Football writing, thoughts and more by Gary James
It was a highly memorable day for Manchester City fans as Pep Guardiola’s Blues defeated Manchester United 6-3 before 53,475 on this day (2 October) in 2022. You can watch highlights here:
The City scorers were Phil Foden (3) and Erling Haaland (3). What a great day to be a Blue!
On this day (31 August 2022) last year Manchester City defeated Nottingham Forest 6-0 in the Premier League. Haaland scored a hat trick, Alvarez two and one from Cancelo. It was a Wednesday night and the attendance was 53,409. You can watch highlights here:
In the aftermath of Manchester City’s 2023 Champions League success I hoped to find a Blue who had been to both the 2023 final and the club’s previous European trophy success in 1970. I was eventually contacted by Colin Smith who did go to both (and he also went to Porto in 2021 too!) and we decided to have a chat about it. We ended up talking for about one hour comparing the finals and discussing Colin’s trips both as a youngster in 1970 and then as a grandfather in 2023.
The interview took place a while ago and at that time Colin had been to three MCFC European finals. Since then of course he has also been to Athens to watch City win the Super Cup too.
You can now hear our interview here. It’s well worth a listen, especially if you’re a fan who didn’t get chance to go to those finals. Here goes:
I hope you enjoy the interview. I have other interviews (both audio and written) here on my website available to subscribers, so why not subscribe? Details here:
Roberto Mancini has left his role as Italy’s men’s football manager. Hopefully, he’ll be back in club management soon and maybe in the Premier League too. His contribution to Manchester City’s history is huge and so I think it’s worth reposting this audio special I did a couple of years ago. It’s a special audio recording talking about the years building up to the 2011 FA Cup success brought to City by Mancini. It includes some audio I did with him back in 2011 too. Enjoy this reminder of a time when Mancini helped transform City’s fortunes.
Restored 2011: The All-Manchester FA Cup Semi Final is a special 1 hour audio recording looks at the game and the years between the 1976 League Cup success and the FA Cup glory of 2011. The 2011 semi-final was a crucial step in City’s journey since the 2008 takeover and I felt it was vital to do a special marking this.
So what’s in this special recording? Well, I’ve included exclusive material from interviews and recordings I’ve done over the years with Garry Cook, Brian Marwood, Roberto Mancini, Peter Barnes and Peter Swales. Why Swales? Well, have a listen and you’ll hear why. Basically though I’m trying to set the tone for why the 2011 FA Cup semi final victory and overcoming Manchester United was so significant.
On Mancini… I include a few words from him recorded in 2011 and at one point he talks about the view that was then being expressed that City were ‘trying’ to buy success (now they say City ‘have’ bought success!). His words are a reminder that City have been having that particular criticism thrown at them for over a decade! Oh well, I wonder how long those criticisms were laid at other clubs who had seen major investment which propelled them forward?
Anyway, get yourself a brew and be prepared to be transported back in time. Here’s the recording:
If you enjoy the recording then please let me know, comment or subscribe to the site. I’ve produced videos/talks like this highlighting key points in Manchester City’s footballing history which subscribers can watch.
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £20 a year to subscribe (it works out £1.67 a month) or £3 if you’d like to sign up a month at a time. Annual subscribers get full access for as long as you subscribe (you can always try it for a month). It’s worth bearing in mind that the 2010 Manchester A Football History cost £24.95 and all subscribers will be able to access all of that for as long as they are a subscriber (plus all the other stuff of course).
It costs £3 a month to subscribe a month at a time. Why not give it a try! Monthly subscribers get access to everything posted since 1 October 2022 for as long as you subscribe.
Match Stats for the 2011 FA Cup Semi-final
City 1-0 United (HT 0-0)
Yaya Toure 52
City: 25 Hart 04 Kompany (yellow card), 05 Zabaleta (yellow card), 13 Kolarov, 19 Lescott, 11 Johnson (Wright-Phillips 79), 18 Barry, 21 Silva (Vieira 86), 34 De Jong (yellow card), 42 Y Toure, 45 Balotelli (yellow card). Substitutes 12 Taylor, 38 Boyata, 07 Milner, 08 Wright-Phillips, 24 Vieira, 10 Dzeko, 27 Jo
United: 01 Van der Sar, 03 Evra, 05 Ferdinand, 15 Vidic, 22 O’Shea (Fabio Da Silva 84), 13 Park Ji-Sung, 16 Carrick, 17 Nani, 18 Scholes (red card), 25 Valencia (Hernandez 65), 09 Berbatov (Anderson 74). Substitutes 29 Kuszczak, 12 Smalling, 20 Fabio Da Silva, 08 Anderson, 28 Gibson, 07 Owen, 14 Hernandez
Referee: Dean
Attendance: 86,549
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DonateDay 58 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game is an aerial photo of the ground from about 1973. Unusually this image looks towards the ground from behind the North Stand (from the city centre direction looking south) and shows the streets that would soon disappear as part of the area’s housing developments.
I’ve highlighted what became recognised as MCFC property with blue lines – that’s the stadium site plus the Platt Lane training complex, which became City’s during the 1970s.
The two areas marked in yellow on either side of Lloyd Street South were redeveloped into Walks and Closes named after former City players. Many of these new Walks & Closes still exist, although some have been remodelled and the names of some, for example the one named after Frank Swift, have disappeared altogether.
The are marked in pink between the player streets and the stadium became the Claremont Road School playing fields which, on match day, provided extra car parking for supporters.
It’s worth comparing that 1970s image with this one from recent years, showing the housing and school now built on Maine Road.
And compare both to this 1940s image of the Maine Road site too:
This 1971 aerial image shows the stadium from another angle, looking west.
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:
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DonateI’ve been asked to do a Q&A style chat live tonight on the 93:20 podcast at 7pm. You can listen here:
Andy Savage, who is interviewing me, says: ‘Tonight at 7pm we will be live with @GaryJamesWriter to chat about anything @ManCity and the history of our great club. Join us and you’ll be able to ask questions via the chat. #mcfc I’m looking forward to this.’ So am I. Come and join us.
We’re half way through our countdown of 100 features for Maine Road’s centenary. For day 50 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game I’ve posted three photographs of the view down the same street. These are taken on Wansford Street and look towards Maine Road.
The oldest image (black and white) is from the early 1960s and shows the original floodlights, erected in 1953. The following is one I took in 2003, shortly before Maine Road’s final game, and the one below that is a Google image from this last year or so.
Here’s an aerial photo of the ground in 1995 with the North Stand on the left. Wansford Street can just be seen starting almost opposite the club houses to the left of the photo:
This 1971 image shows Wansford Street – it’s the first street to the right of and above the number 2, opposite the North Stand/club houses.
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:
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DonateMy latest article for Manchester Confidential has been posted. You can read it here:
https://confidentials.com/manchester/the-champions-league-final-uefas-organisation
Delighted to see that this film has been posted by Manchester City & UEFA:
Tonight’s online talk and celebration of Manchester City’s 2023 Champions League success is completely sold out (it was free but you know what I mean!). If all goes to plan I will be posting it as a separate recording here on my website at some point. If you didn’t get tickets but would like to relive the Champions League final I have written several articles on this which you can read here:
This was the story about tonight’s talk:
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