Category Archives: Seasons

Stadium of Light: First Penalty

Georgi Kinkladze scored the first penalty at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light when he equalised in the 75th minute of Manchester City’s 3-1 defeat on Friday 15 August 1997.  Earlier that night former Blue Niall Quinn scored the stadium’s historic first League goal.

While you’re here, why not subscribe and read an indepth article on the 1997-98 season? The article is almost 9,500 words long – there’s so much to say! Some people write entire football club histories that are shorter than that. It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this season and an extraordinary decade? As with many other subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.

Here’s the 9500 word article on that season:

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130,000 Capacity Stadium for Manchester City

This is an interesting cutting from 1935 talking about the possibility of increasing Maine Road to cope with the huge crowds that wanted to watch Manchester City play. It may seem crazy today but wasn’t such an odd idea in the 1930s. You can find out more on the story here:

Maine Road 100 – Day 57

Post-Match Press Conference 1980s Style

When Billy McNeill joined Manchester City in 1983 he commented on how surprised he was at the number of post-match media reporters there were at games. Apparently, the volume was much higher than he’d expected and similar comments were expressed three years later when Alex Ferguson experienced his first press conferences at Old Trafford. Back in the 70s and 80s no matter what division the Manchester clubs were in (City were second tier in 1983) there was considerable media interest. Back then there was a strong Manchester newspaper scene with northern issues of most national newspapers produced in the city, often filling their sports pages with the latest from City and United.

This photo shows Billy in the centre of a post match press conference. I wonder how today’s managers would react to this style of meeting with the journalists. Nowadays similar press conferences appear to be organised more formally. Anybody recognise the journalists?

You can read more from Billy McNeill’s early days at City in the following 2,500 article on the 1983-84. It’s called ‘Fish Supper’ because manager Billy McNeill said City were so skint at the time that they could hardly buy a fish supper! Sadly, the purchases were often funded out of the money City had received for their talented young defender Tommy Caton who joined Arsenal.

Subscribers can read a 2,500 word feature on the 1983-84 season below. Enjoy!

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If you missed the season features on the 1980s then start here:

The 1980s: 1980-1981 Gow, Hutchison & McDonald

Home in Barnsley

On this day (31 July) in 2008 Manchester City played a home game at Barnsley. This game made history as it was the first occasion the Blues had played a home European tie outside of Manchester.  Previously City had played home European games at Maine Road and at the City Of Manchester Stadium, but work at Eastlands following a concert by Bon Jovi prevented the Club from staging the game at home.  The decision was taken to stage the match at Barnsley.  Subscribers can read about both legs of the European tie here:

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

1983: Jack Charlton & Brian Clough Tipped For MCFC Management Role

On 8 June 1983 it was reported that both Jack Charlton and Brian Clough were possible for the vacant manager’s position at Manchester City. The Blues had been relegated the previous month, leading to the dismissal of caretaker John Benson. Benson had been appointed following the departure of John Bond in January and Benson was a reluctant manager – basically he’d been told that he either took the job or he’d be sacked from his assistant manager position!

Ultimately, Billy McNeill became the City boss. Notice the comment from Swales about resigning – as I’ve often said it was down to his supporting directors that he remained in charge for as long as he did!

You can read all about the 1982-83 season for City in this 3,500 word subscriber feature. Enjoy (well, if you know the outcome of this season you can enjoy this memory refresh while reflecting on the modern day successes of the Blues!).

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (above) or £20 a year (here) to access everything posted since the site was created in December 2020. This special rate works out about £1.67 a week and gives access to everything posted, including PDFs of 3 of my books.

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Tomorrow’s feature is on the 1983-84 season. If you missed the earlier features then start here:

The 1980s: 1980-1981 Gow, Hutchison & McDonald

Opening of the Gilford, County Down MCFC Supporters Club

Here’s a cutting from 23 June 1978 reporting on the official opening of the Gilford branch of the Manchester City Supporters Club by Ken Barnes and Ian Niven. From my notes I understand the branch is now the oldest affiliated MCFC supporters club branch in Northern Ireland but I’m happy to be corrected if that’s not the case. Is there anybody mentioned in the article or on the photograph still involved with the supporters club? Feel free to let me know.

Action Shots of Blackburn v Manchester City From Over 100 Years Ago

The quality isn’t great but here are some images from Manchester City’s 2-1 win at Blackburn on 21 February 1914. City’s scorers were Howard and Joe Cartwright.

Ardwick v Everton under Floodlights in 1890

It wasn’t the first game under floodlights for Ardwick (Manchester City’s predecessors) but it was a significant occasion when on Monday 10 March 1890 the club played Everton under lights at Hyde Road. This match report describes the game. Notice that not much is said about the lights themselves. That’s because it wasn’t the first occasion the club had played under lights in Manchester and those reading the report would be expected to know what Well’s patent lights were due to the features that had been written previously.

People often talk of the 1950s as being the birth of floodlit football but, of course, like many things in football’s history there had been firsts decades earlier.

On 14 October in 1953 the first game under floodlights at Maine Road took place, Manchester City 6 Hearts 3.  Here’s an article about that period and City’s first formal floodlighting system, including a photo from the actual game and another report.

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Cricket at Manchester City FC

There have been games of cricket played by Manchester City over the years and there have been occasions when other sports, such as rugby and tennis, have been played at City’s grounds but it may surprise some to know that cricket has also been played at the club’s venues. Back on 24 July 1891 a Manchester newspaper listed this cricket fixture to be played at Hyde Road (at the time the ground of Ardwick AFC – City’s predecessor). It won’t have been the only cricket match there and the site had been known to stage bare knuckle boxing bouts years before the football ground was built there.

New Rules and Player Payments… in 1937

People often talk about the amounts players make and whether clubs get value for money so this may interest those who like to know what footballers earned in days gone by. This is an article from the Manchester City match programme at the start of the 1937-38 season spelling out what bonuses players could earn that season. Back then there was a maximum wage of £8 per week (£6 in close season) for players plus the potential for the bonuses outlined here. Note also the changes to football laws were listed too in the programme. Imagine a world where we knew what bonuses players were on and could calculate their wages game after game! Social media would love that!

You can’t find out every penny earned but you could read more on the 1937-38 season for Manchester City here – it’s a 1,800 word subscriber article on the 1937-38 season. If you subscribe (see below) I hope you enjoy it. If you don’t subscribe then why not try it for a month (£3 per month or sign up for a year at a discounted £20 per year)?

Here’s the article:

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