004)

Ron Healey made his goalkeeping debut for City in 1971 at the age of 18.  This was a mixed period for goalkeepers at City and Healey’s opportunities became limited.  He did manage to appear in 36 League, cup and European games for the Blues and gained a great deal of positive coverage, however he moved on to Cardiff City in 1974. Gary James met up with him at City’s museum in November 2004. Here’s that interview:

Subscribe to get access

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. You can subscribe at either £20 per year (above) or at £3 per month here (cancel any time). If you’d like to support my research then why not subscribe? Every subscription directly helps support my research and provides annual subscribers with access to everything posted on this site, including the entire Manchester A Football History and From Maine Men To Banana Citizens books, plus interviews, articles and more. I am not employed by anyone and all my research is self funded or comes from subscriptions to this site.

Subscribe

Subscribe to get access

You can subscribe at either £20 per year (above) or at £3 per month here (cancel any time). For those subscribing £3 per month you will be able to access all content from October 2022 onwards for as long as you are a subscriber. Those subscribing £20 a year have access to everything posted since December 2020.

Subscribe

A Shock Transfer From Spurs

Today (5 November) marks the anniversary of a shock transfer of an England international from Tottenham to Manchester City only a few days before an England game. The player even travelled on the Tottenham coach to Manchester as the two teams were about to play each other. You can read the story and match reports here:

Subscribe to get access

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. If you’d like to support my research then why not subscribe? Every subscription directly helps support my research and provides annual subscribers with access to everything posted on this site, including the entire Manchester A Football History and From Maine Men To Banana Citizens books, plus interviews, articles and more. I am not employed by anyone and all my research is self funded or comes from subscriptions to this site. £20 per year or £3 per month.

Subscribe

Subscribe to get access

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. You can subscribe at either £20 per year (above) or at £3 per month here (cancel any time). For those subscribing £3 per month you will be able to access all content from October 2022 onwards for as long as you are a subscriber. Those subscribing £20 a year have access to everything posted since December 2020.

Subscribe

MANCHESTER CITY – HALL OF FAME: Tommy Johnson

“I don’t know what to say, I know he’d be very proud.   I’m proud, and I know he was delighted to play with so many great footballers. When he won the record for most goals in a season, he never said it was his record because he felt it belonged to the entire team.  Whenever they talked about it he always said that it was shared between 25 blokes.  He said ‘they all helped me to score, I only finished it’.  I’m so pleased with this recognition for him.  Thank you.” Alan Johnson, son of Tommy receiving the Hall of Fame award in January 2004

Subscribe to get access

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. If you’d like to support my research then why not subscribe? Every subscription directly helps support my research and provides annual subscribers with access to everything posted on this site, including the entire Manchester A Football History and From Maine Men To Banana Citizens books, plus interviews, articles and more. I am not employed by anyone and all my research is self funded or comes from subscriptions to this site.

Subscribe

Subscribe to get access

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. You can subscribe at either £20 per year (above) or at £3 per month here (cancel any time). For those subscribing £3 per month you will be able to access all content from October 2022 onwards for as long as you are a subscriber. Those subscribing £20 a year have access to everything posted since December 2020.

Subscribe

IN SEARCH OF THE BLUES – Frank Carrodus (interviewed September 2004)

Midfielder Frank Carrodus joined Manchester City in November 1969.  Over the course of the following five years Frank made a total of 37 appearances plus ten as substitute before joining Aston Villa in July 1974.  Gary James caught up with him at the City Social in September 2004 to discuss his career. Here for subscribers is that interview.

Subscribe to get access

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. If you’d like to support my research then why not subscribe? Every subscription directly helps support my research and provides annual subscribers with access to everything posted on this site, including the entire Manchester A Football History and From Maine Men To Banana Citizens books, plus interviews, articles and more. I am not employed by anyone and all my research is self funded or comes from subscriptions to this site.

Subscribe

Subscribe to get access

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. You can subscribe at either £20 per year (above) or at £3 per month here (cancel any time). For those subscribing £3 per month you will be able to access all content from October 2022 onwards for as long as you are a subscriber. Those subscribing £20 a year have access to everything posted since December 2020.

Subscribe

Leeds City Auction

On this day (17 October) 1919 defender Thomas Lamph was bought in an auction of Leeds City players by Manchester City. Leeds City had collapsed due to financial issues. A little over 6 years after joining City Lamph died in Leeds at the age of 33.

A Manchester City Death in 2002

On this day (13 October) in 2002 Fifties goalscoring star Billy McAdams died. During his Manchester City career he made 134 first team appearances and scored 65 goals. He had joined City on 6 December 1953 and on 2 January 1954 McAdams, signed from Distillery, made his debut. It was a memorable one as he scored an equaliser in the 49th minute against Sunderland at Maine Road.  The game was played in poor, foggy conditions but City won.

A week after the Sunderland game, McAdams scored a hat-trick in City’s 5-2 Cup win at Bradford.  He followed that with an equaliser in the 56th League derby match at Old Trafford.  His arrival and goalscoring streak was viewed as refreshing that season..

I’ll be writing a little bit more on McAdams in my article in the Manchester City match programme v Brighton next week.

Woo Gordon Davies

On this day (10 October) in 1985 Chelsea forward Gordon Davies joined Manchester City (the team he supported; his hero was Colin Bell). Davies made 3 Welsh international appearances while at City. There was a chant connected with him which was, err, well, typical 1980s. It was based on the ‘Woo Gary Davies, woo Gary Davies, woo Gary Davies on the ra-di-o’ jingle used by Radio One DJ Gary Davies (of course). The chant (I’m sure you can guess) went ‘Woo Gordon Davies, woo Gordon Davies, woo Gordon Davies in the ar-e-a’ (meaning penalty area of course!). Those were the days, hey?

Subscribe to get access

Enjoying this website? Fancy supporting my research into Manchester football history? Why not subscribe? Every subscription directly helps support my research and provides each annual subscriber with access to everything posted on this site, including the entire Manchester A Football History and From Maine Men To Banana Citizens books, plus interviews, articles and more. I am not employed by anyone and all my research is self funded or comes from subscriptions to this site.

Subscribe

Subscribe to get access

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. You can subscribe at either £20 per year (above) or at £3 per month here (cancel any time). For those subscribing £3 per month you will be able to access all content from October 2022 onwards for as long as you are a subscriber. Those subscribing £20 a year have access to everything posted since December 2020.

Subscribe

On This Day – Francis Lee

On this day (9 October) in 1967 Francis Lee finally signed for Manchester City from Bolton Wanderers. Heres a long profile of Lee I’ve written on him:

Subscribe to get access

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £20 a year to get full access to everything on this site throughout their subscription. have a search and see whats available.

Subscribe

Subscribe to get access

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. You can subscribe at either £20 per year (above) or at £3 per month here (cancel any time). For those subscribing £3 per month you will be able to access all content from October 2022 onwards for as long as you are a subscriber. Those subscribing £20 a year have access to everything posted since December 2020.

Subscribe

Bobby Johnstone – Better than Carter, Doherty, Finney, Steele or Matthews?

On this day (22 September) in 1959 Manchester City’s Cup final hero Bobby Johnstone returned to his former club Hibernian after 50 goals in 137 first team appearances for the Blues. Here are a few details on him and a quote saying he was better than Stanley Matthews, Tom Finney & others. Enjoy…

At the start of that season there had been indications that 29 year old Johnstone was nearing the end of his Maine Road career.  He had made only 18 League appearances and scored four goals during the 1958-9 season and, although he was vital in a number of games, City were beginning to look to a future without him.  Les McDowall had already started looking at a nineteen year old striker playing for Huddersfield.  He appeared to offer a great deal, the only problem was the price.  City would have to pay a considerable amount to sign the young, exciting forward.  His name?  Denis Law. It would take McDowall some time to sign the youngster, but as the close season began he considered City’s strengths and weaknesses. City was in a period of transition.  Old campaigners like Johnstone were on their way out.  Indeed he left for a fee of £7,000 on this day in 1959.

Later Roy Warhurst, the City half-back signed from Birmingham during the 1957 close season, described the Scotsman as the greatest player he ever saw: ‘Johnstone was the greatest footballer I ever played with or against. I was 29 when I came to City and I’d seen all Britain’s best. But there was nobody to compare with Bobby, when he felt like turning it on. Not even Carter, Doherty, Finney, Billy Steele or Matthews. They couldn’t touch him.

‘My first game for City was a tour game in Holland. Bobby was brilliant. As the locals cheered him off the park I kept thinking “this is some great outfit I’ve joined.”  It was the greatest display I’ve seen from any player that night.’

It is widely known about Bobby’s goals in the 1955 & 1956 FA Cup finals but here’s a couple in a thrilling game v Newcastle in 1957. City lost 5-4 but it’s well worth watching for the drama of it all. Look out for the crowd scenes, especially the exaggerated acting by a lad after about 1min 25 seconds who spills his drink!

https://www.britishpathe.com/video/man-city-v-newcastle-aka-manchester-city-4-v-newca

Subscribe to get access

If you have enjoyed this then why not subscribe? I am not employed by anyone and subscribing to this site gives you access to the hundreds of articles, interviews, videos and other stuff, including two of my out of print books (Manchester A Football History and From Maine Men To Banana Citizens). It works out about £1.67 per month and you get a guaranteed 4 new articles every week (in truth it’s a lot more than that – have a look back at what’s been posted). If you do subscribe, thanks for helping fund research into football’s history.

Subscribe