Category Archives: Seasons

On This Day in 1977: Colin Bell’s Emotional Return

City 4 Newcastle United 0

Division One

26th December 1977

City Team: Corrigan, Clements, Donachie, Booth, Watson, Power (Bell), Barnes, Owen, Kidd, Hartford, Tueart

Attendance: 45,811

This match has entered Manchester folklore as one of those games you just had to experience to fully appreciate.  All of those present that night from players, to fans, club officials to newspaper reporters, talk of this afternoon as one of football’s most emotional nights.

The story of Colin Bell and his injury had become one of football’s most discussed issues.  The teatime BBC television news show Nationwide had profiled Colin’s tragic story and as a result the player received thousands of good luck messages from neutrals and ordinary non-footballing members of the public.  They had been touched by his long, hard training schedules; his lonely runs through the streets of Moss Side and Rusholme; and by his absolute determination to return to full fitness.  To them Colin’s story was incredible, to City and England supporters it was a deeply disappointing and tragic story.  

Colin’s gruelling training regime ensured he forced his way into manager Tony Book’s thinking by December 1977, and on Boxing Day he was named as substitute for the visit of Newcastle.  Anticipation was high as supporters believed this would be the day they would see their hero return to action.  

Chairman Peter Swales rated Colin highly and shortly before his death in 1996 the former Chairman explained:  “The supporters loved him.  You can never kid supporters.  They know great players.  It’s no good a manager saying, ‘this is the best player we’ve ever had’.  The supporters will know after a few weeks whether he really is the best.  Bell was the best.  No question.”

On the night itself Tony Book had planned to send Colin on as substitute for the final twenty minutes, but an injury to Paul Power meant the manager had to take decisive action.  The supporters didn’t realise, but as the players were making their way into the dressing room for the interval, it was decided that Colin would play the second half.  During the interval fans started to speculate as to when they would see their hero, with the majority believing he would come on for the final flourish, but then as the players came back out on to the pitch it was clear that Paul Power was missing and that Colin was coming on.  

The stadium erupted and the fans on the Kippax terracing began to chant his name.  It was a truly marvellous sight and the tremendous feeling of anticipation and excitement had never been felt midway through a match for any player before.  It was the most amazing individual moment witnessed at the old ground.  Dennis Tueart, a player on that day, remembers:  “He came on at half time, and it was like World War Three.  I’ve never known a noise like it in all my life!  The crowd gave him a standing ovation and he hadn’t even touched the ball.  I’ve never seen a guy work as hard to get back.  The hours and hours he put in.  The pain he went through…  it was a phenomenal amount of work and he definitely deserved that ovation.”

For the player himself the day remained one of the most significant memories of his life when I interviewed him in 2005.  “As I came down the tunnel I could hear a whisper go right round the ground.  I knew that reception was for me alone.  I was never an emotional player but that afternoon I got a big lump in my throat.  I’ve been lucky to win cups and medals and play internationals, but of all my great football memories, that is the one that sticks in my mind.”

“The City crowd and I had this mutual respect really, and that standing ovation from over 40,000 people brought a lump to my throat for the only time in my career.”

The substitution totally transformed the atmosphere and the result.  The game had been goalless, but the Blues tore into Newcastle as if they were playing in the most important game of all time.  Dennis Tueart played superbly and scored a hat-trick, with Brian Kidd also scoring, to make it a convincing 4-0 win for the Blues.  At one point Colin had a header which just sneaked over the bar, but the fairytale goal on his return did not arrive.

When I interviewed him years later a modest Colin felt he didn’t contribute a great deal:  “I don’t think I touched the ball.  It was ten men versus eleven, but the atmosphere got to our team and we ran away with it.”

‘The “Missus” gets her wages’ – Christmas Day 1904

Here’s an interesting snippet from an article I found while researching something else. It was published in the Umpire newspaper on Christmas Day 1904. John Bentley, more commonly known as JJ Bentley, was a Manchester United & Bolton manager who also wrote for a variety of newspapers. He was often perceived as a knowledgeable football man and his views influenced many. If ‘JJ’ said something it was usually accepted as fact. So, when in 1904 there had been criticism of the money working class men were spending on football he spoke out.

As you can see by this brief cutting Bentley used his column to claim that the wives of working class men benefited by their husbands going to football because it meant he didn’t go and spend his money in the pub! Consequently, she got her housekeeping! What a ridiculous argument!

Can you imagine the justifiable furore today if Gary Lineker or similar said something like this? There are so many aspects to this simple piece that could be explored but perhaps I’ll save that for another day. It is also worth noting that many women did attend football matches themselves back then too.

Ah well! Happy Christmas.

Merry Christmas

Wishing all my friends, followers, family and so on a happy Christmas. Let’s hope we all stay safe and enjoy the holiday period (and beyond). Best wishes to all. If you’re bored over the next few days (yeah, I know) then take a few moments at the end of each day to look at

Welcome to Gary James’ Football Archive

I’ve got quite a few articles coming up about MCFC at Christmas on each day that might be entertaining/of interest. Happy Christmas to all.

MCFC 20TH CENTURY CHRONICLE SEASON 1967-68

The Matches

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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A Rare Hyde Road Action Photo

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.

MCFC 20TH CENTURY CHRONICLE SEASON 1975-76

The Matches

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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Sergio Agüero’s Retirement

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

MCFC 20TH CENTURY CHRONICLE – SEASON 1933-34

The Matches

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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Manchester City in the Early 1990s

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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Complaints About MCFC Kits!

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).