On this day (21 June) in 2001 newspapers carried the news that Stuart Pearce had joined Manchester City. The 39 year old joined City on 20 June and was to form part of manager Kevin Keegan’s backroom staff. He would also continue to play too. It proved to be a popular signing and the 2001-02 season was to be a truly entertaining one. You can read more about that below.
This is a 5,400 word article on the 2001-02 season which saw City win the old League Championship trophy. This is available to subscribers.
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On this day (11 August) in 2001 new Manchester City manager Kevin Keegan guided the Blues to a 3-0 victory against Watford at Maine Road. You can watch highlights of that win here (and relive the season):
On this day (April 6) in 2002 Kevin Keegan’s Manchester City won the Football League Championship by defeating Barnsley at Maine Road. Here, for subscribers to this site, is the story of that weekend, including quotes from Keegan, Ali Benarbia and even Alan Ball! Enjoy reliving that day again…
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It’s Day 96 of my Maine Road 100 countdown (not long to go now!) to the centenary of Maine Road’s first game and a brief post on the first and last first team penalty takers at Maine Road. Anyone know who they were? I’m sure many people reading this were there when the last penalty was taken in a first team game at Maine Road. Got it?
That’s right the last first team competitive penalty taken at Maine Road was by Stuart Pearce on 21 April 2002 v Portsmouth. He missed (Elsewhere on this site I tell the story of that day – well worth reading if you’re wondering what was so special about it).
The first penalty at Maine Road was also missed. That was taken by Frank Roberts in the opening game v Sheffield United on 25 August 1923.
Of course Garry Bradbury will claim it’s actually him who took the last penalty at Maine Road as he took one for Merseyside CSA in the Supporters’ Club challenge against Prestwich & Whitefield, in a match that was claimed to be the final game at Maine Road on 12 June 2003.
If you have enjoyed this series of articles and posts on Maine Road then why not become a subscriber and access all the other great content. To find out more see:
Continuing the weekly series on Manchester City’s seasons from 1999-2000 through to 2008-09. Each week I’ll be publishing here the story of a different season of that remarkable ten-year period. Today we have a 5,400 word article on the 2001-02 season (below) which saw City win the old League Championship trophy. City’s manager was Kevin Keegan.
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On this day (21 April) in 2002 Manchester City defeated Portsmouth 3-1 to record their 31st League win of the season. At the time this was a new record for the club and also marked the 19th home League win of the season (which equalled the record established in 1920-21).
Since 2002 the most wins record has been beaten and it currently stands at 32 which was achieved both in 2017–18 and 2018–19. This is a national record too and was achieved in a 38 game League season. A remarkable achievement.
Subscribers can read more on the City-Portsmouth game of 2002 below:
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Starting on Monday is a new weekly series on Manchester City’s seasons from 1999-2000 through to 2008-09. Each week I’ll be publishing an article here telling the story of a different season of that remarkable ten-year period. The series will start on Monday with an 8,800 word article on 1999-2000 and will end with the 2008-09 season. There will be a new season each week, following on chronologically.
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This series will be for subscribers to my website. It costs £20 a year to access everything on the site since creation in December 2020. That includes articles, history talks, videos, interviews & more. There’s also a monthly option below.
This series will be for subscribers to my website. Monthly subscription costs £3 per month to access everything on the site since 1 October 2022 (cancel anytime). All subscribers access all new material until their subscription ends. Why not give it a try for a month?
On 27 January 2002 Manchester City’s fourth round FA Cup tie at Ipswich saw Kevin Keegan’s side thrill live on TV. City impressed the nation with their spectacular 4-1 fourth round cup demolition of Premier League side Ipswich Town. It is worth remembering that City were in the second tier at the time, hoping for promotion. Many of us felt that the Blues were not only good enough to find success in the League but also stood a genuine chance of FA Cup success (mind you, some of us felt that every season – nine years later it finally happened!).
The City scorers against Ipswich were Eyal Berkovic, Shaun Goater (2) and Darren Huckerby.
After the Ipswich match Keegan said: “Our fans know we can play but I think we showed the rest of the country that we are a good team. I believe the FA Cup needed a game like our tie with Ipswich where the atmosphere was tremendous and both sides picked their strongest available sides and really set out to win.”
In the fifth round, Keegan’s Blues travelled to Newcastle for another thrilling performance against the manager’s old club. The media hype focused on Keegan, but the match ended with national recognition that the Blues were clearly a force. Although City lost the match 1-0 after Richard Dunne had been sent off, the general view was that ten-man City were more than a match for the Geordies. City impressed the nation once again.
The Newcastle tie, like the Ipswich game, came at a time when many were questioning the status of the FA Cup. City’s performance in both ties were seen as major boosts for the competition. According to Henry Winter of the Daily Telegraph: “Keegan returned with his magnificent Manchester City side whose spirited, defiant football sent the heart rate soaring among Newcastle’s nervy support. Making light of Richard Dunne’s dismissal and Nolberto Solano’s goal, City scared the black-and-white life out of those who still cherish Keegan’s name. Shaun Wright-Phillips was marvellous, Eyal Berkovic and Kevin Horlock not far behind with outstanding displays as City narrowly lost a Cup-tie but won countless admirers. If they build on this, they will surely keep the Blue Moon rising and head back to the Premiership, where their noisy supporters belong.”
Here are highlights of the Ipswich tie:
Manchester City’s owner Sheikh Mansour has bought the oldest surviving FA Cup trophy at auction. The trophy, which was the first major trophy won by Bury, City and United, will be on display at the National Football Museum. To understand more of that trophy’s significance to Manchester check out my earlier posts:
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This was a brief sample of the content available on GJFootballArchive.com. If you would like to view the much longer articles and everything else on this site then please subscribe. It works out about £1.67 a month if you take out an annual subscription (£20 per year, above) or £3 a month (here) if you’d like to sign up for a month at a time. Why not sign up for a month, see what’s here and then cancel if you don’t think it’s appropriate for you?
On this day (29 December) in 2001 a Paulo Wanchope hat trick helped Manchester City to a 5-1 victory over Burnley. The game, watched by a capacity crowd of 34,350 (this included lots of temporary seating to increase the capacity of Maine Road during its final seasons), came during the Division One Championship winning season. The Blues were of course managed by Kevin Keegan. Here’s a contemporary report of the game:
Today (16 December) in 2001 Manchester City went a goal behind at home to Bradford City before Lucien Mettomo headed a equaliser. Goals from Kevin Horlock and Shaun Wright-Phillips helped the Blues achieve a 3-1 victory before 30,749. You can see the goals here (for those seat counters out there: notice that the empty spaces are surrounding the relatively small number of Bradford fans. The away section held approximately 3,000 at this point, plus segregation):
There are a variety of articles on here about this era, Maine Road and the players. Some are free to read and others are for subscribers. Do a few searches and see what you like. Here’s a search on ‘Bradford’ mentions:
Gary James' Football Archive 