Free for all readers tomorrow… A one hour long special audio recording featuring interviews and audio recordings I have made over the years with Peter Swales, Garry Cook, Peter Barnes, Brian Marwood and Roberto Mancini.
Watch this space!
Category Archives: Seasons
Manchester City Women: The First Game After Relaunch
On this day (April 13) in 2014 Manchester City’s women’s team played its first competitive game after the relaunch. It was a FA Cup tie against Reading played at the Regional Athletics Arena.
Here for subscribers is a section of Manchester City Women: An Ora History discussing that opening game:
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If you would like to buy Manchester City Women: An Oral History copies are available direct from me (I’ll sign them) via:
The Founding Of Manchester City
On April 12 1894 a meeting was held to formally establish Manchester City AFC.
Dates and the story around the establishment of the club often get incorrectly recorded, so here for subscribers is the story of the demise of Ardwick and establishment of Manchester City with all the key dates…
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Two Years Ago Today: A MCFC Origins Event
How time flies? Two years ago today (April 11 2019) I staged an event at the Dancehouse in central Manchester to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Manchester City. We had a packed audience for the event and I intended to stage at least one event like this every year (then Covid happened!).
In 2019 I managed three special events at the Dancehouse connected with Manchester City’s history. In June there was the most recent showing of The Boys In Blue (my collaboration with the North West Film Archive at Manchester Metropolitan University) which provided exclusive films of the club from 1905 through to the modern era.
In September there was the launch of Manchester City Women: An Oral History (you can buy that book here: https://gjfootballarchive.com/shop/ ). This was a celebration of the history of the women’s club with guests from every era of the club’s history including many founding players and also England international Karen Bardsley.
I had hoped to stage events in 2020 and 2021 but back in April 2019 there was the commemoration of the 125th anniversary of the club’s birth as Manchester City. The talk of course went back further and discussed the 1870s and 1880s where I hoped to kill off a few myths (I’m still trying to kill off some of these myths. See: https://gjfootballarchive.com/2021/03/09/the-origins-of-manchester-city-facts-not-fiction/ for details!).
The presentation didn’t just dwell on the formative years of the club as I covered stories connected with Maine Road, fans and more. The following images are slides from that day and give an indication of what was covered.
8 Points behind United and all was lost, or was it?
On this day (April 11) in 2012 Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City lay eight points behind Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United and possessed an inferior goal difference (two goals) after the same number of games. There were only six games left to play and, as far as the wider public was concerned, it was only a matter of time before United won the title. But things began to change on this day in 2012 when City faced West Bromwich Albion.
Here for subscribers is the story of that day…
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If you’d like to subscribe to costs £20 per year (works out £1.67 a week) and you can access all 300+ articles including the entire Manchester A Football History book and various audio interviews.
Kidd’s Double
On this day (April 8) in 1977 two goals from Brian Kidd gave Manchester City a 2-1 victory over Leeds at Maine Road. A crowd of 47,727 witnessed the game as the Blues challenged for the League title. This result saw City move a point behind the League leaders Ipswich Town, managed by Bobby Robson.
It had not been a convincing City performance but there had been injury issues with Mike Doyle and Brian Kidd playing in an unorthodox midfield – my forthcoming biography of Peter Barnes goes in to a lot of detail about these easter 1977 games. Watch this space over the coming month to hear details of how you can subscribe to that book:
Leeds had taken the lead with Joe Jordan heading home after 17 minutes. Kidd equalised in the 38th minute after Joe Royle’s pass bounced off Leeds’ Trevor Cherry. Kidd’s second came when he flicked in the winner after Paul Madeley had seemingly headed clear a Peter Barnes corner in the 64th minute.
This is a small free taster of the material on this site. If you’d like to find out more about the site then have a read of:
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Manchester City Football League Champions
On this day (April 6) in 2002 Kevin Keegan’s Manchester City won the Football League Championship by defeating Barnsley at Maine Road. Here, for subscribers to this site, is the story of that weekend, including quotes from Keegan, Ali Benarbia and even Alan Ball! Enjoy reliving that day again…
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Goalposts – What Are They Made Of?
They’ve been a part of football history since the beginning and we often take them for granted but over the years the goals – nets, posts and crossbar – have changed. For this subscriber feature I decided to try to understand what Manchester City’s current goals are constructed of and provide a bit of background on the development of them.
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If you would like to read this and all the in-depth articles on this site (including the entire Manchester A Football History book and the audio interview with John Bond) then please subscribe. It works out about £1.67 a month if you take out an annual subscription (£20 per year) or £3 a month if you’d like to sign up for a month at a time. Each subscriber gets full access to the 250+ articles posted so far and the hundreds scheduled to be posted in the coming weeks.
The days of replays in Europe
On this day (March 31) in 1971 holders Manchester City were forced to play a European Cup Winners’ Cup game at a neutral ground. These were the days before penalty shoot outs decided ties. For subscribers to my site, here’s the story of that game:
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Subscribing to this site will provide access to this article and the other 290+ articles plus hundreds more scheduled over the coming months. It costs £20 per year (works out about £1.67 per month). Thanks
Peter Doherty – A Legend with Glentoran, Blackpool, City, Derby and Ireland
In 2019 I wrote this profile of Peter Doherty – a man who well into the 1970s was described as the greatest Manchester City player of all time. Of course, views change and other heroes have come and sadly gone since then, but it is clear that Doherty was the leading player of his generation.
Subscribers to my site can read the article below:
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If you would like to read this and all the in-depth articles on this site (including the entire Manchester A Football History book and my audio interview with John Bond) then please subscribe. It works out about £1.67 a month if you take out an annual subscription (£20 per year) or £3 a month if you’d like to sign up for a month at a time. Each subscriber gets full access to the 250+ articles posted so far and the hundreds scheduled to be posted in the coming weeks.
Gary James' Football Archive 