Category Archives: 1998-99

Record Average Crowds

I’ve not done one of these for a while but I know they always prompt a bit of debate, so here goes… a feature on Manchester City FC attendances. It is a fact that the Blues have, generation after generation, been one of the English game’s top attractions. Like all – and I do mean all – English clubs there have been some average attendance lows over the years, but when the entire history of Manchester City is reviewed and the club’s average figures are compared with the national average it is clear that the Blues have consistently been one of football’s most attractive draws.  Take a look at the following:

  • Since the beginning of the Football League in 1888 only nine sides have topped the table for average attendances.  In chronological order of their first appearance at the top of the average table they are: Everton (1888-9), Villa (1898-99), Newcastle (1904-05), Chelsea (1907-08), Tottenham (1909-10), City (1910-11), Liverpool (1922-23), Arsenal (1929-30), & Manchester United (1956-57) 
  • As early as 1895-96 City were the third best supported side in the entire League despite being a Second Division side.  Only First Division sides Everton & Aston Villa could better the Blues.  Modern day giants Arsenal were 10th; Liverpool were 19th; United were 21st and Chelsea had yet to exist.
  • In 1900-01 City were the 2nd best supported side in the entire League with only 400 people separating Villa (1st) and City 
  • The 1910-11 season saw Manchester’s Blues top the attendance charts for the first time.  City’s average was 26,000 and was the 8th highest average of all time at that point (all clubs, all seasons). 
  • Regularly amongst the best supported sides throughout the inter war period, City’s average exceeded 37,000 for the first time in 1927-28 when the Blues established a record average crowd for the Second Division.  This was also the entire League’s highest.
  • In 1947-48 City’s average crowd exceeded 42,000 for the first time.  Prior to that season only Chelsea (1919-20 & 1946-7), Arsenal (1934-5, 1936-7, 1937-8, & 1946-7) , Newcastle (1946-7), Liverpool (1946-7), United (1946-7), and Wolves (1946-7) had exceeded that figure.
  • From 1975 to relegation in 1983 City were always one of the top 4 best supported sides, usually third behind United and Liverpool.
  • Since the 1980s whenever City have played outside of the top division, they have tended to be the best supported side in that division.  
  • Since moving to their current home in 2003, the increased capacity has allowed City to re-establish itself as one of best supported clubs again. Maine Road’s capacity from 1994 onwards was extremely low compared to the club’s entire history and prevented the Blues from staging games in front of attendances of approximateley 35,000 upwards.

In general many people believe success increases support, and while that is undoubtedly true to some extent, for City it is often periods of adversity that prove the loyalty of the Club’s fans.  It is highly significant, for example, that the first time City were the best supported side in the entire League (1910-11) Manchester United (6th best supported side) won the League title for the second time in 3 seasons.

Similarly, in 1925-26 when City were the best supported side in Division One and had established a new record average, the Blues were actually relegated.  This coupled with significant poverty and hardship in Manchester at the time should have reduced support but loyalty increased!  In my book “Manchester A Football History” I explore the relationship between attendances and Manchester’s major sides and it is fair to say that City fans can feel immensely proud of their loyalty throughout the history of the game.  Something that cannot be said by all of the League’s biggest names.  

In fact, it is worth highlighting that City have never been the worst supported side in their division but, of today’s so-called giants, Arsenal (1912-13 – average = 9,100) and Manchester United (1930-31 – average = 11,685) have.  City’s worst average of the Twentieth Century came in the desperate 1964-65 season and was 14,753 (half the average of 1960-61 and a 3rd of the 1957-8 figure).  However it is significant that for every League season City’s average has always been above the divisional average and, apart from 17 seasons, has always been in the top 11 nationally.  Again, few of today’s giants can’t say that – United’s 20th Century low stands at 4,650 and Chelsea averaged 15,731 as recently as 1988-89. In fact City’s lowest League attendance is more than double United’s lowest League attendance at Old Trafford (United have several crowds of less than 4,000 at Old Trafford, including top flight games; City’s lowest in the League was a little over 8000 in the second tier).

For fans average attendances are often used as an indicator of size of club and so a number of people over the years have tried to produce a definitive ‘all-time’ attendance table.  Several years ago analysis by a member of the Association of Football Statisticians claimed that if stadium capacity was not an issue for any club City would be the fourth biggest side in terms of attendance.  That analysis compared postwar attendance detail with performance on the pitch.  

In 2002 writer Brian Tabner calculated an all-time attendance table based on each club’s average attendance position during seasons 1925-2002.  His top ten were:  Arsenal, Liverpool, United, Everton, Tottenham, Newcastle, City, Chelsea, Villa and Sunderland.  Since 2002 several clubs have increased their capacities of course and this will have a positive impact on each club’s standing in a more up to date analysis.   

Figures can be manipulated in many different ways, but City should feel proud that they have many attendance firsts that can never be matched by today’s perceived biggest clubs.  

The Seasons City Have Topped the Divisional Charts

The following figures show the seasons when City were the best supported side in their division and the Club’s highest individual crowd that season.  Those crowds marked in italics were also the highest individual crowds for the entire division that season (crowds pre-1925 are inconsistently recorded and so have not been highlighted).  It is fair to say that when an average crowd is within 4,000 of the highest then the stadium is likely to have been full for the majority of games with the size of away support varying.     

Average         Season          Highest Crowd                                  

10,000            1895-96         30,000 (Liverpool)                

10,000            1898-99         25,000 (N. Heath)    

16,000            1902-03         30,000 (United)        

18,275            1909-10         40,000 (Oldham)

26,000            1910-11         40,000 (Liverpool)    

21,000            1914-15         40,000 (Oldham)

32,000            1925-26         62,994 (United)

30,848            1926-27         49,384 (Bradford C)

37,468            1927-28         59,500 (Preston)

31,715            1928-29         61,007 (United)

35,016            1950-51         45,842 (Hull)

27,739            1965-66         47,171 (Huddersfield)

24,220            1984-85         47,285 (Charlton)

23,500            1988-89         40,070 (Chelsea)

26,753            1996-97         30,729 (Oldham)

28,273            1998-99         32,471 (York)

32,001            1999-00         33,027 (Blackburn)

33,059            2001-02         34,657 (Portsmouth)

With the increase in capacity at the Etihad coming this year it will be interesting to see how attendances develop. No doubt I’ll post more on this as the season progresses. Undoubtedly City will establish a new record average attendance in 2026-27.

Dickov and Goater

On this day (26 September) in 1998 Manchester City drew 2-2 with Northampton Town in ‘new’ Division Two (third tier). City goalscorers were Paul Dickov and Shaun Goater. Twice City had come back from being behind. This is the Manchester Evening News report of the game:

Air Raids Around Maine Road

It’s 1941 and there are air raids across Manchester… Have a look at this map. What does it signify? Well, the map shows Manchester City’s Maine Road Stadium as it looked between 1931 and 1934, before the main part of the Platt Lane Stand was built (and after the corner was erected). But that’s not why I’ve posted it. I’ve posted it because of those pen circles that appear on it.

This is actually a Manchester City Council plan of buildings hit by bombs in the area immediately east of the Maine Road stadium. As you can see a house in Thornton Road was hit but none of the Maine Road stadium itself was hit in those January 1941 raids on Manchester. The stadium had a lucky escape but sadly many residents and Mancunians did not.

1941 Bomb damage near Maine Road

Here’s an aerial photo of Maine Road from 1971 to give a feel for the site. The Platt Lane corner is number 3 and Thornton Road is the street that backs on to Maine Road near number 6.

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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On This Day in 1999

The 1999 Play Off Final was played on Sunday 30 May in 1999 with Manchester City clearly the favourites.  According to the media Gillingham were going to be swept aside by Royle’s men.  For many Blues the day began with a long journey down to the capital.  Some stayed overnight close by – the Wembley Hilton seemed to have City banners and flags hanging from every window.

When the players were brought out on to the pitch for the commencement of play they were greeted by smoke, fireworks, and inflatable Nationwide Building Society men.  It all seemed a little surreal, but this was nothing compared to the match itself.

When the action started City were not the great force the media expected, instead they slipped their way across a wet surface and relied on the 20 year old Nicky Weaver to keep Gillingham at bay, particularly in the 9th minute when he palmed away an effort from Galloway.  As the game wore on confidence grew and in the 26th minute a downward header from Horlock was superbly saved by Gillingham’s Bartram.

Mixed play followed, although it’s fair to say that City several chances and should have taken the lead, especially in the 75th minute when Goater sidefooted a shot against the post.  As the game progressed City fans became nervous, then with only 9 minutes remaining the Blues were dealt a major blow when Asaba toe-poked a shot into the roof of City’s net.  Worse was to follow for City as Robert Taylor made it 2-0 in the 86th minute.  Two thirds of the stadium fell silent, then many, many Blues decided enough was enough and left for home.  Those that remained were in for a treat.

Radio Five commentator Alan Green told his listeners about the plight of the thousands of City fans silent at Wembley adding:  “That many fans go to every home game.  Why do they do it?”  It wasn’t long before he found the answer.

With a mere 17 seconds of normal time remaining Horlock sidefooted a goal, prompting those in the stands to start to believe that an equaliser could be possible.  Four and a half minutes into injury time Dickov fired an equaliser into the top corner.  For a few seconds the stadium fell silent as City supporters struggled to comprehend the importance of the goal, and then wild celebrations erupted.  Outside Wembley those that had left early heard the news and rushed back.

An extremely tense period of extra time followed, and then came penalties.  The City players huddled together as a team, showing the unity that previous sides had clearly not enjoyed.  This unity helped City win the penalty shoot out 3-1, but this score says nothing about the drama and the excitement of it all.  The penalty sequence started with Kevin Horlock scoring the first at the City-filled Players Tunnel end of the stadium.  Then Weaver’s legs blocked Gillingham’s first effort by midfielder Paul Smith.

A confident looking Paul Dickov marched forward to take City’s second, but he watched in agony as his attempt bounced off both posts to leave the score at 1-0.  Adrian Pennock then shot wide for Gillingham, before Terry Cooke calmly slotted his effort into the bottom corner to make it 2-0.

Gillingham’s third penalty was sent clinically into the roof of the net by John Hodge to make the score 2-1, then Richard Edghill sent his spot kick in off the bar.  The pressure was at long last on Gillingham.  Guy Butters looked a little on edge as he prepared for the eighth penalty, while in the nets Weaver seemed relatively composed.  The young City goalkeeper dived the right way and blocked Butters’ effort to give City victory.  He immediately went on a rather manic run across Wembley, until he was dragged back to reality by Morrison and the other players.

Wild celebrations followed, with the players bowing to the supporters to show their appreciation of sticking by the club through an extremely difficult period.

Manager Joe Royle was delighted, although it’s fair to say he looked absolutely worn out when he made it into the dressing room after City’s extravagant celebrations.  In a rather down to earth manner he told the media:  “We’re not getting too excited about this.  A club this size should not be too euphoric about getting out of the old Division Three.  And even though we won today, I still think the play offs are a joke.  After 46 League games it comes down to a lottery.”  This was a comment many at Gillingham would have agreed with.

Royle added:  “I think we have gone a long way to curing Man City-itis.  We can handle the big games now, even though we weren’t at our best today.”

Stats:  Division Two Play Off Final. 30th May 1999.

Gillingham 2-2 Manchester City

City won 3-1 on penalties

Scorers – City: Horlock, Dickov

Gillingham: Asaba, R. Taylor

CITY: Weaver, Crooks (Taylor), Edghill, Wiekens, Morrison (Vaughan), Horlock, Brown (Bishop), Jeff Whitley, Dickov, Goater, Cooke

GILLINGHAM: Bartram, Southall, Ashby, Smith, Butters, Pennock, Patterson (Hodge), Hessenthaler, Asaba (Carr), Galloway (Saunders), Taylor

ATTENDANCE: 76,935

REFEREE: M Halsey (Welwyn Garden City)

GUEST OF HONOUR: Mike Lazenby, Divisional Director of Marketing, Nationwide Building Society

While you’re here why not subscribe and read an indepth article on the 1998-99 season. It saw the Blues reach their all-time low before an incredible fight back. It’s City’s one and only season at that level. The article is almost 8,000 words long. It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this extraordinary season? It contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.

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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
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The 1990s: A Goalkeeping Record

On this day (8 May) in 1999 a 4-0 victory over York for Manchester City saw ‘keeper Nicky Weaver equal Joe Corrigan’s record of 22 clean sheets in a League season. Corrigan had set the record in 1976-77 and played 42 League games that season. Weaver was to make 45 League appearances in 1998-99.

You can find out more on the 1998-99 season by reading the following 8000 word article? 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 4900 word article on that season:

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Lowest Crowd

On this day (8 December) in 1998 the infamous Auto Windscreen Shield tie between Manchester City and Mansfield Town took place. It’s okay we can talk about this now that City are treble winners!

It was a competition City did not want to be in and it was a fact known across City’s supporter base. They also knew that a weakened team would be played and, to be frank, we were mostly full of apathy for the competition. The League was the only competition that mattered that season.

For the record future Blue Lee Peacock scored twice for Mansfield – a 53 minute penalty and another three minutes later – before Danny Allsopp scored City’s consolation in the 74th minute. If you want to relive that game (why would you?) here’s a match report from a Mansfield based newspaper:

Andy Morrison Debut

On 31 October 1998 an influential figure in MCFC history made his debut…

Manchester City’s first ever third tier season had been one of struggle so far prompting manager Joe Royle to search for changes. He brought in loan signings Michael Branch and Andy Morrison and they made impressive debuts at home to Colchester. The game had been goalless at half time – and City had been booed off! – but substitute Ian Bishop brought some drive to the team in the second half. In the 49th minute Horlock netted a penalty and four minutes later his corner was headed home by Morrison for a debut day goal. Colchester scored a consolation via Jason Dozzell but it was Morrison who ended the day the happiest. Royle: “Morrison was strong-willed and proved a good passer. And at least we have someone who talks at the back!”  A week later the Blues made Morrison’s move a permanent one, signing him for £80,000.

Morrison continued to impress in the next game, a 3-0 victory over near neighbours Oldham. Kevin Horlock was actually the star man, scoring twice in the first half, with Morrison netting a volley for the third. Royle was happy with the win but not the specifics of the match: “We were nowhere near our best but we scored three terrific goals, had one disallowed, hit the bar and didn’t get a blatant penalty so I can’t be disappointed.”

The Blues were now up to fifth and there was a feeling that a corner had been turned – but the season had many twists to come yet!

Match stats: 31 Oct 1998 Colchester United (H) W 2-1 Horlock (pen), Morrison   Attendance 24,820

Where Were You?

Fairly early on in the game between Manchester City and Arsenal the fans of the London club started to sing the old ‘Where were you when you were…’ chant. You’d think they’d know because often City were attracting better crowds than Arsenal. Let’s look at 1982-83 when I experienced my first relegation as a City fan. Back then City were the 4th best supported club (26,789) and Arsenal were 6th (24,153) – see the average attendance table above. City finished in a relegation position and Arsenal were 10th.

The following season Arsenal did attract a better average than City but they were the 5th best supported club in the entire 4 divisions and City were the 6th. In terms of League position Arsenal were 6th and City were 4th in Division Two.

We could talk about the late 1990s but neither club had a ground that could satisfy the demand to see them, so a sell out Maine Road in 1998-99 for third tier City has to compare with a sell out Highbury for title challenging Arsenal.

Since then stadium size has dictated average support but if we go back to earlier decades and assume that Arsenal’s ‘Where were you when you were sh*t’ refers to City heading towards relegation or being out of the top flight then City’s record is impressive overall. In 1965-66 (the last 2nd division season before the 1980s) City averaged 27,739 (10th best in entire League) while First Division Arsenal were the 9th best supported club on 29,036.

We can jump back even further. In the 1920s Arsenal were perceived as a popular club and in 1925-26 they averaged 31,471 – the 3rd best in the League. Where were City? Oh, City who were relegated that season were the 2nd best supported team with an average of almost 32,000. Not much more than Arsenal but the Gunners were 2nd in the League and City were relegated!

The year after Second Division City were the 3rd best supported club and top flight Arsenal were 4th!

1926-27 Average attendances. Manchester City in Second Division

The year after that (1927-28) Second Division City were the best supported club in the entire League with 37,468. Where were top flight Arsenal? 7th best supported with 27,434.

1927-28 Average attendances. Manchester City were the best supported club despite being in Second Division

It’s all a nonsense but if Arsenal fans, or any other team, want to sing songs like this then it would help if they knew their own history of support.

That day – 25 Years Ago

Today (30 May 2024) is the 25th anniversary of Manchester City’s play off final victory over Gillingham. Rightly, Paul Dickov’s goal in the 1999 Play Off final has often been described as the most important Manchester City goal of all time.  However some also forget about the penalty shoot-out and, before either that or the all-important Dickov goal, came the opening City goal scored by Kevin Horlock.

The late 1990s had been a very difficult period for City and Horlock’s goal came at a moment when all hope that the Club could resurrect itself seemed to have vanished.   This goal was obviously important as it gave City hope and ultimately that transferred into achievement.

The following article, covering Horlock’s goal and the story of that day, is available for subscribers to the website. It costs £20 a year (it works out £1.67 per month) or £3 per month (cancel anytime) 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. Why not try subscribe on a monthly basis and try it out?  

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