Football writing, thoughts and more by Gary James
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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Continuing 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.
Lots 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.).
Continuing the series of ‘True Blue’ figures associated with the early years of Manchester City, here’s an article on John Allison who was a key figure with Ardwick AFC, Manchester City, Salford Harriers and also at Celtic. 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).
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.
In recent years many night games played across football have seen light shows. Manchester City have established a few of these at the Etihad Stadium too. The spectacle has proved popular, particularly with young supporters who are perhaps experiencing a night match for the first time. For today’s subscriber piece I have written a 2000 word article on the history of pre-match entertainment at Manchester City. There are mentions of the St Joseph’s Industrial School and Beswick Prize Bands, various DJs, athletic challenges, Norman Wisdom, Frank Sidebottom & more. Enjoy:
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £20 a year (less than 6p a day) to access everything posted since the site went live in December 2020 (books, interviews, videos, history talks etc.) and throughout your period of subscription. Or you can subscribe a month at a time for £3 (cancel anytime; see below)
Monthly subscribers have access to everything posted since 1 October 2022 (books, interviews, videos, history talks etc.) and throughout your period of subscription. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime)
It’s Manchester City v Arsenal on Friday. The first FA Cup tie between these clubs came in 1904 and was part of Manchester’s first major trophy winning campaign. The two sides met at Arsenal in the second round of the competition. Back then City were a top flight team while Woolwich Arsenal were in the Second Division and some reports talked of the Gunners being envious of Manchester City and their status (how often do modern interpretations of a club’s status forget the game’s full history hey?). Arsenal had defeated Fulham 1-0 in the previous round.
The Blues defeated the Gunners 2-0 with goals from Sandy Turnbull and Frank Booth, prompting the Manchester Evening News to print a cartoon of Billy Meredith leapfrogging over the Gunners while Tom Maley, dressed in kilt, watches.
Outside-left Frank Booth, one of the scorers, had joined City in April 1902 making his first appearance for the Club in a friendly with Celtic on 1 September 1902. That friendly appearance brought a little bad luck to the player as fairly early on in the match he accidentally collided with Celtic’s Right-back Hugh Watson causing him to leave the field for twenty minutes or so. When he returned however he seemed more determined than ever to prove what he was capable of and, when a chance came his way, he scored what was described as a “very fine” goal to give City a 1-0 victory.
Throughout Booth’s career prior to the Arsenal game he had been rather unlucky with injuries and, at times, must have seriously considered concentrating on a life outside of the sport. He was a hatter by trade, coming from the local hatting areas surrounding the towns of Hyde and Denton, and had only completed his apprenticeship in 1903. Nevertheless a career in football had to be more appealing than life in one of the large hatting factories of east Manchester.
Here’s a brief cutting mentioning the game. Note also the difficulties being experienced by Second Division Manchester United (again, how often do modern day commentators on the game’s history forget the full history?).
After the tie with Arsenal at Plumstead, George Robey, a very famous Music Hall comedian with a love of football, took the City team to visit the capital’s top Music Halls. Such light relief was needed in the City camp as the realisation was now dawning that the Blues might seriously be contenders for the League and Cup double that at this point in history had only been achieved by Preston (1889) and Aston Villa (1897).
For a side (indeed a city) whose only national success so far had been to win the Second Division, this must have felt like an impossible dream but, as the season progressed it became increasingly possible.
You can read about what happened next here:
The next FA Cup meeting between the teams didn’t come until 1932 when they met in at the semi-final stage.
You can read all about that here:
Since 1932 the sides have met in the competition on 17/2/1971 at Maine Road (a 2-1 Arsenal win); the 2017 semi-final (2-1 aet for Arsenal); and again in the 2020 semi played on 18 July 2020 (a 2-0 Arsenal win).
A City FA Cup win over Arsenal is long overdue!
It’s the return of the FA Cup tonight with Manchester United facing Everton. It’s always worth reminding ourselves of the significance of the FA Cup to Manchester and the story of Manchester’s first major trophy success. The captain and goalscorer of the first triumph by Manchester in 1904 was the great Billy Meredith. In 2021 following the purchase of the oldest surviving FA Cup by Sheikh Mansour (to loan to the National Football Museum) I helped Manchester City with the story of the cup and its significance to Manchester. They’ve produced a video telling the story and it can be viewed here:
https://www.mancity.com/citytv/mens/manchesters-first-trophy-1904-fa-cup-documentary-63745781
For more on the significance of this FA Cup trophy check out the category 1903-04 in the drop down list below.
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