Football writing, thoughts and more by Gary James
On this day in 1987 Manchester City faced Blackburn Rovers at Maine Road.
Here for subscribers is a flashback piece detailing what features were in the MCFC match programme that day and game information:
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Manchester City meeting Ipswich this weekend is a nice reminder that a fixture between the two almost 50 years ago made an enormous contribution to the birth of a City chant. That chant is still sung today and is known as either the Viking Call or ‘The Best Team In The Land…’
Chanting at football games is rarely documented correctly with many myths, rumours and stories developing over the years. Te following feature is designed to give a potted overview of the development of singing at City and tells the story and part Ipswich played in it:
Now, for subscribers is an 1800 word article on the history and development of chants at Manchester City:
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I’ve posted a lot on this in the past but it’s always worth revisiting, especially as recent years have seen dozens of new chants established at Manchester City. Successful eras often bring new chants – and that’s definitely happened recently – but failing periods can also generate new supporter songs.
Chanting at football games is rarely documented correctly with many myths, rumours and stories developing over the years. This feature is designed to give a potted overview of the development of singing at City.
I explained about some of the chants in this talk I did a couple of years ago. If you’ve got time watch it:
Now, for subscribers is an 1800 word article on the history and development of chants at Manchester City:
Read more of this content and everything on the site when you subscribe today.
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John Gidman was born 70 years ago today (10 January 1954). He was a hero to fans of many clubs including Manchester United and Manchester City. He immediately won over City fans when he joined from United by saying that City were the ONLY team he’d leave OT for (interpreted by Blues as ‘I’d walk out on Utd for City’ – but of course it was more involved than that). Happy 70th John. We loved you in the City shirt.
There are many articles on my site that reference John. Here’s a link to some of them:
Continuing the series of articles covering Manchester City in the 1980s. Here’s a nice article from this day (5 December) in 1987. It was a piece praising Manchester city’s youth players with quotes from Nobby Stiles, the legendary Manchester United and England star. High praise indeed and these players deserved the focus.
Subscribers can find out more about the 1987-88 season by reading my 4,000 word feature on it below. Enjoy!
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.
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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Tomorrow’s feature is on the 1988-89 season. If you missed the earlier features then start here:
The 1980s: 1980-1981 Gow, Hutchison & McDonald
Continuing the series of articles on Manchester City in the 1980s. Today we have a late, late equaliser by City’s Tony Adcock at the Hawthorns against West Bromwich Albion. Watch the following highlights and you might just about relive the drama of that day or if you never managed to be there then just sit back and try to get a feel for what it was like travelling away with City back then. See if you can spot an inflatable banana and look out for that red/black chequerboard kit too.
The game ended 1-1 on this day (28 November) in 1987.
If you want to know more about that season then why not subscriber and read this 4,000 word article on the 1987-88 season. Enjoy!
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.
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.
If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:
Tomorrow’s feature is on the 1988-89 season. If you missed the earlier features then start here:
The 1980s: 1980-1981 Gow, Hutchison & McDonald
Continuing my new daily series of articles for subscribers started earlier this month covering the 1980s. The last ten days or so have taken a seasonal journey through a truly important decade in the history of Manchester City Football Club’s men’s team. But what about the women’s team? Well, today (27 November 2023) marks the 35th anniversary of the women’s team’s first game (as Manchester City Ladies v Oldham Athletic at Boundary Park – I was there!). Today’s article is a 2,200 word long read on this historic first game. Enjoy!
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.
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.
If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:
Today’s feature was the last on the 1980s. I hope you’ve enjoyed them. If you missed the earlier features then start here:
The 1980s: 1980-1981 Gow, Hutchison & McDonald
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 4,000 word feature on the 1987-88 season. Enjoy!
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.
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.
If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:
Tomorrow’s feature is on the 1988-89 season. If you missed the earlier features then start here:
The 1980s: 1980-1981 Gow, Hutchison & McDonald
But City did not lose on this day (21 October) in 1987! Why was this remarkable? It was the first time Manchester City had won away from home in over a year. In fact the Blues had gone 34 away League games without victory.
I remember it well and was at Bradford that night when City won 4-2. At the time the buzz amongst those of us who travelled away was ‘will today be the day’ and it got that way that you felt you couldn’t miss an away game. I’m convinced numbers going to away games increased game after game as we were keen to be there on the day we finally found a win.
Throughout this long, long run without an away win the song ‘We never win at home and we never win away…’ seemed to become our anthem. It belted out game after game and, in some ways, was our release from the disappointment of another defeat or draw. The song had begun in the late 1970s (I’ve done quite a bit of research on this and should write it all up one day) but it was the 1980s, in particular the relegation season of 1986-87, when it became a regular chant, game after game. Usually reserved for when City conceded or were losing it was given more opportunities to be sung during that period than ever before.
It faded during the late 1980s and early 1990s, especially when City finished fifth two seasons running, but reappeared later in the 90s when Alan Ball’s management (and everything that followed) brought misery City’s way.
We all got a bit nervy against Bradford, especially when our 2 goal lead disappeared, but we won 4-2 and you can see how giddy those of us behind the nets were in these highlights of the goals. We were stood behind the goals to the right of the camera (the commentator makes a couple of errors but the film should give you a feel for the night):
It’s Wolves v Manchester City today (30 September 2023) and there are dozens of stories referencing Wolves on this website. There have been major finals and significant league games. One of the away games I vividly remember going to came in October 1987 and is a great contrast with City’s modern day records:
Here’s a link to some of the other stories on here involving Wolves:
City’s record in these meetings (all competitions): Played 127 Won 54 Drawn 25 Lost 48.
