Football writing, thoughts and more by Gary James
Sixty years ago today (February 21 1962) John Benson made his Manchester City League debut. He had joined the Blues at the age of 15 in July 1958 and went on to make 52 League and Cup appearances before being transferred to Torquay in 1964. Spells at Bournemouth, Exeter and Norwich followed, before John moved into coaching. In 1980 he returned to Manchester as assistant to manager John Bond.
Sadly, John died on October 30 2010 at the age of 67.
City hadn’t had a manager since November and were struggling in the League when the Blues played a FA Cup fifth round tie against Crystal Palace on this day (20th February) in 1926. The tie, played at Maine Road turned out to be a fifteen goal thriller with City in rampant form.
By half-time the score was 7-0 to the Blues, but Palace would not give up and quickly pulled back four goals. City were knocked out of their period of complacency and soon found their goalscoring touch again.
By the end it was 11-4 and, according to a number of spectators present on the day, Manchester fans rushed on at the final whistle and carried off the Palace ‘keeper Callendar shoulder high. Apparently he had played extremely well and, somehow, managed to keep the score down, although one cannot help wondering if he’d have been given such a reception had the scores been reversed.
Frank Roberts was the City star for this particular game, scoring a remarkable five, while Tommy Browell also earned a few plaudits with his hat-trick. Browell had been ill for most of the week and had been unable to train.
With no management and such a miserable time in the League, no one could believe how City had been able to deliver such strong cup performances.
Remarkably, film of the game has survived and can be viewed here:
https://www.britishpathe.com/video/crystal-palace-overwhelmed
On this day (18th February) in 1984 Manchester City attracted a crowd of 41,767 in the Second Division for the visit of Newcastle United. The attendance was the biggest of the day (see image above to compare with Arsenal for example). It was also City’s and the division’s second biggest crowd of the season (the division’s highest was 41,862 for City v Sheffield Wednesday). It’s worth stating that the highest average League crowd of the season was 42,534 (Manchester United) and the next best was Liverpool with 31,974.
City’s average was the sixth highest in the entire League at 25,604 while fellow Second Division side Newcastle were the third best supported team that season with 29,811.
The Blues had been relegated the previous May (it was a shock relegation!) but with three automatic promotion places available City felt certain they could achieve an immediate return. Unfortunately, they did not account for the role Kevin Keegan would play in Newcastle’s fortunes. Newcastle had been struggling to make an impact since relegation in 1978, but then Keegan returned as a player and the whole place seemed revitalised (part of the reason Newcastle’s crowds were their best for six seasons), indeed he had helped the Geordies achieve a 5-0 thrashing of City in October.
City boss Billy McNeill later admitted: “There are few players that I have greater respect for than Keegan and this time, I’m referring only to his ability on the pitch, he was the heart and soul of Newcastle. It’s a terrible thing to admit, but every time I read that Kevin had an injury I hoped it would keep him out of the Newcastle side for a game or two. Usually it didn’t and I was glad in the end because I have such a high regard for him. He was certainly the difference between City and Newcastle. They had Keegan’s inspirational qualities and we didn’t.”
By 11th February City and Newcastle were level on points with the Blues in third place, and Newcastle fourth with a game in hand. Above them lay Chelsea and Sheffield Wednesday. The four sides were termed the ‘Big Four’ by the media who regularly chose to feature games from the Second above those in the First. As always Liverpool seemed destined to win the Championship and so much attention turned to the glamour clubs of the Second, especially Newcastle with the charismatic Keegan.
On 18th February came the vital Maine Road clash between the ‘Jocks’ and the Geordies. A win would put City six points ahead of Newcastle, yet defeat would put the two sides level with Keegan’s men also having a game in hand. The crowd saw Steve Kinsey score but fine goals from Beardsley and Keegan gave Newcastle a 2-1 victory. It also gave the Geordies the advantage.
Here’s film of the game (poor quality but well worth watching for Steve Kinsey’s lobbed City goal):
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On this day (17th February) in 1934 a remarkable crowd, with thousands travelling from Manchester, watched a thrilling FA Cup tie between Sheffield Wednesday and Manchester City. Subscribers to this blog can read the story of that game, including photographs.
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Back in 2003 I wrote this profile of former Manchester City player and Polish World Cup star Kazimierz Deyna. Deyna was such an important and unusual signing at the time he joined City in November 1978 that I feel this article is still appropriate and of interest to subscribers to my blog today.
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Manchester City at Sporting tonight… The great coach Malcolm Allison was a major trophy winner at both clubs, so here’s a feature on Allison’s Manchester City career with particular emphasis on his boasts, and City’s first European days for the Blues.
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On this day (10th February) in 2021 Manchester City won 3-1 at Swansea in the FA Cup with goals from Kyle Walker (30’), Raheem Sterling (47’) and Gabriel Jesus (50’).
The victory meant that City became the first team to win 15 consecutive games (excluding penalty shootouts). This new record was added to the Blues other win record established in 2017: Most consecutive wins (including penalty shootouts): 20. For more information on these records see:
Consecutive Win Records – Facts or Fiction?
For more on games between City and Swansea see: https://gjfootballarchive.com/2021/02/10/swansea-and-city/
The win also meant that Pep had managed City to 200 victories during his time as manager. After the win he told the media: “I’m very pleased for the way they performed. All of them.
“Swansea is a strong side. They are a really strong team. You understand how many games they were unbeaten. We are in the next round. We are very pleased. The game takes more than 90 minutes. I would love to win after eight minutes. That’s why you have to be patient, control the strength points. In general we played a really good game.
“It shows how special these players are. And we think of the next one. I know we broke a record of all-time. Now it belongs to us and it will be broken for sure. Sport is like this. It means a lot. This is the toughest period. To do what we have done so far is quite remarkable. The important thing is the way we are playing, consistency and the next ones.
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On this day (February 3) in 1990 Manchester City and Manchester United drew 1-1 at Old Trafford. The derby became remembered as the ‘Wellied It!’ derby. Here is the story of that day with quotes from an interview I did with Ian Brightwell a few years ago. He explains how the ‘Wellied It!’ phrase came about and why he said it. Enjoy….
Howard Kendall’s City arrived at Old Trafford for the return derby match on February 3 1990. So much had changed since September when Mel Machin’s City had defeated Alex Ferguson’s United 5-1 and so the game was always going to be a difficult one to call. As the Blues were now supposedly a better side it is true to say most City fans eagerly awaited this particular match. Disappointingly, United only gave City 600 seats and 4,500 terrace tickets, although even that was considerably more than in the years that followed. The eventual attendance was only 40,274 in a stadium holding a minimum of 48,000, as many disenchanted United fans stayed away.
Although there were noticeable gaps in the United sections, the paddock in front of the Main Stand appeared full of City supporters. They were later joined by Blues evacuated from the Stretford End and estimates from impartial observers suggested there were around 12,000 City fans in the 40,000 crowd.
The match was the 100th meeting in the First Division and commenced with City tearing into the Reds as they had in September. The Blues were actually two points better off than United in the League and the difference in position prompted City fans to chant “Fergie in” to annoy the home contingent… Football humour, hey?
Squandering some early chances, City looked the more composed overall but when Clarke missed a sitter some fans still muttered about Everton rejects (it had been a thing ever since Howard Kendall’s arrival and transfer of several former Evertonians to Maine Road). It wasn’t just the Evertonians who should have given City the lead; Ian Brightwell was also guilty of a shocking miss when, with Leighton off his line, the youngster feebly lobbed the ball wide. Don’t worry, he made up for it!
Against the run of play it was actually United who took the lead when Clayton Blackmore was gifted a free header. Fortunately, within five minutes Mark Ward found Brightwell who, from fully 25 yards out, blasted a stunning shot past Leighton for the equaliser. Afterwards the delighted player explained exactly how he’d scored by succinctly telling the media: “I just wellied it!” In May 2010 he remembered how the expression came about: “We totally outplayed them, but Clayton Blackmore scored even though we’d had most of the chances. I had a chance in the first half, but that’s a different story. Once they went a goal ahead you’d normally think it’s going to be difficult, but we still had a lot of chances and I felt we’d still do it. I remember that the ball was out on the right and Mark Ward sort of half-crossed it. It came to me and I’ll never forget this – I heard Steve Redmond on the half way line shout: “Bob…” I’d best not say his exact words, but let’s just say he wanted me to have a go in his strong scouse accent! It was on my left foot, which isn’t my strongest, but I did what Reddo said. It went in the top corner!
“I ran off and jumped about twenty feet in the air – or at least that’s how it looks on the photos. I remember the noise because back then the away fans used to get about 10,000 tickets at Old Trafford and it was phenomenal.
“When we came to do the post-match TV interview I was asked the usual stuff and then was asked about the goal. So I told him what I just told you, being careful not to say what Reddo actually shouted! Just as I was doing it, someone walked past and we had to do the interview again. But then the same happened again. So we had to do it a third time. By this point I thought I had to say it in a different way – inexperience I guess. I didn’t need to, but I ended up saying: ‘the ball came out to me and I just wellied it!’ It’s true I did, but now it’s the phrase that people remember. It summed it up nicely, but it wasn’t what I’d meant to say.”
The match should have brought a City victory, but everyone seemed satisfied with a point. You can watch highlights of the game here:
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Previous Season
The Blues ended 2007-08 in ninth place, five places higher than the previous season. However this was not good enough for owner Thaksin Shinawatra who dismissed manager Sven Goran Eriksson in the close season. His replacement was former United star Mark Hughes, but few fans were impressed as they had loved Sven’s brief period in charge and were uncertain what to make of the summer’s changes.
League Overview
By the time Mark Hughes managed his first League game the Blues had already started their UEFA Cup campaign with victory over Streymur from the Faroe Islands. The first League game saw Hughes’ side defeated 4-2 at Aston Villa – all six goals came in the second half – and it is fair to say that fans were not particularly enamoured with the position the Blues were now in when compared with twelve months earlier.
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On this day (30th January) in 1926 managerless Manchester City faced Huddersfield Town in a FA Cup tie at Maine Road, watched by 74,799. The following article, for subscribers to GJFootballArchive.com, provides the background story to the tie and film of the game.
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Gary James' Football Archive 