Category Archives: 1997-98

Middlesbrough Defeated

Uwe Rosler scored a memorable 17th minute penalty in Manchester City’s 2-0 victory over Middlesbrough on this day (20 December) in 1997. Paul Dickov netted the other goal. That was one of only six victories for the Blues that season as City headed towards Division Two and Boro towards the Premier League.

While you’re here, why not subscribe and read an indepth article on the 1997-98 season? The article is almost 9,500 words long – there’s so much to say! Some people write entire football club histories that are shorter than that. It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this season and an extraordinary decade? As with many other subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.

Here’s the 9500 word article on that season:

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Stadium of Light: First Penalty

Georgi Kinkladze scored the first penalty at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light when he equalised in the 75th minute of Manchester City’s 3-1 defeat on Friday 15 August 1997.  Earlier that night former Blue Niall Quinn scored the stadium’s historic first League goal.

While you’re here, why not subscribe and read an indepth article on the 1997-98 season? The article is almost 9,500 words long – there’s so much to say! Some people write entire football club histories that are shorter than that. It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this season and an extraordinary decade? As with many other subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.

Here’s the 9500 word article on that season:

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.

Subscribe

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:

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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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

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 1990s: A Victory But Desperate Day for Manchester’s Blues

Today (3 May) in 1998 saw Manchester City thrash Stoke 5-2. You can see highlights below but this victory was actually a depressing day when, for the first and only time in their history, the Blues were relegated to the third tier of English football. Stoke were also relegated.

The City scorers were Shaun Goater (2; photographed), Lee Bradbury, Paul Dickov and Kevin Horlock. Highlights here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iGEMo2MSGE

You can find out more about this period by reading the following indepth article on the 1997-98 season. The article is almost 9,500 words long – there’s so much to say! Some people write entire football club histories that are shorter than that. It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this season and an extraordinary decade? As with all these 1990s subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.

Here’s the 9500 word article on that season:

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

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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The 1990s: Goater’s First Goal

The series of features covering Manchester City in the 1990s continues today with a video of Shaun Goater’s first goal for the Blues. It came on this day (4 April) in 1998 when City defeated near neighbours Stockport County 4-1 at Maine Road. As well as Goater’s first goal Richard Jobson also netted his first City goal while Lee Bradbury scored two (yes!). You can watch highlights here:

Enjoy those goals!

While you’re here why not read this 9,500 word article on that season. It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this season and an extraordinary decade? As with all these 1990s subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.

Here’s the 9500 word article on that season:

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.

Subscribe

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

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:

How To Subscribe

The 1990s: 1997-1998 A New Low

The series of articles covering Manchester City in the 1990s continues today with an indepth article on the 1997-98 season. The article is almost 9,500 words long – there’s so much to say! Some people write entire football club histories that are shorter than that. It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this season and an extraordinary decade? As with all these 1990s subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.

Here’s the 9500 word article on that season:

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.

Subscribe

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

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:

How To Subscribe

Starting Tomorrow: The 1990s

A new series of articles starts tomorrow on Manchester City in the 1990s. There will be a seasonal journey through a truly important decade when Manchester City began the decade hoping to challenge for the Premier League. People often forget how things changed that decade. A giant of a club at the start of the decade and one that the whole football world recognised as being part of English football’s aristocracy. By the end of the decade it was the loyalty of fans that most recognised the club for.

Those that claim City has ‘no history’ may learn something about a decade that is often highlighted for its failings but which actually had some wonderful, incredible, positive moments too. This series of features will show how that decade actually went and will hopefully help to explain why the narrative of ‘third tier club that got lucky’ is so wrong! For the entire month of March there will be features to make every Blue proud, while also recognising the true nature of football – some times it’s great being a fan and sometimes it’s awful. That’s football!

Re-live the highs and lows of the 1990s decade from tomorrow onwards.

If you’d like to read everything in this series then please subscribe. Details below:

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Manchester City in the 1990s

Following on from the series of articles and features on the 1970s and 1980s over the last few months a new series on Manchester City in the 1990s will be starting in March. As with the 1970s & 1980s there will be different content posted each day from indepth articles on each of the seasons through to on this day reminders of games, players and more.

Some of the material will be available for subscribers only and some will be free for anyone to read. If you’d like to know how to subscribe and read all the incredible content on here then see:

How To Subscribe

Feel free to send in ideas or areas that you’d like me to discuss on 1990s Manchester City. I’m always open to adapting stories or content based on feedback. Thanks for reading.

It’s 1998 and Everton Should Learn from MCFC

Here’s an interesting newspaper cutting from 1998 which basically compares Manchester City and Everton and says City’s future looks bright because the club is getting itself in shape for the future. It suggests Everton could learn from City – even though Manchester’s Blues were in the middle of their greatest descent in football history! To be frank, it was accurate.

The article was published in the Liverpool Echo in May 1998 and that season ended with City dropping to the third tier for the only time in their history. It was a brief stay – and there was lots of drama as we all know (you can read about a lot of that elsewhere on the site) – and the club was in a better shape than it had been previously thanks to David Bernstein, John Wardle, David Makin, Chris Bird and several others.

Since 1998 of course Manchester City have moved stadium and found major success. They’ve also received major investment of course that has helped to transform parts of Manchester. Everton have had investment themselves but not won a trophy and their stadium development has taken some time (during which time the club has fallen behind further).

People often talk about City’s investment in 2008 as being the thing that changed the club but as you can see from this article the seeds were sown via Bernstein, Bird & Co. who put the effort in back in the late 1990s. Without that the stadium and everything else would never have happened. Maybe Everton should have got to grips with things in 1998 as the article suggested? Life may well have been different for Merseyside’s Blues.

MCFC v Huddersfield On Film

With Manchester City facing Huddersfield Town this weekend in the FA Cup here’s a reminder of some previous City-Huddersfield meetings caught on film. The earliest surviving film of a game between the two clubs is a FA Cup tie from 98 years ago:
https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/51830/

Here’s a City win from February 1972 with a goal from Tommy Booth:

A 2-0 City win from January 1985:

The day 3 players scored hat tricks in 1987:

https://bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk/History/Matches/Match.aspx?id=3740

A FAC victory from 1988:

https://bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk/History/Matches/Match.aspx?id=3770

A City defeat during the Blues’ seasons of struggle: