Category Archives: Seasons

Football Focus, Colin Bell and the 1904 FA Cup’s Significance

There was an absolutely brilliant, emotional tribute to Colin Bell on the BBC’s Football Focus yesterday by ‘James Bond’ actor and MCFC fan Timothy Dalton. Everyone should watch it. It really was a nice piece.

Plus I was surprised to see myself later in the programme talking about Manchester City and the recent purchase of the FA Cup they won in 1904. The reason I was surprised is that I filmed the piece for MCFC and didn’t think the BBC would bother showing me and would just focus on the trophy itself.

I was delighted it appeared because it was so important the story of the significance of that trophy to Manchester is fully known. It was the point when Manchester became a Footballing City.

The BBC Iplayer has the episode available for the next 6 days. Watch it while you can:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000r753/football-focus-09012021

MANCHESTER CITY IN EUROPE – 2008-09 v EB Streymur (at home in Barnsley!)

The City of Manchester Stadium, as it was then known, staged the UEFA Cup Final in 2008 and this presented Manchester City with all the evidence the club needed that European football was something the Blues had to strive for.  Fortunately they didn’t have to wait long for the chance to prove what they could do.  

Qualification for the final season of the UEFA Cup (the competition was to be rebranded Europa League for 2009-10) was achieved via the Fair Play League and, as with 2003-04, City had to progress via qualification rounds.  This time however, competition started much earlier for City with games played in July.  It is also worth noting that the Blues had to travel to the remote Faroe Islands for their first match in the tournament.

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Manchester’s First Major Trophy Success – The Video

Following the purchase of the oldest surviving FA Cup by Sheikh Mansour I helped Manchester City with the story of the cup and its significance to Manchester. They’ve produced a video telling the story and it can be viewed here:

https://www.mancity.com/citytv/mens/manchesters-first-trophy-1904-fa-cup-documentary-63745781

For more on the significance of this FA Cup trophy check out the category 1903-04 in the drop down list below.

Manchester City – Highest Average Attendances in the League

In recent years fans of rival clubs have taunted Manchester City with jibes like ‘Empyhad’ yet evidence shows that, unlike most other clubs, City has been a major crowd-pulling club since first entering the League in the 1890s. Over time I’ll be posting lots of attendance related data on gjfootballarchve.com and I start here with a piece listing every occurrence of City topping the League or their division’s attendance charts.

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The ‘English Cup’ Has Been Saved

I’m delighted that today it can be revealed that Sheikh Mansour has bought the oldest surviving FA Cup, ensuring it will stay in England – and importantly Manchester. This is absolutely brilliant news as there had been fears the trophy would leave the city and the country when it was put up for auction by its previous owner.

This trophy is the first major trophy won by either of today’s Manchester giants. When Manchester City won this in 1904 it set the tone for everything that has followed and helped transform Manchester from a rugby playing city to a football one.

The homecoming was remarkable and meant that, for the first time ever, football mattered to the wider population of the city.

I could go on but Earlier I posted articles on the significance of this trophy and Manchester’s first success on this website for subscribers. Take a look at:

https://gjfootballarchive.com/2021/01/08/manchesters-first-great-season/

FA Cup success, football infrastructure and the establishment of Manchester’s footballing identity

Manchester City have posted their story here:

https://www.mancity.com/news/mens/fa-cup-1904-his-highness-sheikh-mansour-bin-zayed-63745630

Manchester City Season – 1996-97

Previous Season

The Blues were relegated from the Premier League at the end of 1995-96.

Manager

The season started with Alan Ball as manager, but ended with Frank Clark.   In between Steve Coppell had been appointed (7 October) but resigned (8 November) while Asa Hartford and Phil Neal both had long spells – or at least longer than Coppell’s permanent period – as caretaker managers.

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Manchester City Season – 1993-94

League Overview

During the close season Chairman Peter Swales gave Peter Reid an extension to his contract and publicly backed his manager.  He also took the unprecedented step of appointing a former newspaper sports editor as City’s new General Manager.  This was not viewed positively by supporters and there were rumours circulating that the Chairman had appointed John Maddock simply to divert attention away from himself.

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Manchester City Season – 1994-95

Busy Close Season

Following the takeover by Francis Lee, Lee & the Managing Director Colin Barlow, another former player, uncovered some serious issues within the Club.  City’s financial arrangements seemed complex and there had been underinvestment for a number of years in many areas of the Club.  One of the biggest issues was the state of Maine Road itself.  The Kippax Stand had to be demolished and a new all-seater stand developed, but the existing plans were far from suitable.  Lee & Barlow spent considerable time creating new plans with an ultimate aim to redevelop the entire stadium into a 50,000 capacity venue.  The new Kippax Stand was the first stage of this plan and built at a rapid pace throughout the 1994-95 season.

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Manchester City Season – 1995-96

Background

Once Brian Horton had been dismissed as manager in May 1995 rumours circulated that George Graham, Franz Beckenbauer and a whole host of other big name managers would be appointed.  When the news broke that former World Cup winner Alan Ball was to be appointed supporters felt disappointed. Fans wanted him to succeed but it was fair to say that his managerial record had not impressed them.  Before the season even started questions were being asked, and supporters needed to see positive performances in the Blues opening games to reassure their scepticism.  

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FA Cup success, football infrastructure and the establishment of Manchester’s footballing identity

ABSTRACT: Contemporary Manchester is recognized internationally as a footballing city, with both Manchester United and Manchester City acknowledged as prominent clubs. However, the city has not always been a force in the game, nor has the game always been important across Manchester’s social spectrum. This paper examines how Manchester first became established as a footballing city, identify- ing that success in the FA Cup in 1904 stimulated interest in the game and con- siders how the legacy of that victory enabled the game to develop in terms of participation and spectating. It also considers the social mix of attendees at pro- fessional games in the city, and closes by concluding that footballing success generated increased interest and was the catalyst for improvement in the infra- structure for both participation and attendance, enabling Manchester’s footballing identity to become established.

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