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.
On this day (2 October) in 1920 Bolton Wanderers were defeated by Manchester City 3-1 with goals from Tommy Browell, Fred Fayers and Wilf Woodcock. A crowd recorded as 40,000 at the time watched the match at Hyde Road.
For more on this season why not read the following 2,350 word subscriber article. If you subscribe (see below) I hope you enjoy it. If you are not currently a subscriber then why not try it for a month (£3 per month or sign up for a year at a discounted £20 per year)?
Here’s the article:
Subscribe to get access
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 a month (cancel anytime) or sign up for a year at £20 per year. Subscribers have access to the 1000s of articles, features, interviews etc. posted so far and all those posted during your subscription.
On this day (1 October) in 2011 Manchester City faced Blackburn in the Premier at Ewood Park. Here’s a few words I wrote on that game a few years ago:
At Blackburn on 1st October the home side tried to stifle Mancini’s men for some time. In fact City sat back and took stock of the situation throughout the first half as a negative Blackburn team seemed happy to kill the game at every opportunity. In the second half, as often the case during the opening months of the season, the Blues had total control and ten minutes after the interval Johnson made it 1-0.
Balotelli sent Nasri’s cross home three minutes later, before Nasri added a third and Savić headed City’s fourth. City fans, who had sung Roberto Mancini’s name at various points before and during the match, were in full voice at the end while the Blackburn supporters chanted for the dismissal of their boss Steve Kean. Post match Mancini’s assistant David Platt faced the press: ‘It was the result we were looking for to put Bayern Munich to bed.’
City had lost 2-0 at Munich in their previous game. Here are highlights of the Blackburn match:
On this day (30 September 1985) forty years ago Manchester City manager Billy McNeill highlighted the need for his club to spend if they hoped to stay in the top flight. The Blues had been promoted in May and McNeill felt the squad needed strengthening. City did survive in 1985-86 (in fact they reached a Wembley final) but McNeill’s concerns were valid. The following couple of seasons would see City rely on talented young players coming through the ranks, alongside some seasoned professionals, but many felt the club needed to spend to survive. Unfortunately they were relegated in 1987, by which time McNeill had left, frustrated by City’s lack of investment in the first team.
The 1980s was a truly important decade in the history of Manchester City Football Club and you can find out more on this season by reading the following 2,500 word feature on 1985-86 (available to subscribers). Enjoy!
Subscribe to get access
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) to access everything posted since 1 October 2022 or £20 a year to access everything posted since the site was created in December 2020. This special rate works out about £1.67 a week and gives access to everything posted, including PDFs of 3 of my books.
Appropriately Saturday saw some further tributes to Ricky Hatton at the Etihad with a couple of banners, plus the Hatton silhouette on the blue moon video pre match (seeing that was quite emotional). These have prompted me to dig out this main image from October in 2011 when I went with City Academy players & staff, Tony Faulkner, Patrick Vieira and Brian Marwood to Ricky’s gym in Hyde. That year I had been performing a series of ‘history’ sessions with City’s Academy and this day with Ricky was a day when Ricky & I were to do an interview about what it’s like being a supporter.
The whole day was wonderful and it was a somewhat surreal experience to do a presentation/talk on the history of MCFC support and then follow that up with an interview with Ricky in the boxing ring itself at Ricky’s gym. It was great for the Academy players to be in the presence of such an iconic sportsman and Ricky was on good form that day. He talked openly and honestly about being a Blue and, as a fellow lad from Hattersley, it was good to share similar experiences about going to Maine Road as kids, catching the 211 bus then the 53 from Belle Vue to the ground.
Ricky spent considerably more time with the Academy players than planned and was welcoming throughout. He demonstrated some of his training techniques and got us all to pose for this photo (I can’t remember quite what we were supposed to be doing but it seemed appropriate and funny at the time).
I’m a few years older than Ricky and it feels so sad when someone dies when still a young man. I remember seeing Ricky as a boy at his dad’s pub the New Inn (my first regular pub when I was a teenager). I used to go there with another City fan, Paul Alexander, who has also passed away in recent years.
The tributes to Ricky are well deserved and he was such an iconic figure, not just in Hattersley, Hyde or Manchester but around the globe.
On this day (28 September) in 2009 Manchester City faced one of Carlos Tévez’s former sides, West Ham. The Hammers were swept aside with a 3-1 victory. Tévez (seen here with Mark Hughes at his signing) netted twice and Martin Petrov scored the other at the City of Manchester Stadium (now the Etihad).
On this day (28 September 1929) a hat trick from Fred Tilson (photographed at Wembley in 1934) gave Manchester City a 3-0 victory over Derby at Maine Road, watched by a crowd of 42,047. You can find out more on the 1929-30 season below in this piece for subscribers (see below). I hope you enjoy it. If you don’t subscribe then why not try it for a month (£3 per month or sign up for a year at a discounted £20 per year)?
Here’s the article:
Subscribe to get access
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 a month (cancel anytime) or sign up for a year at £20 per year. Subscribers have access to the 1000s of articles, features, interviews etc. posted so far and all those posted during your subscription.
It’s Manchester City v Burnley today. There are lots of articles and features on my website about games between the two, including record breaking attendances. Here’s a link to everything tagged ‘Burnley’:
Also, if you manage to get hold of the match programme today my four page regular article continues to track the 1975-76, 2010-11 and 2020-21 seasons with a memory match featuring Burnley too. Enjoy!
On this day (26 September) in 1998 Manchester City drew 2-2 with Northampton Town in ‘new’ Division Two (third tier). City goalscorers were Paul Dickov and Shaun Goater. Twice City had come back from being behind. This is the Manchester Evening News report of the game:
On this day (25 September) in 1985 Manchester City defeated Bury 2-1 at Old Trafford in the League Cup. The game was played at Manchester United’s ground as Bury hoped for a big attendance. In the end the crowd of 11,377 wasn’t that much more than Gigg Lane could hold. Many City fans had stayed away simply because the game was at Old Trafford! Here’s a plan of OT as it was back then from the back of my ticket for the game:
You can read more on this season for Manchester City below. This is a 2,500 word feature on the 1985-86 season. Enjoy!
Subscribe to get access – Monthly
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) to access everything posted since 1 October 2022 or there’s a special annual rate below which gives greater access and works out much cheaper.
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (above) or £20 a year (here) to access everything posted since the site was created in December 2020. This special rate works out about £1.67 a week and gives access to everything posted, including PDFs of 3 of my books.
Gary James' Football Archive 