Category Archives: 1995-96

30 Years Ago: Paul Hince Highlights City Humour

On this day (20 November) in 1995 this report of the Sheffield Wednesday-Manchester City game played on 18 November 1995 was published. It’s by former City player Paul Hince, who appeared during City’s 1967-68 League title winning season. Hince’s reports often highlighted the unusual or the different and he tended to notice the feelings of the fans. Here he talks of City fans chanting about winning the League in a season when Alan Ball guided the Blues to depressing failure.

For those interested Steve Lomas netted for the Blues in this match. If you’re interested, you can now read more on City’s 1995-96 season below. This was a hugely significant season and the following subscriber article is almost 5,500 words long.

Yes, I know but we can look back and remember from a position of relative comfortability now! As with many of these subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.

Here’s the 5500 word article on that season:

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30 Years Ago: A Simon Mullock Report of MCFC and Wycombe

On this day (7 October) in 1995 this report of the Manchester City-Wycombe League Cup tie played on 4 October. The report was written by journalist Simon Mullock, well-known in the press areas at City and to City fans of course. His report seems a fair reflection of the tie that night. If you’re interested, you can now read more on City’s 1995-96 season below. This was a hugely significant season and this article is almost 5,500 words long.

Yes, I know but we can look back and remember from a position of relative comfortability now!

It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this extraordinary season? As with many of these subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.

Here’s the 5500 word article on that season:

Subscribe to get access

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month or £20 a year 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 want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read all the other articles? If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:

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The 1990s: New Manager for City?

On 15 June 1995 Manchester City’s efforts to replace Brian Horton as manager seemed to be stumbling. Brian Kidd had been wanted by chairman Francis Lee, but that wasn’t happening; others who would be discussed widely (and fans were told would be possible) included George Graham and Franz Beckenbauer. Ultimately City appointed Alan Ball (you can read about his time at City elsewhere on this website if you’re brave enough to be reminded of those days!).

Maine Road’s 1994 Redevelopment Plan

Here’s a 1994 plan of what might have been in terms of Maine Road’s development. This image is of how the entire stadium was supposed to look. To explain the colour image looks towards the stadium from above the Kippax car park. The North Stand is on the right and the Platt Lane on the left. The black and white image is from the other side of the ground, looking towards the Kippax from the Main Stand.

1990s Maine Rd redevelopment plans as seen in Farewell To Maine Road

You can see from the black and white image that the plan was to replicate the general look of the new Kippax (being planned at this stage – this was January 1994 and the old Kippax was still standing) around the ground. The North Stand was to have a second tier added and hospitality boxes between the levels, like the new Kippax. The Platt Lane was to have a second tier added above the two lines of existing hospitality boxes.

The Main Stand would have part of the seating chopped away and a new second tier added.

To facilitate all of this some houses were to be bought and demolished on the streets immediately behind the North Stand and the Kippax/Platt Lane corner.

The new Kippax was the first phase of the development but Manchester’s bids for the Olympics changed thinking. Couple that with relegation in 1996 and the wholesale redevelopment of Maine Road was postponed after the Kippax opened and then dropped completely.

As mentioned previously, Francis Lee’s plans would have seen the new Kippax followed by a phased development of each of the other three stands. These images might give an indication of how it would have progressed.

The following 1971 aerial image shows the proximity of the housing on Thornton Road (bottom left, near number 6) and behind the North Stand (number 10). They were planned to be demolished in Lee’s 1994 plan.

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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City Make History With Foreign Player Rule?

On this day (23 December) in 1995 there was a great deal of speculation that Manchester City would be the first team to field four ‘foreign players’ which wound PFA chief Gordon Taylor up considerably. There had been a rule in place limiting the number of foreign players to three but this had been challenged by English clubs, following the historic Bosman judgement in the European Court of Justice.

Basically, before Bosman challenged the restrictive trade practices UEFA insisted that a maximum of three foreign players could appear for clubs. The Bosman judgement was immediately considered by Premier League clubs who felt it meant they could play as many players from the European Union as they wanted (though the maximum of 3 from outside the EU was still a limit).

The Premier League, supported by the FA, said the ruling meant that City and other clubs could play as many EU players as they wanted. At Maine Road Alan Ball had brought Danish under-21 international Ronnie Ekelund on loan and together with Eike Immel, Uwe Rosler and Georgi Kinkladze it was suggested he would play against Chelsea on 23 December 1995.

In the end Ekelund came on as substitute for Rosler, so 4 ‘foreign players’ had appeared that day but only 3 at any one time (though there’s a whole other discussion to be had about players from other United Kingdom countries and Ireland and whether they should count as that day the Republic of Ireland’s Niall Quinn played, as did Gerry Creaney from Scotland and Welsh international Kit Symons!).

As for the game… City lost 1-0 to Chelsea!

Ekelund had a brief up and down career at City, making only 6 (plus 3 as sub) appearances and he was soon off to Barcelona, while the change to the ‘foreign player’ rule was to have a massive impact on the development of football in England, paving the way for the multitude of talented players at City today.

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Manager of the Month

On this day (29 November) in 1995 Manchester City manager Alan Ball won the manager of the month award. These were the days when our initial suspicion about his management approach was looking out of place. His team were starting to get some decent results and then… well, it was soon back to the mess that was Alan Ball’s time as manager of Manchester City. If you’d like to read about that season (and let’s face it, it’s always good to remember days that were awful to appreciate how things are today) then see below.

Alan Ball in August 1996

This article is almost 5,500 words long. It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this extraordinary season? As with all these 1990s subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.

Here’s the 5500 word article on that season:

Subscribe to get access

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 or £20 a year 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 want to know more on the 1990s for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:

How To Subscribe

If you enjoy all the free material on my website and would like to support my research and keep this website going (but don’t want to subscribe) then why not make a one-time donation (or buy me a coffee). All support for my research is valued and welcome. It allows me to keep some free material available for all. Thanks.

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The New Kippax

On this day (25 November) in 1995 Manchester City’s legendary goalkeeper Bert Trautmann officially opened the new Kippax Stand at Maine Road. You can see the new stand at the top of this photo, with the Manchester City lettering on it. If you’re interested, you can now read more on City’s 1995-96 season below. This was a hugely significant season and this article is almost 5,500 words long.

Yes, I know but we can look back and remember from a position of relative comfortability now!

1994-95 the new Kippax takes shape

It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this extraordinary season? As with many of these subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.

Here’s the 5500 word article on that season:

Subscribe to get access

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month or £20 a year 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 want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read all the other articles? If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:

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Manchester City v Southampton

It’s City v Southampton today. My match programme feature remembers the Kippax Stand with a photo from a day when the two clubs met. I hope those who get to see it enjoy it. Also, there are plenty of stories connected with both clubs on my website and here’s a selection:

City v Southampton on New York TV
The 1990s: 1996 Georgiou Kinkladze Goal V Southampton

Others mentioning Southampton here:

Welcome to Gary James’ Football Archive

The 1990s: 1996 Georgiou Kinkladze Goal V Southampton

Continuing the series on Manchester City in the 1990s with a feature today on one of the best goals of Maine Road’s final couple of decades. This saw the brilliant Georgiou Kinkladze at his best. The goal was scored at Maine Road in March 1996. Kinkladze was a major star – some would say Manchester City’s biggest during the mid 1990s – and livened up many dull days for City fans.  This goal was obviously popular with Maine Road regulars but, thanks to television and the game’s appearance on Match of the Day, many neutrals recognised the quality of this Golden Goal.

This article, covering Kinkladze’s goal is available for subscribers to the website below. It costs £20 a year (it works out £1.67 per month) and you get full access to all articles posted, including PDFs of the out of print Manchester A Football History and my first ever book about Manchester City. There are also audio interviews & more. Do a few searches on past content to see what’s available.     

 

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The 1990s: 1995-1996 Managerial Change

The series of articles covering Manchester City in the 1990s continues today with the 1995-96 season. Yes, I know but we can look back and remember from a position of relative comfortability now! This was a hugely significant season and this article is almost 5,500 words long. It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this extraordinary season? As with all these 1990s subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.

Here’s the 5500 word article on that season:

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This series of articles and features will run throughout March with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. There will be flashbacks to great games, players and more. Every day in March will offer something to enjoy.

Subscribers will get access to everything, while some on this day material will be free for all to view.

If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:

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