Category Archives: Seasons

Champions League Celebrations

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:

From Istanbul to Istanbul

2023 Champions League Final
European Span of Success
Raining on the Parade
Champions League Celebrations Video
Champions League Final: UEFA’s Travel Incompetence
Treble Success

This was the story about tonight’s talk:

Celebrate Manchester City’s 2023 Champions League Success

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Maine Road 100 – Day 35

It’s day 35 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game and today’s images are a reminder of the first Manchester derby played at Maine Road.

The game, played on 12 September 1925 (United had been in the Second Division when City first moved to Maine Road), saw City & United draw 1-1 before 66,000. This was at the time the highest Manchester derby crowd ever. It was later eclipsed with the record on a club ground being 78,000 (Maine Road). There have been higher at Wembley of course.

Sam Cowan scored for City and Clatworthy Rennox for United. Later this season the return derby at Old Trafford saw City win 6-1:

6-1 Old Trafford Derby

These images show Cowan’s goal and a drawing of the game’s highlights. Note the crowd references in the drawing.

Guess which game I’m going to cover tomorrow…. This was the first derby at Maine Road. Maybe it’s time to remember the last one?

For those unfamiliar with Maine Road this photo may help locate the end Cowan’s goal was scored at. In the days before the Popular Side (later Kippax) was roofed this was the goal mouth at the Platt Lane end (number 3/5) with the unroofed terracing beyond the players being located around number 8.

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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Khaldoon’s Annual Message: Part Two

The second part of Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak’s annual message to fans has been posted. In this he talks about the following:

  • The expansion of the North Stand at the Etihad Stadium
  • The Mike Summerbee, Colin Bell and Francis Lee statues
  • The success of the Manchester City Academy
  • The progress of the wider City Football Group

https://www.mancity.com/citytv/mens/chairman-2023-annual-interview-part-two-63822846

If you missed yesterday’s here it is:

https://www.mancity.com/citytv/mens/chairman-2023-annual-interview-part-one-63822759

Maine Road 100 – Day 34

It’s day 34 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game. Today – Bert Trautmann’s testimonial scenes.

In 1964 Manchester City staged a testimonial game for legendary City goalkeeper Bert Trautmann. Officially there were less than 48,000 there (in a stadium that could hold in excess of 60,000) yet fans and others there that night know the attendance was much higher. My own dad told me last week how him & my mam were going to the game but when they arrived the turnstiles were closed and thousands were locked out a long time before kick off.

There are stories of some fans trying to climb walls to get in and others talk about the packed terraces and stands.

It was truly the biggest testimonial game ever at Maine Road in terms of numbers, even if officially it was short of capacity. In the 90s I often asked players and officials from that era about this attendance, including Bert. No one actually wanted to say much about the discrepancy between the numbers officially reported and the actual volume of people in attendance, so we can leave all of that to the imagination. What they did all agree on is that there must have been well over 60,000 there that night and that Bert deserved whatever was raised from the match.

This image from 1961 shows how the stadium looked at the time of Trautmann’s testimonial.

Below is a view of Maine Road from 1971. The main image of fans on the pitch (above) is taken from near the Main Stand (number 2) looking across to the Kippax (7/8).

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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Last Few Places: Celebrate Manchester City’s 2023 Champions League Success

On Wednesday 21 June at 6pm (UK time) come and join me for one hour of discussion on Manchester City FC’s 2023 Champions League final. Let’s celebrate and remember the positives of this remarkable achievement. Lots have already reserved their place and there are only a few more places left, so register now if you want to attend.

As with previous Manchester City history talks I’ll spend a bit of time discussing the significance of the success and will then open the session up. I’m keen to hear your experiences of the night and what this meant to you as a City fan, whether you travelled to Istanbul or watched from home. Every Blue is welcome! 

Come and celebrate this incredible and historic achievement. 

Sign up to join this free online event where I will discuss the significance of this momentous night in Mancunian history. This hour will include the opportunity to share your stories and memories as I am keen to hear your thoughts.

Lots suffered horrendous conditions both before and after the match BUT this night won’t be discussing those (maybe we’ll do that another day?). You can add your comments/experiences here:

Champions League Final: UEFA’s Travel Incompetence

Instead the idea is to celebrate and remember the stuff that might get lost along the way. Make no mistake this was a truly significant occasion and one we should celebrate for the rest of our lives.

To ensure we have enough opportunity to hear from each other the capacity is restricted to the first 40 people who register. This is free to join but there’s also the opportunity to pay a donation if you’d like to support my website, work and research. No obligation though – this is about celebrating a wonderful event!

The event will be live on Zoom on 21/6/23 at 6pm and a link will be sent to all those who have registered for the event beforehand (probably earlier that day). THIS WILL BE EMAILED OUT SEPARATELY – NOT VIA EVENTBRITE.

The session will be recorded and a recording will appear on my website at a later date. There is the possibility that everyone who speaks will be recorded and included in the video. 

You can find out more about previous talks here:

https://gjfootballarchive.com/tag/history-talks/

You can register for Wednesday’s celebration here:

Register on Eventbrite

Maine Road 100 – Day 33

It’s day 33 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game. Today – Notice anything odd about this image? Look at the Main Stand roof….

This photo was taken shortly after World War Two at a time when the adverts and notices on the Main Stand roof had been blacked out to avoid being picked up by enemy bombers during the war.

We all know about Old Trafford being bombed and while the Maine Road stadium did not suffer major damage houses on Thornton Road and other streets around the ground were bombed during the war.

The semi-circular gable on the roof of the stand carried adverts for much of its existence, though initial plans had been to have the club’s name proudly displayed there. I’ve yet to find an image showing any MCFC wording painted on to it but I do believe it did have this early in the stadium’s life, before adverts took over.

This photo shows the gable from the back/air:

This 1971 view shows the second Main Stand roof (actually just the middle section was replaced) and the original gable would have appeared where number 1 is.

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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Maine Road 100 – Day 32

It’s day 32 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game. Today – A behind the Kippax image from 1993. This photo has so much going on despite it looking fairly bland. I’ll explain:

When the Kippax was roofed in 1957 the original terracing had to be squared off and so, instead of reducing the terracing City decided to extend it where its started to curve. You can see in this image that the end of the stand is on stilts/stanchions over the original banking where it was extended.

At the time the stand was enlarged in 1957 local residents objected to it. Some claimed they’d lost TV signal and were no longer able to get Granada TV which had started broadcasting in May 1956.

When this photo was taken in 1993 that area was for away fans and if you look carefully you can see the segregation fence to the left of the tunnel and going up the banking.

The tunnel and steps in the foreground of the photo are the original 1923 construction but these steps were no longer in use as an entry point. They were blocked off at the top and tended to be used as a seating area by fans instead. They’d been blocked off after the Ibrox Stadium disaster in 1971 when steps like these had to be remodelled to prevent a build up of fans flowing down at speed. This staircase was not altered but others were and remained in use.

Notice also the paved slope. This had been a simple slope of grass and rubble (as can be seen on the 1971 image lower down this page) for most of the stand’s life but general crowd disorder at football had led to City deciding to pave this section to prevent fans from grabbing stones and lobbing them over the segregation fence at rival fans. When I spoke with Bernard Halford many years ago, he was quite proud of this ‘flagging’ of the slope and said it did prevent some significant issues which could have had repercussions for the club.

This image from 1961 shows this part of the extended/squared off Kippax to the right of the photo.

Here’s a view from 1971 showing the back of the Kippax as it looked. The away staircase is to the left of number 8 and to the left of that you can see the squared off part of the stand on stilts. The staircase that is on the 1993 image is the one between 7 and 8 below.

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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Maine Road 100 – Day 31 Answer

Yesterday I asked you to name the year this aerial view was taken. I gave the following clues:

  • The North Stand had yet to be built
  • The central part of the Main Stand roof is the original one
  • The original floodlights are in the corners
  • The Welcome To Maine Road sign has not yet been erected

The answer was 1961. Here’s a view from ten years later to compare with the above.

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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Season Resumes

Today (17 June) in 2020 the 2019-20 resumed for Manchester City after a pause due to the Covid pandemic with a Premier League game at home to Arsenal. Played without supporters present, the match ended 3-0 with goals from Sterling, De Bruyne and Foden. You can watch highlights here:

https://www.mancity.com/citytv/mens/man-city-3-0-arsenal-long-highlights-63728028