Football writing, thoughts and more by Gary James
As with the 1936-7 Championship season, the first few weeks gave little indication of what the Blues were ultimately to achieve as only one point – a goalless game with Liverpool – was obtained during the first three matches. Fortunately, this was followed by a 5 match unbeaten run, lifting City into the top 5.
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Here’s an action image I found while researching about ten years ago of Manchester City v Preston North End played at Hyde Rd on 20 December 1913. That day a crowd of about 20,000 watched as the two sides drew 1-1 with Tommy Browell scoring for Manchester’s Blues.
By the start of 1975-6 City were clearly seen as one of football’s wealthiest clubs, and were without doubt one of the decade’s glamour clubs. Almost every player was a household name and, with the arrival of £200,000 defender Dave Watson in June, City were able to boast they possessed 8 internationals. By the end of the season the improved form of Joe Corrigan raised that figure to 9.
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Today (December 15 2021) Sergio Agüero has announced his retirement. The man is a true footballing legend (I don’t use that word lightly!) and deserves to be acclaimed for his incredible achievements and career. He has brought immense joy to millions throughout his career. As a tribute I am posting here a free to read feature on Sergio’s Manchester City debut on August 15 2011. Enjoy this flashback to a time before he became renowned in England for his major contribution to the Premier League!
Sergio Agüero’s Debut
Sergio Agüero joined Manchester City from Atletico Madrid for a fee reported to be around £35 to £38m depending on which sources were to be believed. During 2010-11 the player had netted 20 league goals for the Spanish side. City boss Roberto Mancini commented at the time of the transfer: “Agüero can play any position – he can be the main striker, he can play behind the striker, he can play left or right. He is not tall but he is quick and strong and he can score a lot of goals. Now he can play behind Dzeko, Carlos or Mario.”
The Premier League campaign opened at the Etihad Stadium – the City Of Manchester Stadium had been renamed during the close season – with the visit of newly promoted Swansea City. This was to be Swansea’s first season in the Premier league.
New signings Stefan Savić and Sergio Agüero made their City debuts as substitutes that day while another summer arrival, Gael Clichy, started the match. Clichy had made his first appearance at Wembley against Manchester United in the Charity/Community Shield the previous week.
The match opened in a worrying manner for City. The team wore their new all-blue kit which had caused some fans to criticise the break with tradition (as it often does when City drop the white shorts – maybe I’ll write an article on City’s use of blue and white one day, comparing the successes in seasons with blue shorts to ones with white?) and the loss of white shorts, however it was not the kit that brought the worries in the opening period it was the pressure exerted by Swansea. They came looking to make their mark following promotion and they did all they could to play football in a positive manner.
Swansea pressured the Blues throughout the opening thirty minutes. Mancini’s side clearly had the quality but the visitors seemed the more determined. However, the Blues had been soaking up the pressure and taking stock of what Swansea had to offer. Whereas earlier City sides may have become anxious during the period of pressure, the new Blues were more than equipped to deal with a determined opposition.
The game remained goalless until the 57th minute when David Silva dodged past Leon Britton before progressing from City’s half and well into Swansea’s. He passed to Adam Johnson, who raced forward, cut inside and then tried to curl a shot past the Swansea ‘keeper. The shot was saved but the ball dropped in front of Dzeko who, from six yards out, sent the ball home.
A minute or so later Sergio Agüero came on for Nigel De Jong and within nine minutes of his arrival the Argentinian made it 2-0 with a simple tap-in. Three minutes later he played his part in the third goal.
Agüero lifted the ball over the advancing Swansea ‘keeper and then managed to hook it back to a waiting Silva on the penalty spot who sent his own shot into the net.
By this time Mancini’s side were in total control of the match, although Swansea were still playing decent football themselves and certainly did not adopt negative tactics as many other sides may have done.
Shortly before the end Agüero made it 4-0 with an absolutely brilliant swerving 30 yard shot. Afterwards Mancini was delighted with his new signing: “I’m not surprised by what I saw tonight. Agüero has scored a lot of goals in Spain and Argentina – he’s a fantastic striker.”
Two debut day goals – significantly he was only on the pitch for around 31 minutes – made Agüero a hero from the start and caused the wider football world to look at City’s new signing as a hugely positive arrival to the Premier League.
Highlights of the game can be viewed here:
https://www.mancity.com/citytv/match-highlights/2011/august/city-v-swansea-60-seconds
City were keen to improve on their 1932-3 League position of 16th in Division One and managed to open the season with only 3 defeats in the first 15 matches. The best result of this period was a 4-1 victory over Sunderland at the start of November.
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We hear so much about the Premier League era and how the game has changed, so for today’s feature I’ve decided to take a look at the early 1990s and the birth of the Premier League. It’s almost thirty years since the structure of league football changed forever and during that time some clubs have benefitted from the new structure and others have found life difficult. City have experienced both extremes of course.
The narrative that we often hear about the Blues’ journey over the last thirty years is that they’ve gone from a struggling club to a hugely successful one and, while it is true City are highly successful today and that the Blues entered their lowest ever point in the late 1990s, it is wrong to assume that the position the club found itself in by 1999 was typical of the club’s full history.
So, here for subscribers, I’m taking a look back at the early 1990s and remind ourselves where the Blues were; who their rivals were; and the state of football at that time:
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If you think that it’s only in recent years that fans have been upset when their club has tinkered with their colours then think again. Back in November 1969, shortly after City had worn red and black stripes for the first time, City and local media outlets were inundated with fans complaining about the new shirts. Here’s just a taste of the complaints. These letters (apologies for the poor scanning on my part) were right to talk of City’s traditional away colours as being maroon of course, but it’s interesting how now, 52 years later, many fans believe red and black stripes are City’s traditional away colours.
For the record City have worn maroon more than any other main colour (other than blue & white of course).
On this day (28th November) in 1931 the Liverpool Echo published this George Green cartoon of the kits worn by several leading clubs of the period. I thought I’d post it here to show how these things were often portrayed in the newspapers of the day. Thanks.
While you’re here I’d like to thank you for taking the time and trouble to visit my website. I have been researching and writing about Manchester football for a long time (no wonder I’m going grey!) with my first book published in 1989. I am not employed by anyone and I do not have sponsorship either and so I’ve set up this website to help share my 32 years plus writing and research. The intention is to develop the archive and to provide access to as much of my material as possible over the coming weeks, months & years. Subscribers can already access hundreds of articles/posts including the entire Manchester A Football History book and various audio interviews (including John Bond, Malcolm Allison & George Graham).
It costs £20 a year (it works out £1.67 a month) or £3 if you’d like to sign up a month at a time to get full access for as long as you subscribe. Thanks for the support, Gary.
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This is a squad photo of Manchester City, who then led the League and Central League, from November 1914. There are many, many things to say about this image and the people featured but sadly I don’t have time today. A couple of brief points though – look out for Albert Alexander senior (City director) in bow tie crouching and Pat McGuire (3rd player from left on back row) who was sadly killed in WW1. There are a few men on here who were also significant at MUFC including Ernest Mangnall (manager) and Leslie Knighton (assistant manager).
On this day (25th November) in 1988 the South Manchester Reporter featured Manchester City’s new women’s team for the first time. Neil Mather had set up the team and staged some training/selection sessions and, when this news article appeared, the women were about to face Oldham Athletic in their first ever fixture.
You can read all about those early days and the history of the club in my book Manchester City Women: An Oral History. You can buy the book here:
Gary James' Football Archive 