Category Archives: 1987-88

Wolves v MCFC The Story So Far

It’s Wolves v Manchester City today (20 October 2024) and there are dozens of stories referencing Wolves on this website. There have been major finals and significant league games. Here’s the playing record so far:

CompetitionPlayedWonDrawnLost
League120512445
FA Cup3012
League Cup6402
European0000
Other0000

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:

Away Run Ends: Wolves v City

Here’s a link to some of the other stories on here involving Wolves:

Welcome to Gary James’ Football Archive

Perry Suckling

On this day (12 October) in 1965 1980s Manchester City ‘keeper Perry Suckling was born in Hackney. Here’s a brief profile of him:

Perry Suckling

Bought for £50,000 plus the popular David Phillips, England youth international Perry Suckling was anticipated to be City’s first choice for several years when he arrived from Coventry City in May 1986.  It didn’t work out that way however and by the end of December 1987 he was on loan at Chelsea.  A permanent move to Crystal Palace followed in January 1988 – City received £100,000 – and after 39 League appearances that was it.

Spells for West Ham, Brentford, Watford and Doncaster followed. 

Appearances:  League: 39 FAC: 1 League Cup: 3

You can read a 4,000 word article on the 1987-88 season here:

The 1980s: 1987-1988 Remember When

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Programme Flashback Manchester City V Blackburn Rovers, 5 September 1987

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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The Birth of a Manchester City Chant

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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Manchester City Chants

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:

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Happy 70th John Gidman

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:

Welcome to Gary James’ Football Archive

The 1980s: Significant Praise from Stiles for ‘City Babes’

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!

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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

The 1980s: A Late Late Equaliser By Adcock

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!

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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

The 1980s: City’s Women’s Team’s First Game

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!

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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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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

The 1980s: 1987-1988 Remember When

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!

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.

Subscribe

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

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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