Category Archives: Seasons

The Blue Ballet

On this day (9 December) in 1967 a remarkable game took place at Maine Road that became known as the Ballet On Ice.  Manchester United supporter Bobby Greenroyd watched the game on Match of the Day and wrote to City afterwards:  “I am a regular Manchester United fan, but after Saturday’s game your next home gate will be increased by one.”  High praise, particularly as United themselves were on the verge of European Cup glory.

Why and how did this happen and which leading MCFC figure sneaked out to buy a bag of chips while the club celebrated its 1968 League title success? Here for subscribers is an article that explains all….

Subscribe to get access – Annual

Read this and everything else on the site when you subscribe today. It costs £20 a year or £3 per month (see below). Annual subscribers get access to everything posted since December 2020 plus all material during the subscription.

Subscribe

Subscribe to get access – Monthly

Read this and everything else on the site when you subscribe today. It costs £20 a year (see above) or £3 per month. Monthly subscribers get access to everything posted since 1st October 2022 plus all material during the subscription. Why not give it a go for a month?

Subscribe

Everton Beaten

On this day (8 December) in 1993 Brian Horton’s Manchester City defeated Everton 1-0 with a goal from Carl Griffiths. You can read more on the 1993-94 season here:

Manchester City Season – 1993-94

County Beat City

On this day (7 December) in 1999 came one of Stockport County’s most celebrated victories of all time when they defeated Manchester City in a (2nd tier) League meeting at Maine Road before 32,686. Here are highlights (or lowlights depending on which team you support):

Bradley’s First

On this day (6 December) in 2004 Bradley Wright-Phillips marked his first League appearance with an 80th minute goal for Manchester City against Middlesbrough. I won’t bother mentioning the final score but you can watch highlights of the game here if you want:

Manchester City and Women’s Football Before and During the FA Ban

December 5 each year marks the anniversary of a FA decision that was to have an impact for decades, many would argue that the effects of it are still being felt today. On December 5 1921 the FA leaders decided to ban women’s football from FA affiliated grounds. This ban was to remain in place for almost fifty years and stifled the development of the women’s game. Here’s a feature on the connections between Manchester City and the women who played before and during the ban.

This is available to subscribers to my website.

Subscribe to get access – Annual

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month or £20 per year. Annual subscribers get access to everything posted since December 2020 and throughout their subscription.

Subscribe

Subscribe to get access – Monthly

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month or £20 per year. Monthly subscribers get access to everything posted since 1st October 2022 and throughout their subscription. Why not sign up for a month and give it a try?

Subscribe

Charlton Defeated

On this day (4 December) in 2005 goals from Andy Cole (2), Trevor Sinclair, Joey Barton and Darius Vassell helped Stuart Pearce’s Manchester City to a 5-2 victory at Charlton Athletic.

You can read more on that season here:

https://gjfootballarchive.com/category/manchester-city/seasons/2005-06/

John Burridge

On this day (3 December) in 1951 John Burridge was born.  43 years and 147 days later he appeared for Manchester City’s first team and became the oldest player to appear in the Premier League. You can read more about the 1994-95 season here:

Manchester City Season – 1994-95

Arsenal Defeated

On this day (2 December) in 2009 goals from Carlos Tevez, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Vladimir Weiss gave Manchester City a 3-0 victory over Arsenal in the League Cup quarter-final tie. A crowd of 46,015 watched the game in Manchester. Here’s a contemporary report of the game:

Dowd Joins Oldham

On this day (1 December) in 1970 Manchester City’s 1969 FA Cup winning ‘keeper Harry Dowd joined Oldham Athletic. Dowd had achieved a great deal at City over the years, including scoring a goal. You can read about that goal here:

https://gjfootballarchive.com/2022/02/08/goalkeeper-dowd-scores-colin-bells-bury-scoring-debut/

Bill Taylor

On this day (30 November) in 1981 former Manchester City, Oldham & England coach Bill Taylor died at the age of 42. Taylor was a tremendous coach who joined City from Fulham in 1976 and also coached England. At the time goalkeeper Joe Corrigan commented:  “His coaching methods were an inspiration to so many players and he helped tremendously to improve many of them.  He was always a bright and breezy character and he had a terrific sense of humour.  I can never repay the debt I owe him for the help he gave me both with City and England.”