Football writing, thoughts and more by Gary James
The FA Cup helped establish Manchester’s footballing identity – more on that in a minute. On this day in 1948 Manchester United appeared at Wembley for the first time to win the FA Cup. Manchester’s 1st FAC success came in 1904 (City). Before 1948 the Blues had appeared in 3 Wembley finals. Utd’s 1948 success meant 2 FA Cups each.
More on 1904 here:
United beat Blackpool 4-2 in the 1948 final wearing blue.
Continuing the weekly series of ‘True Blue’ figures associated with the early years of Manchester City, here’s an article on the City chairman John Chapman who died in office. You can find out why this man was such an important figure in Manchester City history below:
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).
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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.
Continuing the weekly series of ‘True Blue’ figures associated with the early years of Manchester City, here’s an article on Billy Meredith who was the captain and goalscorer for Manchester’s first major trophy success. You can find out why this man was such an important figure in Manchester City history below:
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).
There will be another ‘True Blue’ featured next Monday. Use the tag ‘True Blues’ to find other profiles in this series.
As a trained historian I am always wary about saying that something is the first or that something’s an absolute fact unless I can properly prove it. It’s important to not jump to assumptions and to act responsibly. The quest to uncover football’s history and ensure the facts not the fiction are recorded drives me on. In addition, I am keen to locate items that can link us directly with a particular moment or achievement. So I’d just like to talk about a few items that I’ve been desperate to locate for several years…
There are many items from Manchester City’s long history that I have been searching for over many, many years. I could write a book about them but here’s the story of a few objects connected with the 1904 FA Cup final and one item I’m after tracking down survived for years and I’ve discovered that it was housed in Burnley for at least 40 years.
Many objects connected with Manchester’s first major trophy success still exist including the original-style FA Cup (housed at the National Football Museum – go and take a look when you can); a watch presented to manager Tom Maley (and some of the others presented to the players); a banner made by members of the Alexander Family (club officials and directors from 1894 through to the modern day; the flag is in City’s archive); players’ medals and various newspaper cuttings and photographs. However, there are three important items that I know existed that have vanished.
I am going to start with the 1904 FA Cup final ball, which was stored in Burnley into the 1950s.
Hillman’s Ball
At the end of the 1904 FA Cup final goalkeeper Jack Hillman charged past an opponent to pick up the ball and claim it as his own. The 1904 FA Cup final became the possession of City’s Hillman and he kept hold of it throughout his life. For many years he had it on display in his sweet shop on Thurston Street, Burnley and it is believed it was still in that building at the time of Hillman’s death in 1952.
According to reports the ball was painted in City’s colours – Cambridge Blue and White was worn for the 1904 final – and was inscribed as the 1904 English Cup winning ball. Back then the FA Cup was more commonly known as the English Cup.
Following Hillman’s death there is uncertainty over what happened to the ball. It seems it stayed in Burnley, so if there’s anyone reading with information please get in touch. If the ball managed to survive into the 1950s then it is possible it is still around somewhere.
I managed to get a Burnley newspaper to do a piece on this a few years back but sadly no one came forward with any information.
Film of the Final
The 1904 FA Cup final was filmed and shown in pubs and exhibition halls for at least a month after the final. Several copies of the film must have existed as it was shown in multiple locations at similar times but, to date, none of these copies have been found. Many photos from the 1904 final (including this one of Meredith scoring) are believed to have been taken from the original footage. In recent years older football films have been located in the north-west and I live in hope that one day a metal film cannister will be found with the words ‘1904 English final’ scrawled across will be identified.
The Players’ Shirts
Not one of the 1904 FA Cup final shirts has ever been found despite many of the players saving other equally important shirts. The 1904 shirt carried no badge and as City played a League game only 2 days after the final and travelled straight to Everton from London, it’s possible the same kit was worn again. Players such as Billy Meredith and Sandy Turnbull did save other important shirts and it’s possible the kits may have stayed within family circles but not recognised for their significance due to the lack of a badge. Frank Booth, a prominent member of the team, died in 1919 and is buried in Denton – maybe his family retained the shirt and it still resides in the region?
If you know of any of these items and can help locate them then please do. The film is probably the one that appeals most to me, but both the ball and a shirt would be great finds too.
You can find out more about 1904 here:
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:
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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DonateContinuing the weekly series of ‘True Blue’ figures associated with the early years of Manchester City, here’s an article on the first manager to bring major trophy success to Manchester – Tom Maley. You can find out why this man was such an important figure in Manchester City history below:
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).
There will be another ‘True Blue’ featured next Monday. Use the tag ‘True Blues’ to find other profiles in this series.
The full series of True Blue profiles will feature:
Lawrence Furniss, John Allison, Joshua Parlby, Walter Chew, William Sumner, Tom Maley, St Mark’s community leaders, Billy Meredith, John Chapman, William Beastow and James Moores.
Here’s 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 was free to download until this morning (9 March). Now it is 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.
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).
Monthly subscribers get access to everything posted since 1 October 2022 and everything to be posted during your subscription. It costs £3 a month (cancel any time).
Choose an amount
Or enter a custom amount
Your contribution is appreciated.
DonateLots said these days about using football as a means of ‘sportswashing’. The basic idea being that politicians and state leaders use football to sell a better image of themselves. The suggestion often made in the media is that this is a recent phenomenon but of course, like so many other things in life, it’s far from new. In fact, as far as football goes there are plenty of examples of politicians or businessmen pushing a particular idea to fans of certain clubs. As Manchester City are often highlighted today by those who are critical of the club’s owners, I thought it would be worth posting this image of a postcard created to promote a Manchester City director’s Conservative campaign.
Chapman was the first chairman for City back in 1894 and years later he died in office during his second spell as City’s chair. As part of his political campaigns he often linked the club’s successes to help present a positive image of success to potential voters. City’s captain Billy Meredith even campaigned for him at times.
Chapman was a decent guy it seems and both his political career and City chairmanship seemed on the whole to be positive for the people of Ardwick, though of course there were critics.
Regardless of how he was viewed it is clear that he did use City’s successes as part of his political campaigns. Nowadays someone would call this sportswashing no doubt, but it does show how people have used their sporting connections to further other ambitions. There’s nothing new in football!
My True Blue profile of Chapman will appear on 27 March 2023. You can read other True Blue profiles of City’s earliest figures by using the True Blue tab below. Thanks.
‘The punishment was the largest ever inflicted, wiping out an entire team, its directors and one of the most charismatic managers of the period.’
‘The League met and representatives of each club voted in favour of the punishment meted out to us being enforced. And while their representatives were passing this pious resolution most of them had other representatives busy trying to persuade the “villains whose punishment had been so well deserved” to sign for them under conditions very much better in most cases than the ones we had been ruled by at Hyde Road.’
These quotes are connected with investigations into Manchester City over 100 years ago when the FA considered the Blues to be a ‘nouveau riche’ club despite incredible support etc. Back then certain clubs who were regarded as the aristocracy of football (that included Aston Villa and Everton back then) were somewhat dissatisfied that Manchester City had come from foundation as MCFC in 1894 to FA Cup winners and League runners up within a decade. Lots of investigations followed with some determined to kill off this challenger. This all sound familiar? Well 118 years ago the largest punishment ever inflicted, wiping out an entire team, its directors and one of the most charismatic managers of the period was imposed on the club.
Below for subscribers is a 4,500 word article written on the topic by me. This is an academic piece, focusing on the facts and was written for an academic publication, not something club specific. The article considers the investigation, the ban and its long terms impact on Manchester football, where Manchester City’s first golden era came to an end but Manchester United’s first golden era followed. A truly transformational period in Manchester’s football story and essential reading for anyone looking at precedents or wanting to understand how football in the city was shaped.
Read this indepth article and access everything else on the site when you subscribe. It costs £20 a year (about £1.67 a month) or £3 a month (see below). Annual subscribers access everything posted to the site since December 2020 (including PDFs of Manchester A Football History & my first book, audio & written interviews, history talks etc.).
It costs £3 a month (cancel anytime) or £20 a year (above) to subscribe. Monthly subscribers access everything posted to the site since 1 October 2022 (including PDFs of books, audio & written interviews, history talks etc.).
Gary James' Football Archive 