Football writing, thoughts and more by Gary James
Fifty years ago today (3 December 1975) Manchester City defeated Mansfield Town 4-2 in the League Cup. Subscribers can read all about the game below.
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Today (3 December) in 1969 saw this image of United star Nobby Stiles having ‘dialogue’ as the original caption claims with City fans at the Platt Lane end of Maine Road. This was the first leg of the League Cup semi final and City won the leg 2-1 with goals from Colin Bell and Franny Lee. You can watch highlights here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0Y1KpM49Og
Manchester’s two top flight clubs met in their first ever League Cup tie between them during the 1969-70 season. That was the first season when all 92 League clubs entered the competition.
Here, for subscribers, is the background to each of the 1969-70 semi-final legs and a report on each game with lineups, attendance details etc.
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Last night’s game and talk of comebacks has reminded me that only a couple of months ago I posted about a remarkable game from 24 September 1927 which ended with Manchester City beating Forest 5-4 at the City Ground. Manchester’s Blues had been winning 5-1 shortly into the second half before Forest started a fightback. Here’s a report:
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Here’s the article:
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I’ve been asked if Manchester City have ever thrown away a four goal lead… I’ve not started searching but there is a game in 1957 that saw City throw away a 3-0 lead in the first 30 minutes. The game ended in a 5-4 defeat and here’s the story of that match as told in my book Manchester The City Years (with contemporary match reports for subscribers below too):
In the FA Cup third round tie at struggling Newcastle (January 1957), a crowd of 57,890 were entertained with a performance from both sides that had many pondering why the League was such an issue. The game ended 1-1 at a rain soaked St. James Park, although Bill McAdams missed a relatively simple chance towards the end thanks to the poor conditions.
The following Wednesday 46,988 watched a match that was acclaimed the “game of the year.” Playing again in heavy conditions, the Blues were leading 3-0 within thirty minutes thanks to a Bob Stokeo own goal, an excellent header from the reliable Bobby Johnstone, and a minute later a Paddy Fagan effort from a fine through pass by McAdams. Newcastle appeared dead and buried, but the game was far from over.
Three minutes into the second half Newcastle fought back with a penalty from Tommy Casey. Sixteen minutes from time Alex Tait brought Newcastle’s tally to two, then with the pressure on City’s goal increasing the Geordies seemed destined to find the equaliser. Sure enough, with only five minutes remaining, Newcastle levelled via a Bill Curry header. According to Newcastle based reporters even the City fans applauded!
City had now lost the initiative. The match went into extra time and the Newcastle supporters began singing the “Blaydon Races.” The game appeared to be Newcastle’s, but with typical City unpredictability the Blues took the lead again. Bobby Johnstone netting his second of the game and third of the tie.
Despite the goal, Newcastle managed to regain control and Len White scored twice to end City’s hopes of a decent cup run. For Newcastle this has been recorded as “arguably the club’s most thrilling encounter.” The Big Book Of Football Champions even claimed that this “stirring battle of the giants” ensured the FA Cup remained “the greatest sporting competition in the world.”\
You can watch highlights here:
https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/61312/
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DonateIt doesn’t feel that long ago since I did something like this for Sergio Aguero and I honestly felt it would be some time before the opportunity came again but then Erling Haaland arrived at Manchester City. So much was rightly made of Erling scoring his 100th Premier League goal last night that I thought I’d post a comparison between him and all other players who have netted 100 Premier League goals. Instead of totals though I decided to focus on the goals per game ratio and so here is a list of the top 25 goals per game ratios of PL players who have netted 100 goals or more. There are some amazing players on this list but significantly Haaland tops that list by some distance. It’s also gratifying to see that Aguero is third on the list.
The top 25 goals per game ratios for all PL players who have scored 100 goals or more… (note: some sources incorrectly put Kane above Aguero)
| Goals | First Name | Surname | Goals Per Game | Total PL Appearances |
| 100 | Erling | Haaland | 0.9009 | 111 |
| 175 | Thierry | Henry | 0.6783 | 258 |
| 184 | Sergio | Aguero | 0.6691 | 275 |
| 213 | Harry | Kane | 0.6656 | 320 |
| 190 | Mo | Salah | 0.6070 | 313 |
| 260 | Alan | Shearer | 0.5896 | 441 |
| 113 | Ian | Wright | 0.5305 | 213 |
| 144 | Robin | van Persie | 0.5143 | 280 |
| 127 | Jimmy | Floyd Hasselbank | 0.4739 | 268 |
| 150 | Michael | Owen | 0.4601 | 326 |
| 187 | Andy | Cole | 0.4517 | 414 |
| 103 | Cristiano | Ronaldo | 0.4364 | 236 |
| 121 | Romelu | Lukaku | 0.4353 | 278 |
| 163 | Robbie | Fowler | 0.4301 | 379 |
| 149 | Les | Ferdinand | 0.4245 | 351 |
| 145 | Jamie | Vardy | 0.4240 | 342 |
| 208 | Wayne | Rooney | 0.4236 | 491 |
| 111 | Sadio | Mane | 0.4221 | 263 |
| 104 | Didier | Drogba | 0.4094 | 254 |
| 106 | Darren | Bent | 0.3841 | 276 |
| 127 | Son | Heung-min | 0.3814 | 333 |
| 100 | Matt | Le Tissier | 0.3704 | 270 |
| 126 | Robbie | Keane | 0.3610 | 349 |
| 111 | Dion | Dublin | 0.3558 | 312 |
| 146 | Teddy | Sheringham | 0.3493 | 418 |
Watch this space for other comparisons over the coming weeks.
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DonateOn this day (1 December) in 2010 City defeated Salzburg in the UEFA Europa League. It was a great night for Balotelli who scored twice. Subscribers can read about that game below:
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You’ve got to watch this film of Manchester City v Wolves from today (29 November) in 1975. City win the game but there’s a deliberate handball that prevents a goal but doesn’t end up with a dismissal; a missed penalty; the referee taking out Mike Doyle and much more. Enjoy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkgSqz0Jeew
You can also read more on the game below if you subscribe to my site.
You can read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per week (cancel anytime) or sign up for a year at the discounted rate of £20 per year. Subscribers get access to everything on the site, including being able to download the book Manchester A Football History and much more.
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On this day (29 November) in 2011 Manchester City defeated Arsenal 1-0 with an 83rd minute goal from Sergio Aguero. You can watch highlights below:
Today (28 November) in 2023 City came back from being 2-0 down to win 3-2 against RB Leipzig in the UEFA Champions League. You can see highlights here: https://www.mancity.com/citytv/mens/manchester-city-rb-leipzig-highlights-63836808 The victory meant that City won the group.
City’s scorers were Haaland, Foden and Alvarez.
On this day (27 November) in 2010 City played out a dour draw at Stoke in the Premier League. If you fancy reading about it (and I’ve not really sold it with that description!) then see below:
You can read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per week (cancel anytime) or sign up for a year at the discounted rate of £20 per year. Subscribers get access to everything on the site, including being able to download the book Manchester A Football History and much more.
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