Category Archives: 1981-82

Maine Road 100 – Day 8

Day 8 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game. Today here’s an image of the Maine Road forecourt in the 1980s. So much to say on this. Notice the Granada TV vehicle and the newspaper adverts hung up for the Sunday Mirror and News of the World. There’s also the advert above the main entrance ‘cage’ – that was covering up the original central mosaic which I wish they’d been able to keep visible but an air conditioning unit was smashed through this at some point. So much for preserving the club’s history back then, hey?

The forecourt looked much the same as this from its opening through to later in the 80s, although there had already been a pebble dash render placed on the lower part of the main stand frontage. Later the decade more render would be place on sections of the front and then in the 1990s the whole stand was clad in metal.

There’s one of the floodlights (second set) showing and this is obviously pre-match as fans are mostly heading to the stands. Also, post match for many games in the 80s the forecourt would have housed a demo!

Those cars are heading towards the directors car park, past the stand, on the left.

This image was from a 1981 Manchester derby.

1981 City v United 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

To help those unfamiliar with Maine Road locate the specific location, the Main Stand is number 1 on this plan and its frontage faced Maine Road, the street running above the stand.

Maine Road aerial 1971 from Farewell To Maine Road

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Corrigan Bottled as Liverpool Lose 3-1 to MCFC

On this day (26 December) in 1981 Manchester City defeated Liverpool 3-1 at Anfield but it was a day marred when City keeper Joe Corrigan was felled by a bottle thrown at him. Here’s highlights of the game plus a brief audio clip of John Bond talking about the LFC reaction that day.

In 1995 I interviewed former City boss John Bond at his home. The interview lasted about two hours and here’s a brief snippet from that interview where he talks about that win over Liverpool on Boxing Day 1981.

The Blues won 3-1 (Bond, Hartford & Reeves) then two days later (Bond says it’s the next day in this clip but it was 28th December) City defeated Wolves 2-1 at Maine Rd. John discusses a brilliant goal from Trevor Francis. City went top of the League after the Wolves victory.

Stick with the clip because it ends with Bond’s views on how Liverpool used to react to wins and defeats. I’d best not comment – have a listen:

Here are a couple of cuttings from the day.

John Bond Interview Part 7 (Final Part)

We’ve reached the final minutes of my interview with John Bond from November 1995. I hope you’ve enjoyed it so far. As before, there’s a lot to interest and perhaps surprise in these frank views.

At the time this interview was performed I was researching my in-depth history of the club called Manchester The Greatest City (later updated as Manchester The City Years). 

I met John at his home and spent a good few hours with him chatting about the Blues and his career. I loved doing this interview and was always grateful for the time he gave me. He was extremely frank, open and honest – which delighted me because he was a great talker. He was also happy for me to quote everything he said in the interview. I did end up quoting him extensively in the book (and in others I’ve produced) but, until now, none of the interview has ever been heard by the wider public. 

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Subscribe to get access

If you would like to listen to the final part of this frank interview (and the other parts) and read all the in-depth articles on this site (including the entire Manchester A Football History book) then please subscribe. It works out about £1.67 a month if you take out an annual subscription (£20 per year, above) or £3 a month (here) if you’d like to sign up for a month at a time. Monthly subscribers get full access to everything posted since 1 October 2022.

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John Bond Interview – Part Three

As before, there’s a lot to interest and perhaps surprise here. This is the third part of my interview with John Bond from November 1995. I loved every minute of our chat but some of the things that were said stunned me at the time.

In this clip John talks about the aftermath of the 1981 FA Cup final with Tottenham; the way he thought City would challenge and the transfer of Trevor Francis. Within this section came the first time ever that I’d been asked to turn off the cassette recorder while the person I was interviewing explained something to me. We agreed that everything on the tape could be quoted – hence the reason I’m happy to play this now – but anything off tape would have to be checked. All these years later I still respect John’s wishes of course.

When you listen to the recording you’ll recognise the point where the tape is switched off and some related comments have been edited out. I have to stress that John’s comments seem a little out of sync because of that and it is worth explaining that his comments were not about anybody alive today. They merely explained something that had happened that he did not like or agree with but these comments were not about a footballer from the time or anyone alive today (2021).

So, here exclusive to subscribers is the third part of my interview (like the other parts it lasts about 17 minutes):

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If you would like to listen to the third part of this frank interview (and the other parts) and read all the in-depth articles on this site (including the entire Manchester A Football History book) then please subscribe. It works out about £1.67 a month if you take out an annual subscription (£20 per year, here) or £3 a month if you’d like to sign up for a month at a time (below). Annual subscribers have access to everything posted since December 2020.

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Subscribe to get access

If you would like to listen to the third part of this frank interview (and the other parts) and read all the in-depth articles on this site (including the entire Manchester A Football History book) then please subscribe. It works out about £1.67 a month if you take out an annual subscription (£20 per year, above) or £3 a month if you’d like to sign up for a month at a time (here). Monthly subscribers have access to everything posted since 1 October 2022.

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John Bond Interview Part Two

There’s a lot to interest and perhaps surprise Manchester City fans here. This is the second part of my interview with John Bond from November 1995. When I interviewed him he was frank in his views and at times outspoken – and I loved every minute of our chat!

In this clip John talks about the controversial 1981 League Cup semi-final with Liverpool; the FA Cup final (first game) against Tottenham; the way City’s directors handled the draw with Spurs (this astounded me at the time of our interview); how certain directors treated him; and how he almost resigned in between the FA Cup final and its replay. 

As this was recorded in November 1995 it is important to remember that our comments about the ‘present day’ Manchester City refer to the club as it was at that time. Similarly, when we talk about the takeover we mean the 1993-94 takeover of the club. Listening again to this piece now I’m quite pleased that my own perception was fairly accurate.

There’s also some great comments about Norwich City which will please supporters of that club.

This is about 17 minutes long (the previous piece was a similar length too). So get yourself a brew, relax in your favourite chair and listen along.

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If you would like to listen to the second part of this frank interview and read all the in-depth articles on this site (including the entire Manchester A Football History book) then please subscribe. It works out about £1.67 a month if you take out an annual subscription (£20 per year, here) or £3 a month if you’d like to sign up for a month at a time (below). Annual subscribers access everything posted since December 2020.

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Subscribe to get access

If you would like to listen to the second part of this frank interview and read all the in-depth articles on this site (including the entire Manchester A Football History book) then please subscribe. It works out about £1.67 a month if you take out an annual subscription (£20 per year, above) or £3 a month if you’d like to sign up for a month at a time (here). Monthly subscribers access everything posted since 1 October 2022.

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Part three tomorrow.

90 Years Ago Today – John Bond

On this day (17 December) in 1932 John Bond was born. Back in November 1995 I interviewed the former Manchester City manager. At the time I was researching my in-depth history of the club called Manchester The Greatest City (later updated as Manchester The City Years).

I met John at his home and spent a good few hours with him chatting about the Blues and his career. I loved doing this interview and was always grateful for the time he gave me. He was quite frank, open and honest – which delighted me because he was a great talker. He was also happy for me to quote everything he said in the interview. I did end up quoting him extensively in the book (and in others I’ve produced) but none of the interview has ever been heard by the wider public.

Now, you can hear the opening 17 minutes of the interview (the rest will follow over the next few days). Here he talks about the steps taken by City to appoint him; the interview (and the directors involved in that notorious filmed interview for the City documentary in 1980-81); the signing of Tommy Hutchison, Bobby McDonald and Gerry Gow. As I said earlier, he is quite frank in his comments and that may surprise a few.

This audio recording of the first 17 minutes of the interview is available to subscribers of my blog whether annual or, for the first time, monthly. If you want to hear it then please subscribe below. If subscribers enjoy this piece then please let me know and I’ll post other audio recordings in the future.

Of course as this interview was recorded on my old cassette recorder the quality isn’t the best but I’m sure you’ll appreciate the exclusive nature of this.

Subscribe to get access

If you would like to listen to this frank interview and read the in-depth articles on this site (including the entire Manchester A Football History book) then please subscribe. It works out about £1.67 a month if you take out an annual subscription (£20 per year; here) or £3 a month if you’d like to sign up for a month at a time (below). Annual subscribers access everything posted since December 2020.

Subscribe

Subscribe to get access

If you would like to listen to this frank interview and read the in-depth articles on this site (including the entire Manchester A Football History book) then please subscribe. An annual subscription (£20 per year; above) or £3 a month if you’d like to sign up for a month at a time (here). Monthly subscribers access everything posted since 1 October 2022.

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The second part of the interview will be available tomorrow.

I’ve also posted an obituary I wrote to John here: https://gjfootballarchive.com/2021/02/12/johnny-bond-johnny-bond-johnny-bond/

Bill Taylor

On this day (30 November) in 1981 former Manchester City, Oldham & England coach Bill Taylor died at the age of 42. Taylor was a tremendous coach who joined City from Fulham in 1976 and also coached England. At the time goalkeeper Joe Corrigan commented:  “His coaching methods were an inspiration to so many players and he helped tremendously to improve many of them.  He was always a bright and breezy character and he had a terrific sense of humour.  I can never repay the debt I owe him for the help he gave me both with City and England.” 

City’s First Shoot-Out

On this day (28 October) in 1981 Manchester City faced their first competitive penalty shoot-out.  The League Cup tie with Stoke ended 2-2 on aggregate but it took some considerable effort for either side to progress in the competition.  With the penalty shoot-out reaching 8-8 goalkeeper Joe Corrigan saved.  Norwegian Aage Hareide made it 9-8 for City and the Blues progressed.   You can read what John Bond thought about penalties below.

41 Years Ago Today: Trevor Francis Debut

I feel old today as 41 Years ago today (September 5, 1981) I attended my first away game. That day my parents told me we were going to Stoke v Manchester City. The reason why? It was to be the debut of new City striker Trevor Francis. This was perceived as a huge transfer at the time (don’t be fooled into thinking major transfers have only come in recent years!) and part of manager John Bond’s plan to challenge for the League title – and for a while it looked as if they would!

Here for subscribers is a piece on that day and what followed with quotes from interviews I’ve performed with Trevor Francis and Peter Swales who tell the story of that time. There are also contemporary match reports too:

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