Here for subscribers is the fifth part of Farewell To Maine Road as planned. Subscribers to my website are able to download PDFs of the first four sections of my Farewell To Maine Road book (which retailed at £25) here. So if you’ve not yet had chance, take a look now. Enjoy!
Subscribe to get access – Monthly
If you would like to read the book and download a PDF of it then you can subscribe now at £3 per month or £20 a year. Monthly subscribers access everything posted to the site since 1 October 2022. All subscribers get everything else posted during their subscription too. You could always try a monthly subscription to see what you think (cancel any time).
As well as Farewell To Maine Road annual subscribers get access to everything posted since the site was created in December 2020 (that’s 100s of articles, videos, history talks and PDFs of two other books: Manchester A Football History and my first book From Maine Men To Banana Citizens).
The book has been out of print since 2004 with every copy sold within about six months of publication. Since then I’ve been keen to bring it up to date with stories about the site and the Etihad but that’s not been possible as no publisher has been prepared to invest in the way that Polar Publishing did to ensure it was the right quality.
Copies occasionally appear in second hand book shops or at online retailers but these often sell for ridiculous sums of money. The last time I checked there was one for about £100 here:
When it was published in 2003 apparently, I commented (though I can’t remember saying this, mind you it was 20 years ago): ‘On 320 beautifully illustrated A4 size pages this book tells the story of Maine Road from conception, right through to its final days as a sporting venue. With excellent photographs – including rare illustrations of the stadium during construction never previously published and images from every era – this has been a very interesting book to research, write and compile. I’ve also tried to ensure the views of ordinary fans are included, and some of the most powerful Maine Road moments are captured by the fans who saw them happen.’
In a review, Hugh Ryden wrote in King of the Kippax: ‘The architecture, the moving memories, the reproduction of rare photos and memorabilia and its extensive quotations, make FTMR a must.’
Another King of the Kippax regular Steve Worthington wrote: ‘Following on in the winning formula of his epic “Manchester The Greatest City”, the highly acclaimed author and Manchester City Football Club Historian Gary James has rolled up his sleeves once more and has produced yet another fabulous football book for all to treasure and enjoy. “Farewell to Maine Road” is not only a must for all Manchester City supporters, it is also an essential for all football fans who possess a genuine interest and passion for the history of our great British past time. It catalogues the birth, evolution and ultimate decline of what was once England’s premier and revolutionary provincial football stadium; Maine Road, Moss Side, Manchester M14. Soon to be demolished into oblivion, Maine Road is vividly remembered in all its former glory in this classic portal to the past. Beautifully written with the knowledge and passion you would expect from a lifelong Moss Side Pilgrim, the book provides a definitive literate and graphic illustration of Maine Road’s long and varied history. It contains a rich tapestry of previously unpublished photographs, one of which, a unique atmospheric shot of the famous ‘Ballet on Ice’ (a famous Manchester City V Spurs clash in the late sixties), is arguably worth the cost of the book on it’s own. Having consumed and digested every morsel of information contained within, it is difficult for me to imagine how much painstaking work and dedication it must take to produce and compile a book of such quality. Whilst they continue to produce triumphs such as this, the marriage of Gary James and Polar Publishing is truly one made in a Sky Blue Heaven. This 320-page masterpiece has pushed the boundaries of football publications to a new and higher level and has already prompted tears of nostalgia in my eyes. But don’t take my word for it, sign up a copy and see for yourself, you’ll not be disappointed.’
The publicity blurb said: ‘The only officially approved history of Maine Road is the perfect book for any supporter of City; Maine Road attendee; or general football enthusiast.
‘The book details the history of the stadium focussing on its development, and on the key games and events which have made Maine Road such a famous and important venue. Using first hand accounts, as told by supporters, players, administrators, and the media this book has been written and designed to the same high quality used in the highly acclaimed Manchester: The Greatest City. With special features on all the big City matches, international games, FA Cup semi-finals, League Cup finals, Rugby finals, concerts, religious meetings, and even on United’s use of the stadium during the forties and for European Cup games in the fifties. In addition both City’s former ground Hyde Road and future venue the City of Manchester Stadium have been covered to provide the complete history of City’s three homes.
‘As with earlier works by Gary James & Polar Publishing this book is destined to be regarded as the definitive history of Maine Road & Manchester City’s other grounds.’
My publisher, Julian Baskcomb, commented: ‘Gary James is the appropriate man to write this work after a lifetime’s research on the club and its stadium. As a boy Gary was a regular in the Platt Lane Stand; then at the age of 16 he bought his own season ticket for the Kippax Stand and has been a season ticket holder ever since. He is also a respected journalist with articles for a wide range of publications including The Times and has recently managed the development of Manchester City’s new museum.’
I don’t know where to start with this but I wanted to get a few thoughts down ahead of the celebration chat I’ve planned for Wednesday (see link below)… This has been an absolutely incredible few weeks for fans of Manchester City and it’s also be mentally and physically draining too. It will be in the coming weeks that we get to relax and look back on it all but I wanted to get some top of the head thoughts down now while they’re buzzing around. So here goes…
The history of football moves at a frantic pace and there are key moments (Tueart, Dickov, Aguerooooooooooooo for example) that are era defining or represent the beginning or the end of an era. This last week is another of those with Rodri’s goal at Istanbul finally bringing City the Champions League that we’ve all craved for so long (but pretended at times that we didn’t).
Manchester City are now Champions Of Europe and, finally, Villa fans can stop singing their song to us! There were many occasions over the decades since City’s last European trophy that the club had a squad of players that were capable of major European success but sadly circumstances worked against them. There were also times when the club suffered major failures but I’ll forget those for the moment.
Depending on when you were born you tend to fall into three rough categories of City fan (there’s more than this but I hope you get my point):
Those who remember City as a major power, winning trophies and being ahead of United, Liverpool & others; then falling apart under bad chairmanship; then resurrected; then takeover and what we have today.
Those who remember the failures of the 80s/90s; the lack of chance of competing then the takeover and the glory that’s followed.
Those who have only known City as a dominant, trophy winning force.
The media tend to portray City as a failing 3rd tier club that got lucky, but the truth is that that was only one season and it was only in the late 1990s that United overtook City in terms of number of seasons at the highest level (I’ll explain the numbers another day but prior to the late 1990s United had spent more seasons between 1894 and then in the second tier than City had !).
In the 1970s City won three times as many trophies as United and even in the 1990s/2000s the Blues only spent 6 seasons out of the top flight. This was two spells (5 years and 1 year) and that 5 year spell was the longest period the Blues had ever endured out of the top flight.
This season finding European success has lifted everything in a global sense. I’ve talked previously (way back in 2012) about City being the club for the new generation and that is absolutely how it is panning out. Add to the Champions League the FA Cup – where City’s traditional rivals United were vanquished – and the Premier League (where City’s old rival from the 1930s looked certain to win the League for much of the season) and this has been a truly brilliant season.
City and United are now the only clubs ever to have achieved THE treble – a truly great achievement that many thought impossible. Add to that that Guardiola’s Blues have previously become the ONLY team to win a domestic treble and you get to see that this isn’t simply the greatest ever Manchester City side but one of, if not THE, greatest ever side in English football.
We’ve had the Viking Call (the best team in the land and all the world) chant for almost 50 years now but, for the first time, the words are absolutely true (though we haven’t yet had a competitive fixture to determine the best world team of course – that will come!).
If you’d like to come and join me for an online celebration then please do:
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.
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:
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.
It’s day 30 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game. Today – The first time seats were installed on the Kippax. Anyone want to guess when this was? This was actually 62 years ago this week!
Maine Road staged one of the religious events where American evangelist Billy Graham came to preach to thousands in 1961. I cover the story in detail in Farewell To Maine Road but these images show that temporary seating was installed on the Kippax for the event, which took place between 29 May and 17 June 1961.
At this time there were no gates in the Kippax’ perimeter wall leading to the pitch and so special scaffolding steps were erected to allow attendees to climb over the wall and on to the pitch for blessings etc.
Were you at one of these religious events? If so leave your comments about the day below.
For those unfamiliar with Maine Road’s layout at the time, the photo was taken from about a third of the way up the Kippax between number & and 8 on this photo.
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:
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.
It’s day 29 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game. Today – it’s a simple photo of the floodlights being dismantled in 1990.
Crosland Ward senior just happened to have his camera with him while at Maine Road one day and caught sight of the floodlights being dismantled. He took several photos that day (I’m sure I have others somewhere) and asked the men dismantling the lights if they were okay with him taking the photos. This was in 1990.
These were the second set of lights at the ground and these were the ones that could be seen for miles around. I remember getting on the 53 at Belle Vue and seeing the lights from the top deck straight away.
The lights were replaced roof roof lights on the Main Stand and Kippax roofs. You can see a couple of the floodlights on these images from the late 1970s/early 1980s.
1981 City v United Maine RoadThe Main Stand’s benches with the Platt Lane Stand’s maroon and yellow benches in the background1990 Floodlight being dismantled behind the North Stand. Photo by Crosland Ward senior.
The floodlight being dismantled is the one that stood in between the North Stand and Kippax on this 1971 photo (near number 9) and the men are dismantling it behind the North Stand (number 10).
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:
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.
No surprise that treble-winning City’s first Premier League game of 2023-24 will be against Vincent Kompany’s Burnley. I think we could all have predicted that.
Here are the fixtures in full. Obviously, many of these will be changed for TV and also clashes with FA Cup ties and so on. Interesting reading though.
It’s day 28 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game. Today – that odd Main Stand roof replacement (no, not the white barrels, the earlier one!).
The original Main Stand rood was a traditional style roof with a central circular gable. Though it was huge (at the time of it’s construction it was claimed to be the largest roof at a club ground, it seemed quite pleasant. It wasn’t a cheap affair or particularly a problem but as the 1960s wore on the number of stanchions it had holding up the roof was seen as being an issue by the directors. They decided that they could no longer watch games with their view obstructed by stanchions and so they decided to replace the middle section with a new section that allowed the removal of the stanchions that blocked the directors’ views. They didn’t seem to care about the problems other fans may have experienced! You can read all about that and the other Main Stand roof developments in Farewell To Maine Road.
In the end only two stanchions were removed but the gable was lost forever and the strange raised section of the stand looked so odd. Here’s an image of the original roof from an aerial photo:
Note the Trumanns for Steel advert on the following image. Another iconic part of Maine Road. Also the floodlight in the Platt Lane corner.
The ‘second’ Main Stand roof appears on the following aerial photo from 1971. It’s numbered number 1 and you can see how odd it looks.
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:
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.
I’ve been to plenty of games over the decades where fans have been treated badly. I’ve been stuck in car parks; locked in stadia; pushed and prodded by Police & stewards and much worse, so I’m not someone who has never been to a major game as a regular fan coming along saying ‘look this was disgraceful’. I know some rival fans have said: ‘you won, just suck it up’ or words to that effect but what City fans (and I assume Inter Milan too) experienced both before and after the final was not acceptable at all. It wouldn’t be acceptable at a sixth tier game, never mind Europe’s showpiece footballing occasion.
I had an absolutely incredible 40 odd hours in Istanbul, much of which was stuck on buses or desperately searching for transport, and I enjoyed Istanbul as a city. Seeing your team win Europe’s major trophy for the first time is pretty special and nothing will detract from that BUT it is important that our negative experiences are remembered. Hopefully, UEFA will listen and do something about this, but I doubt it.
This is just my experience and I know many fans will have experienced worse. I’m not trying to say ‘look at me’ or anything like that, I’m just trying to get it recorded and I would absolutely love fans to post their own stories as comments at the bottom of this page. I’m just one fan and there are multiple stories.
On the day of the final my wife, youngest daughter and I went to the fan park at Yenikapi about 2pm (my phone has recorded the time of photos, so I can work out specifics if needed). It was more geared towards non-attending fans rather than those who had match tickets and so we decided to head off to the stadium on the buses provided by UEFA.
There were searches and drinks, food etc were taken from fans at this point. One young guy in front of me had his roll-on deodorant taken (it was 75ml instead of the maximum 50ml allowed). He was somewhat upset as he’d only just bought it and felt he was already somewhat in need of using it after a long sticky journey to get to Yenikapi. I tried to avoid getting close enough to see if he did need it or not but he was convinced!
After going through the searches we got on a bus that was already fully seated but those given the task of filling buses by UEFA insisted we fill the standing area too.
I was uncertain about that as I’d heard about general traffic issues, but thinking I’d like to get there as soon as possible we boarded the bus and stood near the back.
There was no air conditioning and there were only a couple of windows capable of being opened but which didn’t seem to want to be opened. Someone managed to force one and a bit of a breeze came in occasionally.
Unfortunately, our bus driver seemed to have no idea of how to get to the stadium and he frequently took the wrong turning. Some fans near the front had the route on google maps and were trying to tell him but it seemed a pointless exercise. There were also road signs, which we all saw but somehow he missed them.
There were long traffic jams at times but the anticipation of the final kept spirits high.
On the bus to the stadium before the driver got lost, tried reversing on a busy motorway, got lost again and before the breakdown!
We chatted to other fans about their experiences. Two guys near me had landed at SAW airport about 5am and been on buses for most of the day. They hadn’t seen much of Istanbul. They were understandably concerned about post-match transport back to their hotel, which was near SAW, and we discussed whether it would be better for them to get a bus back to SAW and then a taxi from there to their hotel. To be fair, we were already talking as if it would be chaos after the match. I’m not certain if any of us had a premonition or whether we just thought ‘it’s UEFA!’
The journey took a lot longer than expected and without air conditioning or any water available it was difficult for some of the passengers. The driver continued to get lost but our spirits remained fairly high – though frustration was creeping in. As we went around roundabouts many of us on the bus started to do that ‘wwwwooooooooo’ noise that’s done when we’re anticipating a trophy lift or similar. If the driver missed (I should say ‘when’ as he seemed to miss it more often than not) the turn off the ‘Wwwwoooo’ became a boo. If he got it right it was a cheer.
Another time we missed the turning off the motorway and the driver started trying to reverse. Fortunately for our safety a police motorcyclist just happened to be on the hard shoulder and he waved to the driver to move forward.
When we got to the stadium we ended up at the Milan end. I’m not certain if that was the intended route but from hearing others it wasn’t. From there the bus moved on to another dual carriageway as we had to travel around again. This time it was all too much for the bus and we stopped. None of us knew why and then someone heard that we’d broken down and the bus could not move off. The driver kept the doors closed and without water, air conditioning, a breeze the conditions worsened. It looked as if the driver was never going to let us out and so some started trying to force open the doors.
I think the driver then relented and the doors opened. We all climbed out and then started walking along the busy dual carriageway (which had no pavement, only the tarmac road) up hill towards the stadium.
Midway there was a boy with bottles of water he was selling to drivers and he suddenly hit the jackpot as we all started buying from him. He was only charging 5 Turkish lira each bottle which was a bonus. Post match some were demand well over 10 Euros for one small bottle.
The bus journey and walk up hill had taken over three hours. It should’ve been about 1 hour we were told.
At the stadium we entered the City fan park. Queues for drinks and food seemed extremely long, while the merchandising operation looked haphazard with no queueing system at all.
After a short while in the fan park we decided to head into the stadium as it was now open. The thought being that food and drink would be easier to buy in there.
We got in about 6.40pm. We bought a programme and scarf from the merchandising store there. Our fan pass was supposed to give us 10% off in the fan park. As it was impossible to buy anything there due to the general disorganisation of their merchandising operation we asked about the discount in the stadium. We were told the discount/fan pass was not valid. I’m not certain whether that’s true or not but none of the staff seemed even aware of what a fan pass was so I guess it was true.
We bought some basic food and drink. The cost was as extortionate as everything UEFA do and the staff basically gave us half a cup. When we asked for the full measure that was advertised and we’d paid for we were made to feel we were in the wrong. We still didn’t get the full measure advertised but gave up as the queue was getting longer behind us and the staff did not think we were right, even though the sign was there with prices and measurements.
Once in our seats everything for us was as it would normally be at a game like this and I have no complaints about that whatsoever. It was wonderful being at the final and we were excited by it all. We’d bought the cheapest unobstructed seats we could at 70 Euros (we can quibble about prices but that’s not a logistical issue on the day).
I’ve talked about the game elsewhere and it was magical and wonderful to see City win this historic and greatest of all European trophies. The Blues truly are Europe’s greatest team. It’s as simple as that.
After the celebrations we left the stadium. For us it was a fairly short journey compared to others to the coach park. Before the game we’d checked where we needed to be for the ride back to Yenikapi as I wanted to have a plan in my head.
We left the stadium via and extremely narrow exit gate. Fans were funnelled through it and it was totally inadequate. I’ve experienced worse at football games but these was Europe’s most prestigious game. It shouldn’t be like this.
We had to walk across a roadway which was supposed to be free of traffic but a black VIP style car pushed through the crowd with the police and stewards more worried about getting the car out than fan safety. We were expected to jump into the deep gutters on the road’s side or elsewhere.
When we arrived back at the coach park it was total chaos. Barriers were not where they’d been pre-match and the entire coach park was full of people desperately trying to find a bus to get on. Buses were full and everything was at a standstill. Nothing moving forward and no hope of getting on a bus.
We found a bus to Yenikapi but it was full. Then we decided to walk down. aline of buses thinking that we’d eventually get to one that had space, but it seemed like a fruitless task. Eventually, we decided to head back to the fan park and wait for things to calm down.
When we got to the fan park the stewards were holding everyone back who was in there and there seemed no way in or out. We walked over to a UEFA representative who seemed to be an information/help point. We asked about the metro thinking that might. be a better option. She told us it would be open and that it was on the other side of the stadium, past the Milan fan park. She showed us a map with it on and so we headed for that.
Desperate for a drink we saw someone selling water (there were lots of people selling flares and beer too) and we asked him how much. I honestly cannot remember how much he said but assuming the figure he gave was in Turkish lira like the boy earlier, I remember thinking it was excessive but we were desperate so we’d pay it.
We were given 3 bottles and then he demanded the money but this time the amount he’d said was in Euros, increasing it significantly. Thinking back it was something like 20 Euros each but I can’t honestly remember the specific amount. We then said ‘no thanks’ and handed the bottles back but he took my bottle and unscrewed the top and told me I’d have to pay. I pointed out that he’d opened it not me and we walked away but he grabbed me and was trying to demand money from him. I made it absolutely clear that he had opened it and I pulled myself away.
I think he realised that so many people had seen this that he couldn’t get away with his con and I walked away.
We continued to walk up towards the Milan end and after we had passed it we met a few fans coming the other way who said the metro was closed. A family, which included. a young, exhausted boy, were by this time walking with us. Their experience had been similar and we agreed to carry on for a while because there were a lot of mixed messages.
More fans started to come back saying the police had turned them away as it was closed. We were told the next metro was at 6am in the morning and one of the family walking with us checked his phone and found the same information on there.
A beer seller then offered to get us all a taxi at over 450 Euros which we refused. We debated carrying on to the metro but so many were saying it was closed or that they’d been turned away that we reluctantly decided to return to the coach park.
Loads of Blues passed us heading away from the coach park and to the metro. We told them what we’d heard and some turned around but others carried on. I have since heard that some people did find the metro open but I don’t know if this was earlier than we had got close to it or not.
None of the police, who were mostly sat on the grass, could help and UEFA representatives were nowhere to be seen by this point.
I started suggesting we could bed down for the night on the grass verge and get the metro at 6am. I was even looking for the best space possible, but we decided to carry on and if we couldn’t get on a bus then maybe we’d go back to the grass.
Back at the coach park and it was still chaotic. Buses seemed stuck. Fans were milling around not knowing what to do. One of the MCFC staff coaches was there and a City staff member genuinely seemed to want to help, especially as there was a young boy with us, but he couldn’t do anything about the UEFA buses.
We walked in between the stationary, packed buses looking for any bus that had space. A driver opened his window and said: ‘Where you going?’ We said ‘Yenikapi’ and he let us on to his packed bus. It was the first time anyone had been able to help and I think it was the sight of the small exhausted boy that influenced his thinking.
There was some standing space at the back of the bus and we went there. We managed to sit down, squashed in, and just felt relief at being on a bus. We didn’t care how long we’d be there.
There were a couple of Blues on there that I knew. I should’ve asked how long they’d been stuck there but didn’t get chance.
The bus didn’t move for ages but when it did our driver seemed to be determined we’d get off the coach park as quickly as possible. He cut other drivers off, grabbing every inch he could. Normally, I’d be worried about safety and the possibility of a bus not stopping in time etc. but I didn’t care by this point. Just get us back to Yenikapi.
About 3am on the Champions League return buses. Sat on the floor
I’ve been a restless leg sufferer for many years and have been on medication for over a decade. I hadn’t brought my medication to the stadium and so I was somewhat uncomfortable and my legs and arms were suffering BUT this was minor to what many others struggled with on the night. How disabled, elderly or young fans coped I don’t know. There was no help, other than from other fans.
Our driver was clearly a local as he took us off the official route and cut some time off the journey, but we didn’t get back to Yenikapi until 4am. Others were much later. Some would have been earlier.
From Yenikapi we had to walk to our hotel which wasn’t too far away. Others, including the family with the small boy, had to go to Taksim or other areas.
That’s the general story of the journeys to and from the stadium. I know others had worse ones. UEFA totally let fans down and had no organisation whatsoever post match. They didn’t seem to care about what we went through. What makes this worse is the knowledge that there were issues like this when LFC were in the final there back in 2005. This means that either UEFA haven’t learned anything from staging that game or that they simply don’t care. Surely someone at UEFA should have said: ‘Can we get the transport and logistics right if we go back to that stadium?’ and if the answer was no then it’s really simple: Either get the logistics right or don’t stage the game there.
Istanbul is a wonderful city and the other stadia appear to be in much better locations, but I guess their capacities are too small. I get why UEFA would want to stage. a final there but to get so much wrong is not acceptable. It’s not as if they’ve had this final thrust upon the stadium 0- it’s been scheduled to be there for several years!
One of the things that became abundantly clear to me during the early hours of Sunday morning was that the behaviour of the City and Inter fans ensured that this final did not end with significant injuries and issues. Had either set of fans decided to create issues then who knows how bad things could have got.
UEFA need to explain why they are inept at staging games like these – and if they don’t feel they are inept then they need to explain why fans are treated like they are. Something as simple as water should be available. We’d paid 70 Euros for our tickets – others had paid 7 times that – surely a free bottle of water was possible? They’d taken all our plastic bottles off us before we went in, so it was impossible even to get tap water. Clearly thye wanted us to spend, spend, spend but without adequate drink stalls we couldn’t even if we had the cash to afford their ridiculous prices.
Every day I wake up and remember that Manchester City have won the Champions League final. What an incredible night! Here are some of the celebration scenes filmed by me & the members of my family who were with me. We were in block 327 row 12 and this is what we managed to capture. I hope those who couldn’t make it can get a feel for how it felt in the 70 Euros seats (though we of course stood throughout the game). If you were there feel free to get in touch with your own video clips and maybe we could get more of them posted?
The sound level on my old phone is not great and doesn’t quite capture how passionate and loud these celebrations are but i hope it gives enough of a taste of that night. I particularly like the players celebrating directly in front of our barriers.
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.
Here are a few images from last night’s parade. I will be posting some video and other stuff later in the week, including material from Istanbul, but hopefully this will be of interest.
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.
Gary James' Football Archive 