Category Archives: Seasons

Gemmill Goal!

When Archie Gemmill scored a last minute penalty on this day (18 October) in 1980 to give Birmingham all the points at Maine Road Manchester City were struggling at the foot of Division One.  Malcolm Allison had been sacked, and these were the first few days of John Bond’s reign.  Looking back on City at this time Bond said:  “They’d only got 4 points out of 10 games, hadn’t won a match, hadn’t got a left-back of any description on their books, and the players lacked direction and confidence.  To be honest any fool could have turned them around to a limited extent.”

Bond soon turned City around and he was named manager of the month for both November and December. You can read more on the 1980-81 season by subscribing. Here’s a ten thousand word long read on that season. Enjoy!

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The Oldest Manchester Club?

I’ve researched a lot on the history of Manchester’s prominent clubs and so I know how the history of those teams has often been incorrectly reported. So, I’m just going to post this and make no further comment today. This is an article from October 1912 which talks of Manchester City as Manchester’s oldest football club. You can find out all about the history of Manchester’s clubs in my academic book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’ if you’re interested.

Marsh On Transfer List

Fifty years ago today (11 October 1975) a goalless draw with Burnley led to lots of issues at Maine Road. Dressing room disagreements (some say fights) led to captain Rodney Marsh being placed on the transfer list. Some fans protested but new captain Mike Doyle spoke out, explaining that the players supported the manager. Marsh never played for City again and in the games that followed Dave Watson and Tommy Booth both filled in as forwards in games (and both scored). Centre forward Joe Royle was injured as well.

While you’re here why not subscribe and read a 5,320 word article on the entire 1975-76 season – a season which saw Tony Book guide the club to major success. You can read this below.

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The First MCFC 10K Run 1984

I’m doing some clearing out of my collection and keep rediscovering some random Manchester football memorabilia. I’ll post some images of them on here from time to time. Today here’s an image of my medal, number and related material from the first City 10K run. It took place on 29 April 1984 (the next one was to be staged on 7 October 1984) and I decided to take part. I won’t tell everybody my time though!

Watch out for more odd items from my collection over the coming weeks.

League Cup Draw: City v United

On this day fifty years ago (8 October 1975) the draw for the fourth round of the League Cup was made. Manchester City were to face newly promoted Manchester United at Maine Road in what would turn out to be both a thrilling night and a deeply saddening night too!

You can find out what happened by reading the following 5,320 word article on the entire 1975-76 season for Manchester City – a season which saw Tony Book guide the club to major success. You can read this below.

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30 Years Ago: A Simon Mullock Report of MCFC and Wycombe

On this day (7 October) in 1995 this report of the Manchester City-Wycombe League Cup tie played on 4 October. The report was written by journalist Simon Mullock, well-known in the press areas at City and to City fans of course. His report seems a fair reflection of the tie that night. If you’re interested, you can now read more on City’s 1995-96 season below. This was a hugely significant season and this article is almost 5,500 words long.

Yes, I know but we can look back and remember from a position of relative comfortability now!

It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this extraordinary season? As with many of these subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.

Here’s the 5500 word article on that season:

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If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read all the other articles? If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:

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Maine Road & Temperance

This map shows the Maine Road area, where Manchester City’s former ground was, before any of the terraced housing was built. The dark blue shape I’ve placed on the map is approximately where the stadium was built. Maine Road was initially known as Dog Kennel Lane and was renamed in stages as terraced housing was built on it. The lane originally had a bend where the current Maine Road ends and the old lane veered off towards modern day Princess Parkway.

I explain a lot more about this in Farewell To Maine Road and in the Big Book of City. In the MCFC match programme a few years back I explained:

Maine Road itself was a relatively insignificant street in 1923, but in the previous century the road had the name ‘Dog Kennel Lane’ and it had for many decades been a fairly significant but meandering route south of the city. The street was renamed in stages when the area was developed during the late 1800s. For years the reason Maine Road was picked was not clear, but in 2009 I discovered the truth.

The Maine Road name came indirectly from the US State of Maine but this was a compromise. The following newspaper article explains: ‘Dog Kennel Lane took its name from the kennel where hounds were kept. It stood on the right-hand side at the bend about a thousand yards from Moss Lane, opposite to the road which tracked off to the left and led to Demesne Farm. The common name of this lane is so common and unattractive that when the Temperance Company bought the Trafford land they asked the local board to change the name to Demesne Road, and the subject was compromised by calling it Maine Road out of compliment to the Temperance principles of the petitioners.’

The idea of the Temperance movement was to discourage people from drinking alcohol. On 2 June 1851 the State of Maine passed the first recognised prohibition law, and two years later the United Kingdom Alliance was founded in Manchester, pledging to badger Parliament to outlaw liquor in England.

The ‘Temperance Company’ mentioned in the article was actually part of the movement and had bought some land at the top of Dog Kennel Lane – this area is close to the junction with Moss Lane East. They wanted to create a better standard of living and within that area they erected buildings in keeping with their approach to life, such as the Temperance Billiard Hall. However, the ‘Dog Kennel Lane’ name was clearly an issue and so the selection of the name ‘Maine Road’ was made. So the name Maine Road refers to the US State and the part that Maine played in the Temperance movement.

An early 20th century interpretation of an older map, showing modern streets (dotted) with the original roads.

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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‘Berg’ Signs For Manchester City

On this day (5 October) in 1949 it was reported that ‘Berg’ Trautmann had signed for Manchester City. They of course meant Bert Trautmann but seeing as Berg translates to mountain it seems appropriate for a man who often stood as City’s greatest defensive rock.

You can read plenty of stories about Trautmann on this website. Here’s a link to those tagged with his name:

https://gjfootballarchive.com/tag/bert-trautmann/

Frank Swift Went to Prison

On this day (4 October) in 1949 it was reported that Frank Swift went to Strangeways prison… to talk to inmates about football. He assumed he would be just talking to the male prisoners but there was so much interest from the female inmates that he spent some time with them first. He talked about his career; City and United and whether Billy Meredith or Stanley Matthews was the greatest all-time forward apparently.

Steve Staunton for Manchester City?

Forty years ago (4 October 1985) it was reported in Drogheda that their talented local footballer Stephen Staunton was being watched by Manchester City. The feeling was that the player may be signed by the Blues, however when City were due to watch him play in a second game (a specially arranged match) the scout had to cancel his trip at the last minute!

Defender Steve Staunton signed for Liverpool a year later and eventually became most famous for his time at Aston Villa and with the Republic of Ireland.