Category Archives: 1984-85

The 1980s: Away v Charlton

Today’s 1980s flashback is a brief reminder of this day (15 December) in 1984 when a crowd of 5,568 witnessed Manchester City’s 3-1 victory at Charlton Athletic. This was a promotion season for City and the club’s goalscorers that day in the old Second Division (2nd tier) were Jim Melrose, David Phillips and Gordon Smith. The return game with Charlton was hugely significant.

You can find out more on this season and the rest of this important decade in the history of Manchester City Football Club by subscribing. The following subscriber article is a 2,600 word feature on the 1984-85 season. Enjoy!

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Tomorrow’s feature is on the 1985-86 season. If you missed the earlier features then start here:

The 1980s: 1980-1981 Gow, Hutchison & McDonald

The 1980s: 1984-1985 Promotion

A new daily series of articles for subscribers started last week covering the 1980s. This is a seasonal journey through a truly important decade in the history of Manchester City Football Club. Today’s article is a 2,600 word feature on the 1984-85 season. Enjoy!

Subscribe to get access – Monthly

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) to access everything posted since 1 October 2022 or there’s a special annual rate below which gives greater access and works out much cheaper.

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Subscribe to get access – Annual

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (above) or £20 a year (here) to access everything posted since the site was created in December 2020. This special rate works out about £1.67 a week and gives access to everything posted, including PDFs of 3 of my books.

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If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:

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Tomorrow’s feature is on the 1985-86 season. If you missed the earlier features then start here:

The 1980s: 1980-1981 Gow, Hutchison & McDonald

The First Don

The first League meeting between Manchester City and Wimbledon came on this day (25 August) in 1984. It was an altogether new experience for City.  Relegation in May 1983 had brought many changes to the club, including the arrival of manager Billy McNeill and his assistant Jimmy Frizzell. Their first season in charge had seen the Blues finish fourth behind Chelsea, Newcastle, and Sheffield Wednesday, and much was expected from their second campaign. Subscribers can read a feature, including match reports, on the first meeting with Wimbledon below:

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MCFC 20TH CENTURY CHRONICLE SEASON 1984-85

The Matches

It was vital the Blues achieved promotion in 1984-5 after the previous season, under former Celtic captain Billy McNeill, had seen City finish fourth behind Chelsea, Sheffield Wednesday, and Newcastle in an extremely strong Second Division.  1984-5 opened with the club’s first League meeting at Wimbledon, who had been promoted from Division Three the previous May.  City were two goals down after a fifteen minute bombardment from the Dons, but a fightback including goals from Gordon Smith and Derek Parlane brought a point.

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Historic Name That Ground – Week 28 Answer

Did you recognise this ground? I posted it on Monday and asked: ‘Can you name the ground featured in the image above? This is a 1920s photo of this ground. There really isn’t much left that matches the image seen here but the main stand (top) did have a recognisable feature that has been replicated. Also, that terracing to the left remained the same for decades. I certainly stood on it for a memorable game in the 1980s.’ The answer is…

Notts County’s Meadow Lane. The terracing to the left housed Manchester City fans (as did most of the rest of the ground. County gave City the home terracing and most of the seats) when City went there for what was hoped would be a promotion game in 1985. A barmy day saw the party end and we had to wait for the following game at home to Charlton for the chance to celebrate.

So, this is the last ground quiz of the year. Have a happy New Year and here’s to a great 2022. I know 2021 has been another tough year for most of us, so let’s hope 2022 is much better.

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I had planned to run ‘Historic Name That Ground’ only during the close season as in previous years, but it’s proving of interest so I’ll keep it going for a little while yet. If you have an old image of a ground that you think it’d be worth including in this weekly quiz then please get in touch. They don’t have to be from the 1900s to 1960s – even ground images from the 70s and 80s may prove a challenge to identify these days. You can email me at gary@GJFootballArchive.com Thanks.

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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