Category Archives: 1925-26

Maine Road 100 – Day 35

It’s day 35 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game and today’s images are a reminder of the first Manchester derby played at Maine Road.

The game, played on 12 September 1925 (United had been in the Second Division when City first moved to Maine Road), saw City & United draw 1-1 before 66,000. This was at the time the highest Manchester derby crowd ever. It was later eclipsed with the record on a club ground being 78,000 (Maine Road). There have been higher at Wembley of course.

Sam Cowan scored for City and Clatworthy Rennox for United. Later this season the return derby at Old Trafford saw City win 6-1:

6-1 Old Trafford Derby

These images show Cowan’s goal and a drawing of the game’s highlights. Note the crowd references in the drawing.

Guess which game I’m going to cover tomorrow…. This was the first derby at Maine Road. Maybe it’s time to remember the last one?

For those unfamiliar with Maine Road this photo may help locate the end Cowan’s goal was scored at. In the days before the Popular Side (later Kippax) was roofed this was the goal mouth at the Platt Lane end (number 3/5) with the unroofed terracing beyond the players being located around number 8.

Maine Road aerial 1971 from Farewell To Maine Road

If you’d like to read more on the history of Maine Road, take a look at Farewell To Maine Road, which can be downloaded from this page:

Farewell To Maine Road – Part One

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An All-Manchester Semi-Final

On this day (27 March) in 1926 the first FA Cup semi-final between Manchester City and Manchester United ended 3-0 to the Blues.  The match was played at Bramall Lane.  The Blues were managerless for this game – Assistant Chairman Albert Alexander senior took on most of the manager’s duties between November and April. Subscribers can read more about that game below:

Decisive Derbies – The First All-Manchester Semi-Final 1926

Managerless City in 15 Goal Thriller

Today (20 February) in 1926 Manchester City recorded an amazing victory. It was a fifth round FA Cup tie with Crystal Palace to Maine Road. The Blues, without a manager since November, were being managed by committee with director Albert Alexander senior making the final decisions. It’s an incredible thought that a director without ever being known as a player, could make these decisions but Alexander was a knowledgeable football man and had been with the club since formation in 1894.

By half-time the score was 7-0 to the Blues, but Palace would not give up and quickly pulled back four goals.  City were knocked out of their period of complacency and soon found their goalscoring touch again.  By the end it was 11-4 and, according to a number of spectators present on the day, Manchester fans rushed on at the final whistle and carried off the Palace ‘keeper shoulder high.  Apparently he had played extremely well and, somehow, managed to keep the score down, although one cannot help wondering if he’d have been given such a reception had the scores been reversed.

Frank Roberts was the City star for this particular game, scoring a remarkable five, while Tommy Browell also earned a few plaudits with his hat-trick. With no management and such a miserable time in the League, no one could believe how City had been able to deliver such strong cup performances.  Here’s film of the game:

https://www.britishpathe.com/video/crystal-palace-overwhelmed

6-1 Old Trafford Derby

On this day (23 January) in 1926 Manchester United were defeated 6-1 at Old Trafford by managerless Manchester City. This remains the record score in a Manchester derby match (equalled of course during Mancini’s time as manager of Manchester City).

More on the game for subscribers here:

Decisive Derbies – 23 January 1926 MUFC v MCFC

Sadly, highlights of that game are not known to have survived, but here’s the first All-Manchester FA Cup semi-final played between the two teams that same season:

https://www.britishpathe.com/video/an-all-lancashire-cup-final/

I doubt there’s anyone alive who was at either of these Manchester derbies, though I am aware of fans who would have been young children at tbis time. If you were there please get in touch, or if you were why at the later 6-1 City victory at Old Trafford then why not leave your memory as a comment or email it to me for possible future use on this website?

Decisive Derbies – The First All-Manchester Semi-Final 1926

It was a typical season of highs and lows when City and United met in the first all-Manchester FA Cup semi-final, played on this date (27th March) in 1926.  Here I’ve delved into the archives to see what happened at Bramall Lane in 1926. Subscribers can read this article below:

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Palace Overwhelmed – Report and Film

City hadn’t had a manager since November and were struggling in the League when the Blues played a FA Cup fifth round tie against Crystal Palace on this day (20th February) in 1926. The tie, played at Maine Road turned out to be a fifteen goal thriller with City in rampant form.  

By half-time the score was 7-0 to the Blues, but Palace would not give up and quickly pulled back four goals.  City were knocked out of their period of complacency and soon found their goalscoring touch again.  

By the end it was 11-4 and, according to a number of spectators present on the day, Manchester fans rushed on at the final whistle and carried off the Palace ‘keeper Callendar shoulder high.  Apparently he had played extremely well and, somehow, managed to keep the score down, although one cannot help wondering if he’d have been given such a reception had the scores been reversed.

Frank Roberts was the City star for this particular game, scoring a remarkable five, while Tommy Browell also earned a few plaudits with his hat-trick. Browell had been ill for most of the week and had been unable to train.

With no management and such a miserable time in the League, no one could believe how City had been able to deliver such strong cup performances. 

Remarkably, film of the game has survived and can be viewed here:

https://www.britishpathe.com/video/crystal-palace-overwhelmed

On This Day – Over 74,000 Watch Managerless Manchester City At Home

On this day (30th January) in 1926 managerless Manchester City faced Huddersfield Town in a FA Cup tie at Maine Road, watched by 74,799. The following article, for subscribers to GJFootballArchive.com, provides the background story to the tie and film of the game.

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Decisive Derbies – 23 January 1926 MUFC v MCFC

Score United 1 City 6, Attendance 48,657 Old Trafford

Inconsistency had dogged the Blues throughout the season and had already left them in a perilous state in the bottom half of the table.  They had only collected 18 points from 26 matches, while United had collected 28 from 24 games.  What made matters worse for City was the fact that they had been without a manager since the departure of David Ashworth in November.  Instead of appointing a new man, the Board decided to do the job themselves with chairman Albert Alexander snr taking the leading role.

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MCFC Attendances Sequences

Lots of people talk incorrectly of Manchester City’s support and so for today’s subscriber feature I’ve decided to focus on the growth in City’s average attendance from the club’s first season in the League through to recent years, alongside other crowd related statistics. Hopefully, this will help to answer any questions raised on the loyalty of City’s support (but somehow I doubt it!).

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Here’s the article for subscribers…

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Manchester City – Highest Average Attendances in the League

In recent years fans of rival clubs have taunted Manchester City with jibes like ‘Empyhad’ yet evidence shows that, unlike most other clubs, City has been a major crowd-pulling club since first entering the League in the 1890s. Over time I’ll be posting lots of attendance related data on gjfootballarchve.com and I start here with a piece listing every occurrence of City topping the League or their division’s attendance charts.

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