On this day (9 October) in 1912 the Daily Citizen (not a MCFC publication!) claimed that Manchester City FC was the ‘oldest’ Manchester club. At the time there were plenty of people around who had been involved with the establishment of both Manchester Football League Clubs and so it seems logical to me that we listen to these views. Both clubs were newly formed organisations in 1894 (City) and 1902 (Utd) though both claims roots going back decades earlier. In their earlier incarnations City’s earliest known game is in Nov 1880, as is United’s (one week later). More on this elsewhere on the site and in my book The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919.
On this day (31 August) in 1948 the death was announced of Walter Chew, a man associated with the first known season of St Mark’s (though there are serious doubts on whether the 16 year old played in the earliest known game based on his own comments). St Mark’s is vital in the development of Manchester City. Chew was a key figure in the club’s formative years but there are some myths out there about him and that time. His obituary above is from August 1948 which says he was 84 at the time of his death. You can find out more about Chew and the latest research below:
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Here’s a photo of the Rev Arthur Connell who was the rector at St Mark’s Church in West Gorton when the boys of the parish established the club’s first association football team. That team continued (via a number of incarnations, reformations etc.) to become Ardwick AFC, the predecessor of Manchester City. Arthur and his family established many pioneering activities in the parish with the hope of improving the lives of ordinary working class inhabitants. Savings banks, libraries, soup kitchens etc. It was a grim life for many at the time. I’ve written about this extensively over the years and much can be found elsewhere on this site. Why not subscribe and read everything? Here’s another image of Connell, a bit younger here.
If you enjoy all the free material on my website and would like to support my research and keep this website going (but don’t want to subscribe) then why not make a one-time donation (or buy me a coffee). All support for my research is valued and welcome. It allows me to keep some free material available for all. Thanks.
There are not many blue plaques in Manchester dedicated to football – There’s the Manchester Corinthians blue plaque (see elsewhere on this site for details of the campaign); the Football League first meeting (a red plaque); Newton Heath’s first pitch (a red plaque which is the standard colour for Manchester sites); the Fallowfield FA Cup final (black if I remember right) and that’s about it. Oh, there’s also the Bank Street plaque for United’s former home (just behind the velodrome/BMX centre). There used to be one to mark Manchester City’s birth positioned on the Aces public house close to Clowes Street in West Gorton BUT this vanished shortly after the pub closed many years ago. This image shows the plaque as it looked when I took this photo in the early 2000s. It’s seeing this plaque years ago that first got me thinking about marking footballing sites in Manchester.
What happened to it? It was obviously stolen but where is it today?
It was positioned incorrectly and should have been a few streets away to mark the actual first pitch of St Mark’s or maybe even the church itself.
If anyone knows where this plaque is today then please get in touch. Incidentally, I think the plaque marking United’s Newton Heath birth is missing too but I’ve not checked on it recently.
There are other plaques around Greater Manchester connected with football, for example the one at Stalybridge for Bert Whalley (again, see elsewhere on the site for the details of that).
Here’s a brief cutting from October 1912 which mentions that Manchester City FC was the ‘oldest’ Manchester club. At the time there were plenty of people around who had been involved with the establishment of both Manchester Football League Clubs and so it seems logical to me that we listen to these views. Both clubs were newly formed organisations in 1894 (City) and 1902 (Utd) though both claims roots going back decades earlier. In their earlier incarnations City’s earliest known game is in Nov 1880, as is United’s (one week later). More on this elsewhere on the site and in my book The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919.
Continuing here: the story of Manchester City’s origins. Today’s feature is a 3,300+ word feature on the earliest known game, played in November 1880. Have a look elsewhere on the site for other content on this period.
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If you enjoy all the free material on my website and would like to support my research and keep this website going (but don’t want to subscribe) then why not make a one-time donation (or buy me a coffee). All support for my research is valued and welcome. It allows me to keep some free material available for all. Thanks.
Continuing here: the story of Manchester City’s origins. Today’s feature is on the late 1870s. Association football clubs were in existence in Manchester during this period and the steps that led to the formation of St Mark’s West Gorton occurred too. Below is a 2,500+ word article on that period and the latest part of a series looking at Manchester City’s origins prior to 1890.
Already there are seasonal articles on every season from 1890-91 (Ardwick) through to 2009-10 and now, throughout February, I’ll be adding the history of the Club prior to 1890. I’ll be telling via a series of articles the story of key individuals/origins/moments that contributed to the establishment of a football club. The series continues below with this feature on the late 1870s.
Subscribe to get access
These articles will be available to subscribers to this site. It costs £3 per month (cancel any time) or sign up for a year for the discounted price of £20 per year (works out about £1.67 a month to access every article on this site). To date in excess of 1,500 articles/features have been posted including interviews, talks and more.
If you enjoy all the free material on my website and would like to support my research and keep this website going (but don’t want to subscribe) then why not make a one-time donation (or buy me a coffee). All support for my research is valued and welcome. It allows me to keep some free material available for all. Thanks.
As promised yesterday, here for the next 24 hours (9 February 2026 noon to 10 February 2026 noon) is a video of my presentation on the origins of Manchester City FC, focusing on St Mark’s & the club’s development prior to its re-birth as Ardwick AFC for you to enjoy. It lasts about 1 hour and was recorded on 1 February 2023. There are lots of myths out there, but I focused on the facts and my latest research:
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Discover the role William Chew (that’s right William!) played in the birth of the club and the story of Belle Vue Rangers, an often overlooked part of Manchester City history.
The presentation was filmed on 1 February 2023 and is all about the origins prior to 1887. This talk is available for 24 hours and then will be available to subscribers (see below for details of how to subscribe).
If you enjoyed that then the next one in the series is available for subscribers here:
Annual subscribers get access to everything posted since December 2020 (interviews, history talks, articles, PDFs of books etc.) and everything to be posted during your subscription. It costs £20 a year (about 5p a day).
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It’s now almost 40 years since I first started detailed research into the history of Manchester City and its origins, and it’s an area that is still fascinating. I still keep being asked about the origins of Manchester City, particularly the period prior to 1894 and I love the fact so many are interested in the steps that led to the establishment of what has become a major, global footballing power. I’ve posted much about those early years on this site but I know it’s often in a scattered style making it difficult to find, so here for those interested, are links to past articles on key figures and moments in the St Mark’s, West Gorton, Gorton AFC, Ardwick & associated clubs’ history. Tomorrow from noon for 24 hours I’ll be giving free access to a video I did a while back on the origins (details of the video lower down this page).
Firstly, the earliest known game (note: not necessarily the first game!):
Walter Chew, a man occasionally described as ‘The Father of Manchester City’ (though he himself tells a different story and in a 1920s interview told his eye witness story of who the actual founder was):
A man every Blue should know about, Lawrence Furniss. A player with Gorton, Ardwick secretary-manager, MCFC director, chairman responsible for move to Maine Road, Life President when City won the title in 1937. He saw it all and was involved from the 1880s through to 1940s when he died:
The facts not the fiction…. There are so many myths, assumptions, exaggerations etc. doing the rounds so hopefully this piece I wrote a few years back helps to explain:
On 1 February 2023 I performed an online talk on the latest research into the origins of City, focusing on the period prior to 1887 when the club was based in the West Gorton and Gorton areas. Tomorrow from noon I’ll post this for all to see for free for 24 hours, but if you can’t wait or miss it then it is already available here for subscribers to the site:
There are still many gaps in our knowledge even though material has been rediscovered in recent years. There are some things we won’t know but over the coming weeks I’ll post more on the early years. Some will be available to all, some to subscribers but I’m sure there’ll be lots out there to enjoy.
In the meantime why not search the website or use the tags to see articles on the period prior to 1894. Every season of the 1890s for example has a detailed article written about it while individual games, players and related stories are also included within the thousands of posts on this site. Here’s a link to the 1890-91 season for example:
The origins of Manchester City, like many other clubs, have been misunderstood or incorrectly reported over the years and there are many areas of ongoing research that will fill the gaps over the coming years. It takes time and effort to research at the level needed. When I first started researching there were some stories that had been passed down for years that have since been challenged and corrected but there are many other areas to reflect on. There are, of course, many other areas where further research is still needed.
For years I’ve worked with a variety of people on the origins of City (one of the key elements of my PhD research was on the origins of men’s and women’s football in Manchester and my research into this continues). In the 2010s MCFC set up a research group called Project Blue which I willingly helped and explained the myths that exist and what we still don’t know. The following slide was part of a lengthy presentation I performed on 14 December 2011 on that where I explained how we got where we were at the time and those who had worked together on uncovering the club’s early history.
One of my slides presented to the history research group Project Blue on research into Manchester City’s origins on 14 December 2011
I was always grateful to Dennis Chapman, John Maddocks and Ray Goble who welcomed me into their ‘club’ of research and others, such as Dave Masey who, like me, was a member of the Association of Football Statisticians. Dave continues to help my research. Thanks to these guys and others when I was starting out I have tried to ensure I help and support others researching. The more we research and share, the greater our collective knowledge.
There is still much to be done and sadly lots we will never know.
Whatever research is uncovered over the coming years one thing is clear and that is the history and origins of Manchester City are wrapped up in community initiatives and a desire by some to use football as a positive, community building enterprise. People like William Sumner, Walter & William Chew, Lawrence Furniss and Joshua Parlby should always be remembered for their part in the formative years of football in our city.
There is much research still to be done. If you’d like to support this research then please subscribe to the site and you’ll have access to hundreds of articles, interviews, talks etc. You could join for a month and see what you think.
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Monthly subscribers access everything posted since 1 October 2022 and can cancel anytime. All subscribers access everything posted during their subscription too.
If you enjoy all the free material on my website and would like to support my research and keep this website going (but don’t want to subscribe) then why not make a one-time donation (or buy me a coffee). All support for my research is valued and welcome. It allows me to keep some free material available for all. Thanks.
On this day (31 August) in 1948 the death was announced of Walter Chew, a man associated with the first known season of St Mark’s (though there are serious doubts on whether the 16 year old played in the earliest known game based on his own comments). St Mark’s is vital in the development of Manchester City. Chew was a key figure in the club’s formative years but there are some myths out there about him and that time. His obituary above is from August 1948 which says he was 84 at the time of his death. You can find out more about Chew and the latest research below:
Subscribe to get access – Annual
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. Annual subscribers can access all the articles, talks, books and interviews posted since December 2020 for an annual subscription of £20 (works out about £1.67 per month). There’s also a monthly subscription (see below).
Monthly subscribers can access all the articles, talks, books and interviews posted since 1 October 2022 for a monthly subscription of £3 (cancel any time).
