Category Archives: 1954-55

Maine Road 100 – Day 17

As it’s FA Cup final day I thought I’d make my Maine Road post about the first Manchester derby in the FA Cup to be played at the old stadium… that was in 1955. It’s day 17 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game.

The first FA Cup Manchester derby at Maine Road was played on 29 January 1955 and ended in a 2-0 City win. Subscribers to this site can read the full story of the game below:

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For those unfamiliar with Maine Road the photo below may help locate where the above was taken from. It was taken looking towards the Popular Side (later Kippax) at the Platt Lane End. Basically the goals near 3 looking towards the tunnel at 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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The 1955 FA Cup Final

Today (7 May) marks the anniversary of the 1955 FA Cup final between Manchester City and Newcastle United. Here for subscribers is a 1200 word article on the final and highlights. Enjoy!

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FA Cup Final Ticket Woes

This is an odd article for a few reasons from today (25 April) in 1955. Basically the Manchester City manager Les McDowall was getting inundated with requests for FA Cup final tickets from fans, friends, former players and others. Some were turning up at his house…. So what did the Manchester Evening News do? It included the name of the street McDowall lived on! Surely that would’ve added to his woes?

Roy Clarke and the 1955 FAC Semi Goal

In 2003 I interviewed Roy Clarke about his 1955 semi-final goal for Manchester City (which happened on this day, 26 March, in 1955). It was the only goal of the game and sent City through to the 1955 FA Cup final where they faced Newcastle. Roy was always an entertaining character whenever I met up with him. This is what he said about his goal when we discussed it all those years ago:

‘Joe Hayes centred a free kick towards Bobby Johnstone.  I was in the outside left position near the back of the box and I just had a feeling that Bobby would miss the ball.  I don’t know why but it was clear as day to me that this would be my chance, not Bobby’s.  Before the ball even reached Bobby I started to dive.  It passed him and I connected.  I headed with such pace that the ball flew past the Sunderland ‘keeper and into the far corner.

‘There’s a couple of photographs taken of the goal.  One shows the mud and the wet, the other shows the cold, wet fans stood in the Villa Park Main Stand paddock.  They didn’t celebrate or show any emotion because I think they were soaking wet and couldn’t move!‘

Subscribers can read more about Roy and that game here:

Manchester City Hall of Fame: Roy Clarke’s significant game

IN SEARCH OF THE BLUES – Johnny Hart (interviewed December 2004)

Johnny Hart joined City at the age of 16 in December 1944 and went on to make a total of 177 League and Cup appearances, scoring 73 goals.  A skilful inside-right, Hart later had a highly successful coaching career with the Blues, and a spell as manager in 1973.  Here’s an interview I did with him at City’s stadium shortly before Christmas 2004

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IN SEARCH OF THE BLUES – Roy Little (interviewed August 2004)

Roy Little was a key member of the exciting FA Cup final sides of 1955 and 1956.  Born in Manchester in 1931, Roy made his City debut in 1953 and went on to play 186 League and FA Cup games for the Blues. Here for subscribers is an interview I did with him in August 2004

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Showing Your Colours

In January this year the Newcastle Chronicle published a story that intrigued me. It talked of the history of fans wearing football scarves and suggested that a Newcastle fan in 1932 was the first to be photographed wearing a football scarf. The article explained that previously it had been claimed that an Arsenal supporter at a 1934 FA Cup tie had been the first filmed/photographed wearing a traditional bar scarf.  This set me off looking into the history of football scarves and of fans showing their colours.

So, here for subscribers to my site is a 1400 word article on showing your colours, focusing on the stories associated with Manchester City…

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IN SEARCH OF THE BLUES – 1955 FAC Team (first published May 2005)

In 2005 , to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1955 FA Cup final between Manchester City and Newcastle I took a look at the players who appeared for City in that game. The article that follows was published in May 2005. The Blues lost the match 3-1, but it remained a significant anniversary in the history of the club.

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On This Day: An All-Manchester FAC Tie (Story and Film)

On this day (29th January) in 1955 –goals from Joe Hayes and Don Revie give Manchester City a 2-0 victory over Manchester United in the FAC in front of 74,723. Here’s the story and film of that game (some great footage here!).

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‘False Number 9s’

Today I’m going to discuss an element of Manchester City’s 1950s period that bears significance to today. In essence a tactical innovation that the Blues – and star player Don Revie – became renowned for: The Revie Plan or, using modern day phraseology, the False 9.

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