Attendance: 50,182; City 4 United 0 (League Cup 4th round)
A 35 second opener from Tueart and a world-class performance by Hartford give City total control of this tie. However few at Maine Road are able to celebrate as a fifth minute tackle by Buchan on Bell causes the influential City star to be stretchered away. City deserve the victory, but the cost is high.
I’ve written lots on Colin Bell over the years and I was fortunate to interview him a few times too. You can read some of the articles I’ve written here:
On 12 November 1966 a solitary goal from Mike Summerbee gave Manchester City victory over Stoke City at Maine Road. Defender George Heslop performed well that day but injury forced him to miss the next game. You can read an interview I did with Mike some time ago here:
On this day (12 November) in 2023 Manchester City drew 4-4 at Chelsea and this was heralded as a great game by the Sky TV pundits. As fans, these sort of games never feel like great games at the time but neutrals obviously love them. For fans of the teams involved they tend to feel like opportunities lost or maybe great comebacks depending on which side you support. Immediately after the game in 2023 I was asked when City’s previous 4-4 draw was and I spent a few minutes thinking ‘I’ve never seen one before involving City, or have I?’ So, I then started to scour the material in my collection and was somewhat surprised to find it was against Grimsby in September 1950! Certainly many, many years before I was born.
My favourite goal in last season’s match at Chelsea was the one Haaland scored with his er… um… er… shorts area. The City scorers were: Haaland (25 minutes pen, 47 minutes), Akanji (45+1 minutes), Rodri (86 minutes) and for Chelsea (including two City old boys): Thiago Silva (29 minutes), Sterling (37 minutes), Jackson (67 minutes), Palmer (90+5minutes pen).
Incredibly last season’s game wasn’t the first time City had drawn 4-4 at Chelsea and, coincidentally I’d tweeted about this before last year’s match. I never expected history to repeat itself. You can read about the earlier match via the link below. Incidentally, the game was in 1936-37 and City won the title that year – as they did in 2023-24!
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On this day (10 November) in 1956 the great Don Revie left Manchester City for Sunderland. Revie had been in and out of favour with manager Les McDowall for over a year, but fans recognised his qualities. Here for subscribers is a profile of Don. Enjoy.
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Here’s a flashback to a difficult period on this day (9 November) in 2008…
City conceded twice in three consecutive League games during this period, dropping to 13th after a 2-1 defeat to Spurs on 9 November. It was a difficult time, especially as manager Mark Hughes felt aggrieved with some refereeing decisions. Most notably, Hughes was unhappy that Middlesbrough on 29 October had been awarded a highly debateable penalty by referee Lee Mason. Replays showed that there had been minimal contact between City’s Sturridge and Boro’s Wheater as the player went down outside the area. That goal switched control in the game. Hughes: “Wheater was not in full control of the ball, he was outside the box and the linesman did not give it. The shape of the game changed… All night the referee took it upon himself to make decisions that were quite frankly disappointing.”
After defeats at Bolton and at home to Spurs the media began to speculate that Mark Hughes’ position was in doubt. City, a point above the relegation zone, had suffered seven defeats in 12 League games causing journalist Daniel Taylor to comment: ‘Hughes is now at a club where the high expectation levels make him vulnerable…[Hughes] did not sound entirely convincing as he tried to pass some of the blame for this defeat to the referee Mike Dean for “not taking into account the [rainy] conditions”.’
It should be noted that City had ended the Spurs game with only nine players following the dismissals of Fernandes (26 min) & Dunne (83) and that Tottenham also had a man sent off.
Jim Melrose signed for Manchester City on this day (7 November) in 1984. You can find several articles that mention Jim throughout this website. Start looking here:
Southampton were the visitors to Maine Road on this day (6 November) in 1982. The image heading this feature is of the Kippax Stand about an hour before kick-off that day. Back then fans would queue up outside the turnstiles waiting for them to open at 1pm for a 3pm kick off. Once allowed in Supporters would head for their usual space on the terracing and wait for kick off.
Away fans would typically be positioned in the section to the right of this photo and, depending on the size of the travelling support, they would either have all that final section of the Kippax including the open corner next to it, or would be penned only into the back section of the stand. It may seem odd today but on days when the away fans would be positioned at the back, the front section and corner were usually opened up for home fans. As was the case for this game.
While the Kippax was one vast area of terracing, the more vocal fans would tend to gather close to the away section, above one of two large tunnels that cut through from the back of the stand to the terracing.
Notice the advertising and signage on the roof. As well as the Manchester City sign there are adverts for the Junior Blues and City Bingo, plus several familiar local businesses, including the popular Parkside Hotel, close to the ground.
City defeated Southampton 2-0 on the day this photo was taken with a tenth minute goal from Kevin Reeves – past England ‘keeper Peter Shilton – and a header from Bobby McDonald in the 66th minute. Shilton had saved a penalty in the 38th minute from Kevin Bond while City captain Paul Power was judged the man of the match in most newspapers.
The victory put City second to Liverpool in the League and four days later City and Southampton met again at Maine Road. This time it was a League Cup tie which ended in a 1-1 draw, but the replay ended in a Southampton win.
As for the Kippax… The stand had once accommodated over 35,000 and its capacity when this photo was taken was about 26,500. At the time it was demolished in 1994 it was the largest capacity terraced stand in the country, marginally higher than Anfield’s Kop.
Here are highlights of that match for those who want to know more about the game:
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Here’s a brief clip I took on this day (6 November) in 2021 of City fans at the end of the Manchester Derby at Old Trafford. A dominant day for Manchester’s Blues.
After the game City manager Pep Guardiola told the BBC he wanted to give a ‘massive compliment to the players’ because ‘they are the real artists for the way we played.’
Guardiola said City’s approach was shaped by United’s ability on the counter-attack: ‘If you don’t finish the attack you will be attacked much, much quicker and that is where they are so good. That is why we needed a game with a thousand million passes. We need a game like with the ball in the fridge, keep it there. Right now Chelsea are unstoppable. We know we cannot drop much points to be close to them but against the big six we performed well.’
The win lifted City above Liverpool into second in the Premier League while fifth-placed United were nine points behind leaders Chelsea.
Today (5 November) marks the anniversary of a shock transfer of an England international from Tottenham to Manchester City only a few days before an England game. The player even travelled on the Tottenham coach to Manchester as the two teams were about to play each other. You can read the story and match reports here:
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On this day (3 November) in 1990 Manchester City and Sunderland played out a 1-1 draw at Roker Park, watched by 23,137. This was Howard Kendall’s last match in charge as his affair with City came to an end. Within days he had returned to his first love Everton.
While you’re here why not subscribe and read a series of articles covering Manchester City in the 1990s (and other decades too)? Here’s an article on the 1990-91 season when a shock managerial departure could have disrupted the club but ultimately they finished 5th, 3 points ahead of Manchester United: (it’s a 2,700 word article available to subscribers):
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If you enjoy all the free material on my website and would like to support my research and keep this website going (but don’t want to subscribe) then why not make a one-time donation (or buy me a coffee). All support for my research is valued and welcome. It allows me to keep some free material available for all. Thanks.
Gary James' Football Archive 