On this day (April 11) in 1981 John Bond’s Manchester City faced Bobby Robson’s Ipswich in the FA Cup semi-final. Here’s a piece I wrote for the Times a few years back on the significance of the game for both teams.
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On this day (April 9) in 2005 a 90th minute volley from Kiki Musampa – his first for the Blues – at the northern end of the stadium gave Manchester City a 1-0 home victory over eventual European Champions Liverpool. This was Stuart Pearce’s first league victory as City manager.
The Musampa goal was described at the time as a ‘spectacular volley’ – You can judge for yourself here:
Former City and England captain Pearce guided the Blues through the final nine games of 2004-05 after the departure of Kevin Keegan. Apart from a 2-1 defeat in his first game, the Blues were unbeaten until the end of the season. This run included the victory over Liverpool and wins over Birmingham (3-0), Portsmouth (2-0) and Aston Villa (2-1).
As a result Pearce was named the Barclays Premiership Manager of the Month for April.
This weekend marks the latest in the series of games between one of the Manchester clubs and a Liverpool team. Today (9 April 2022) relegation worried Everton face United and tomorrow League Champions and leaders City take on second placed Liverpool at the Etihad. Much will be made of the Manchester-Liverpool rivalry and it is true that the two cities have been rivals for over 150 years (it certainly predates the building of the Ship Canal!) BUT the football clubs have not always been rivals. In fact Utd and Liverpool have been close over the decades at times while the on-the-pitch rivalry between City and Liverpool was extremely strong in the late 60s and 70s.
The strength of the two conurbations’ footballing rivalries came during the late 1960s but intensified in the late 70s. Prior to this one-off seasons may have seen grudge matches or significant games between clubs from the cities but nothing more than that. In fact for many, many years Manchester United and Liverpool, for example, were extremely close. They once put forward a suggestion to the Football League that all home teams should wear red and away teams white – the rest of football soon got wise to the plan!
There was also the time when United and Liverpool ‘fixed’ a game of football. It’s a long story (amazingly United’s solicitor was part of the ‘neutral’ investigating committee!) and can be read here:
The rivalry between the footballing clubs developed in the 60s and there were many significant games between all the clubs in the two cities with several prominent matches (there were significant grudge matches between Everton and City for example in the 60s and at one point Liverpool’s Bill Shankly told the media that City were Liverpool’s biggest rival!).
Back in 1995 I interviewed former Manchester City boss John Bond at his home. The interview lasted about two hours and here’s a brief snippet from that interview where Bond talks about beating Liverpool on Boxing Day 1981.
The Blues won 3-1 (Bond, Hartford & Reeves) then two days later (Bond says it’s the next day in this clip but it was 28th December) City defeated Wolves 2-1 at Maine Rd. John discusses a brilliant goal from Trevor Francis. City went top of the League after the Wolves victory.
Stick with the clip because it ends with Bond’s views on how Liverpool used to react to wins and defeats. I’d best not comment – have a listen:
I’ve covered one particularly bitter moment in the City-Liverpool rivalry from the 80s that concerns John Bond here:
I hope this weekend’s games between go well and it’d be great if one of Manchester’s Blues could score four goals as Fred Howard did on his debut against Liverpool – see:
Defender Bobby Kennedy proved to be a popular player after joining the Blues in 1961. He went on to make 251 (plus 3 as sub) appearances for City over a seven year period and was a key member of City’s mid sixties side. In April 2005 Gary James caught up with him at the stadium.
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Today’s anniversary game is a meeting between Manchester City and Brentford played on this day (April 3) in 1937. Believe it or not that season City and Brentford had been title rivals.
The early months of the season were difficult for City. Significant injuries to captain Sam Barkas, and attackers Alec Herd and Fred Tilson had hampered City’s progress during the opening months. By the end of November the Blues were 12th and somewhat off the pace. However, things were about to change for Manchester’s Blues with an incredible undefeated run that began with victory over Middlesbrough on Boxing Day.
Before the away game at Brentford on April 3, City had gone 15 consecutive League games without defeat.
Subscribers can read what happened next in this 1200 word article…
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Not the best season to focus on but here for subscribers is the latest post covering the 1997-98 season for Manchester City. Those were the days hey? Enjoy – if you can. Well, at least City have won a few trophies since then.
Manager
Frank Clark had been appointed manager during the previous season, but was replaced by popular former Blue Joe Royle in February 1998.
League Overview
1997-98 was expected to see an end to the troubles and misery of the previous seasons. It was anticipated Frank Clark would develop a side capable of seeking promotion. The Blues had struggled to find form under each of the managers appointed since the dismissal of Brian Horton in 1995 and Chairman Francis Lee was facing much criticism. Everyone recognised that the 1997-8 season had to see improvement.
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It was a typical season of highs and lows when City and United met in the first all-Manchester FA Cup semi-final, played on this date (27th March) in 1926. Here I’ve delved into the archives to see what happened at Bramall Lane in 1926. Subscribers can read this article below:
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Gary James considers a time when Burnley and City battled for the League
Today I’m taking a look back to 101 years ago today when, believe it or not, both City and Burnley were major rivals for the League title. People often assume today’s giants have always been the game’s powers but the evidence shows otherwise. Burnley, like City, have a history of success and, again like City, first appeared in the European Cup in the 1960s.
1920-21 seems – it is – an awful long time ago but it’s a crucial season in the development of both Burnley and City. It is one of those seasons that we really should remember for a variety of reasons, not least because it speeded up City’s desire to move stadium because of the huge crowds that wanted to see the Blues play.
Here for subscribers is a 1600 word piece on an extraordinary time in 1920-21:
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It was vital the Blues achieved promotion in 1984-5 after the previous season, under former Celtic captain Billy McNeill, had seen City finish fourth behind Chelsea, Sheffield Wednesday, and Newcastle in an extremely strong Second Division. 1984-5 opened with the club’s first League meeting at Wimbledon, who had been promoted from Division Three the previous May. City were two goals down after a fifteen minute bombardment from the Dons, but a fightback including goals from Gordon Smith and Derek Parlane brought a point.
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After achieving promotion the previous season City embarked on the 1989-90 First Division campaign with a view to consolidate rather than set the world alight. The relatively low-key City manager, Mel Machin, seemed determined to play down expectations, especially as other clubs – in particular Manchester United – were spending millions on strengthening their squad. City could not afford to spend wildly, although they did increase their overdraft by signing Clive Allen and Ian Bishop during the close season for a combined fee of around £1.75m.
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Gary James' Football Archive 