Score United 1 City 6, Attendance 48,657 Old Trafford
Inconsistency had dogged the Blues throughout the season and had already left them in a perilous state in the bottom half of the table. They had only collected 18 points from 26 matches, while United had collected 28 from 24 games. What made matters worse for City was the fact that they had been without a manager since the departure of David Ashworth in November. Instead of appointing a new man, the Board decided to do the job themselves with chairman Albert Alexander snr taking the leading role.
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On this day (22nd January) in 1977 Brian Kidd scored four as Manchester City defeated Leicester 5-0 in the only League game featuring City to be staged during January 1977. Mike Doyle scored the other.
On this day in 1989 Manchester City Ladies (now Manchester City Women) played their third friendly after formation in 1988. Here for subscribers to my blog is exclusive film of the women lining up for their team photo at Burnley. This is the earliest known surviving footage of the team.
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On this day (21st January) in 1976 goals from Peter Barnes, Ged Keegan, Alan Oakes and Joe Royle in the semi-final second leg against Jack Charlton’s Middlesbrough guaranteed Manchester City an appearance in the League Cup final. The Blues had lost the first leg 1-0 to a Boro side that included Graeme Souness. The aggregate score was 4-1.
Here’s the story of that game and the situation around MCFC at the time with quotes from interviews I have performed with Alan Oakes and Rodney Marsh.
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On this day (21st January) in 1967 the Blues played the Reds in the first Maine Road derby following City’s promotion in 1966. City had lost the Old Trafford derby 1-0 in September 1966 but had high hopes they could get something out of the return match.
The following article provides the background story to the Maine Road derby, a report, and film of the scenes around Maine Road that day (Mercer, Allison & Busby all appear; plus there’s film of fans outside the ground and then trying to climb into the Main Stand from the area behind the then still open Main Stand/Scoreboard End corner).
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On this day (January 20) in 1900 the attendance stats (see image) seen here were published in various newspapers. Of course, as a historian who researches these sorts of things it does not surprise me at all that Manchester City were the best supported club at this stage. However, I can understand why some may have been surprised back then. City had only just been promoted for the first time the previous season.
In the end Manchester’s Blues ended the season as the third best supported club with an average of 16,000 (League champions Aston Villa attracted 19,825 and 5th placed Newcastle 16,725). City ended the season 7th in the top division.
For those wondering Newton Heath (Manchester United) averaged 6,225 and were the 16th best supported club. Liverpool averaged 11,325 and were 5th best supported club.
On this day (19th January) in 2010 it was the first leg of the all-Manchester League Cup semi final… Back in 1991, together with Steve Cawley, I published The Pride Of Manchester (the history of the Manchester Derby). Ever since then there’s been a desire to update the book to include recent seasons. A few years ago Steve and I did start the process of updating the book but, sadly, we could not find a publisher prepared to produce the book. So, as we’re about to see another League Cup semi-final between City and United, I’ve decided to post here the text we wrote for the 2009-10 League Cup semi-finals. Both legs are covered in this piece which is available to anyone who subscribes to this site (£3 per month or £20 per year – about £1.67 per month – for that subscribers get full access to all posts published so far plus all new posts for the period of their subscription).
Here goes…
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On this day (18th January) in 1913 Manchester City’s Fred Howard scored four goals on his debut against Liverpool at Hyde Road. I love the description of Howard in one report of this game: ‘Howard, a hefty individual who apparently does not believe in allowing the full backs free kicks, had pounced on the ball’. I think we’ve all seen a few ‘hefty individuals’ who did not ‘believe in allowing the full backs free kicks’ over the years!
A report also warns that Howard: ‘would do well to remember that he will not always be served as he was on this occasion. Nor will he have a much easier task’. I’m pretty sure Howard did not expect to score four goals in every game.
Howard, from Walkden, ended his City career after scoring 43 goals in 90 first team competitive games. Note in this article (below) the use of the nickname Citizens to describe the Blues. Maybe one day I’ll do a piece on club nicknames but I do know that many fans didn’t feel the word Citizens (or Cityzens as it is usually written these days at the club) had much to do with the club when City re-adopted it a few years back. It was certainly used a lot when talking of the club from 1894 through to perhaps the inter-war period.
Three of Howard’s goals came in a 13 minute spell as the Blues won 4-1. It was regarded as the greatest debut feat by any player at the time. Even now, over a century later, it’s hard to think of any player having a better debut.
Over the years plenty have talked of players scoring hat-tricks on debuts around the globe but how often do you hear of a player scoring four in the top flight of a major League against a team that is regarded as one of your main rivals? After this game Liverpool had dropped to 13th in the First Division, while City were fifth.
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On this day in 1981: The League Cup semi final! The 1981 League Cup semi-final has gone down in history as one of the absolute grudge moments between Manchester’s Blues and Liverpool’s Reds. People often think the two clubs have only been rivals in recent years but throughout the late 60s, 70s and early 80s games between the two clubs were viewed as major events.
This tie in 1981 is one that still angers many associated with Manchester City, including former players and officials. If you would like to read the story of the tie and the reasons why, then please subscribe to this blog.
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It’s fitting we end this chronicle of the 20th century with last season. With typical City style, the Blues waited until the last year of the century to feature in one of the most dramatic and eventful seasons in the club’s history. Life in Division 2 was totally alien to the Blues, and understandably the media rated them as clear favourites for the Division 2 title. Supporters were uneasy, however. Promotion may have been a formality as far as the media were concerned but for City fans it was hoped for – even demanded – but not expected. Not by all at least. Nevertheless, there was a perverse excitement about the new season.
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Gary James' Football Archive 